Fighting Love x Stefan Salvatore
by kl4uss
Summary: Emily Gilbert is the older twin sister of Elena Gilbert by three minutes and the older sister of Jeremy Gilbert. Four months ago, their parents passed away in a car accident on the Wickery Bridge where only Emily and Elena survived. Emily is more protective of her family now so what happens when the Salvatore brothers come to the boring town of Mystic Falls?
1. Chapter 1

_Flashback: May 23, 2009_

 _In the small and cozy town of Mystic Falls, there was a party happening about a ten minute drive from the town square. The town was very close-knitted, that every teenager that went to the local high school was attending the party. But for two twin sisters, the party was coming to an end. Emily and Elena Gilbert were sitting in the backseat of their family's green SUV with their parents in the front. Their fun had ended because Elena, the younger twin, had gotten into a fight with her boyfriend, Matt Donovan. Emily knew from the gloomy expression on her sister's face, that Elena was not going to enjoy the party. So being the older sister, Emily decided to call their mother, Miranda Gilbert, to come pick them up._

 _Grayson Gilbert drove the family car down the road for a few minutes, before he decided to speak after noticing the silence from his two usual talkative daughters. "So, how was the party?" He questioned._

 _Emily glanced over at her sister, and saw that Elena had her head leaning against the cool window. She knew that Elena was still sad about her fight with Matt, so Emily reached next to her and gave Elena's hand a reassuring squeeze. Once Elena glanced her way, a small smile made its way onto Emily's face as she mouthed, "you are going to be okay," before she linked her pinky with Elena's. The younger sister finally gave Emily a barely noticeable smile, but Emily still saw it. Ever since they were little, when they made promises, they would link their pinkies together. Emily turned back to her father with a bright smile as she stated, "it was fun." She bumped her shoulder with Elena's as a smirk grew on her face before she commented, "but Elena and I can't wait to beat all of you guys tonight!"_

 _Since Jenna, Miranda's sister, was in town, the family decided that they would host a family game night like they did every time Jenna came to visit. It was always Jeremy and Grayson, Miranda and Jenna, and Emily with Elena. But this time, Emily had convinced their mother to let her and Elena go to the party that was happening down at the Falls for a few hours._

 _At her sister's joyous attitude, Elena couldn't help but forget about her fight with Matt, and join in with Emily's excitement. "You guys have no chance against us," she joked._

 _Miranda chuckled at her two daughters before focusing her eyes on Emily in amusement, "you are just like your father, so competitive."_

 _"It's the Gilbert blood, mom," Emily exclaimed with a bright smile._

 _Grayson grinned proudly at his oldest child while Elena and Miranda both laughed at the two competitive Gilberts. But once the laughter stopped and Miranda turned back in her seat, everything changed. She yelled as she looked at the dark road in terror, "Grayson!"_

 _Grayson quickly focused back onto the road, but his eyes widened as he felt the SUV slide across the bridge. He tried with all his might to get control of the vehicle before it crashed, but he wasn't counting for the railing on Wickery Bridge to completely break underneath the green SUV._

 _Emily glanced between the two front seats and looked through the window, but all she could see was the dark blue water rushing towards the car at incredible speed. As soon as the car hit the water, Emily's head bounced off the back of her mother's seat. She felt the pain in her nose, but she ignored it. Instead, Emily quickly glanced over to her sister, and saw that Elena was knocked out from the impact. But Emily's eyes suddenly widened as she felt the freezing cold water reach the inside of her boots. She looked up at her father with tears in her green eyes as she cried out, "dad-"_

* * *

Emily gasped as she quickly jolted up from her soft pillows before she looked around her surroundings carefully. When Emily saw that she was in her bedroom, wrapped in her snug covers, and not at Wickery Bridge, closed in by water, she took a deep breath of relief. Ever since the accident, Emily's unconscious mind would always replay the night that took away her parents.

Emily lazily got out of her comfortable bed and made her way towards her large closet, where she grabbed a pair of black jeans along with a matching black shirt. Emily knew it was going to be a long day, since the Gilbert siblings would be back in school for the first time since the accident. Everyone was dealing with the lost differently. Emily's younger brother, Jeremy, had turned to drugs and alcohol to cope. Emily's twin sister, Elena, was more quiet and reserved. Then there was Emily, who was almost identical to her sister, but she was also more protective over her family.

Emily grabbed her light pink leather jacket that was hanging on the back of her closet door, before she made her way to the mirror that was attached to her white vanity table. She began to put on her jewelry, which consisted of a pearl ring and matching earrings with a gold moon necklace. Once Emily made sure that her outfit was perfect, she closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. She knew that today was going to be filled with people asking if she was okay. Emily wasn't going to tell the whole truth, because in reality, she wasn't okay. But she didn't want to seem weak and Emily had to stay strong for her siblings, so she would say that she was fine. Emily looked back into the mirror where she fixed a believable smile on her face, before she got up and made her way towards the door. She quickly slipped on her black boots and grabbed her matching purse, before she headed out for the long day.

As Emily was making her way down the stairs, she could hear a commotion coming from the kitchen. It peaked her interest, so Emily made her way towards the disturbance of the usual quiet house. Once she walked into the room, she saw her aunt Jenna mumbling to herself while she looked through the refrigerator.

Jenna glanced behind her when she heard footsteps and stated, "toast," she closed the refrigerator door and turned towards her oldest niece, "I can make toast."

Emily chuckled lowly at her aunt before she quickly made a beeline towards the source of her happiness, the coffee machine. Emily reached above her and pulled out a coffee cup from the wooden cabinet. She slowly poured the fresh, hot coffee before adding a small teaspoon of milk and sugar. Once she was happy with her mocha colored concoction, Emily turned around to look at her frantic aunt with a smirk as she stated, "it's all about the coffee," before taking a large sip of the heavenly mixture.

"Is there coffee?" Jeremy questioned once he walked into the kitchen with bright eyes as he heard the magical word leave his sister's mouth.

Emily didn't even get the chance to answer her brother, before Jeremy stole her coffee right from her hands. Emily rolled her eyes as she huffed in annoyance, "seriously, Jer?" But Jeremy only gave Emily a mischievous smile before happily walking away with now, his coffee.

It was way too early to argue with her brother, so Emily made her way back to the coffee machine and grabbed another coffee cup from the cabinet. But Emily paused as she thought for a moment, before grabbing one more cup. She didn't want to take the chance of getting her coffee stolen by another sibling. Emily picked up the coffee pot and poured the hot liquid into both cups before mixing them just right. Ironically, she and Elena were identical when it came to how they liked their coffee.

Once Emily finished making the two cups of coffee, she turned around just in time to see Elena sleepily making her way to the kitchen. Emily chuckled when she saw Elena lay her head against the counter. Deciding to put her sister out of her misery, Emily walked over and slid Elena her coffee.

Elena quickly lifted her head after hearing the sound of porcelain sliding against the countertop and the smell of fresh coffee. She wrapped her fingers around the warm cup as she looked up at her sister in happiness. "You are a lifesaver," Elena mumbled before taking a large gulp of the satisfying coffee.

Emily leaned against the counter as she smirked over at Elena, "I know I am."

"Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared," Jenna mumbled as she quickly grabbed her black wallet out of her purse. She walked over towards the three teenagers and questioned as she held out three amounts of cash, "lunch money?"

"I'm good," Emily and Elena spoke in unison. The two sisters glanced at each other before giggling. Ever since they could talk, the two brunette's would always say the same thing at the same time. Emily always thought it was a twin thing. When Emily looked back over to her aunt, she saw Jeremy grab all of the money. She sighed, knowing Jeremy would only use the money to feed his habits. But Emily knew she couldn't say anything, it was Jeremy's choice what he wanted to do with his life.

"Anything else?" Jenna asked while she packed up her purse, "a number two pencil?" But she suddenly paused and twisted her face in thought, "what am I missing?"

Emily stared at her aunt for a moment before her eyes widened as she recalled what Jenna had told her last night. "Oh!" Emily yelped, "you have a big presentation today!"

Jenna looked at her oldest niece in surprise before she mumbled to herself, "I can't believe I forgot." She began to pack up her purse faster as she spoke, "I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at..." before she glanced down at her watch, "now. Crap!" Jenna quickly took her strawberry blonde hair out of her ponytail and tried to make it presentable.

Emily walked over to her aunt, who was rapidly trying to grab everything she needed at once. She touched Jenna's arm softly, so she could get her aunt's attention. As soon as Jenna focused her wild eyes on Emily, the brunette spoke gently, "if you need to go now, then go ahead. I can handle it from here, I promise."

Jenna looked into Emily's green eyes for a moment before questioning, "are you sure?"

Emily nodded her head before she waved her hand carelessly, letting Jenna know not to worry. "We'll be fine, you should go," she told her aunt with a small smile.

Jenna sighed gratefully at her oldest niece before she grabbed her purse and jogged her way out of the kitchen. She threw a quick, "thank you," over her shoulder before she slammed the front door behind her.

Emily shook her head as she watched her aunt run out of the house before she turned back to her siblings. But when she did, Emily saw Jeremy stomping away with annoyance in his brown eyes. Emily walked over to Elena, who had a look of despair on her face. "What happened?" She questioned in confusion.

Elena sighed while she rubbed her temples tiredly. "He hates me," she mumbled.

Emily looked at her sister with a soft smile as she stated, "he could never hate you. He's just dealing with it differently." She squeezed Elena's arm tenderly as she added, "just give him some time."

Once Elena nodded her head with a sigh, Emily rubbed her sister's arm gently before she grabbed their purses from the table, and handed Elena hers. "Come on. Bonnie..." Emily began but before she could finish her sentence, there was a honk from outside. She smirked as she continued, "will be here soon."

Elena rolled her eyes before she followed after Emily, who was walking quickly towards Bonnie's blue Toyota. Emily smirked at her sister when she jumped into the passenger seat first. "Seriously?" Elena questioned with amusement shining through her brown eyes. But Emily just shrugged her shoulders carelessly, while Bonnie couldn't help but laugh at the two Gilbert sisters.

The car was filled with silence as Bonnie drove through the small town, before she decided to break it. "So Grams is telling me I'm psychic," Bonnie began, "our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that. I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already!" She pondered for a moment, "but then I started thinking, I predicted Obama, and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands."

Emily chuckled and smiled teasingly at her friend, "hey, you never know, you could really be a witch!"

As Emily took a glance out the window, of course they would be passing the familiar cemetery. She sighed soundlessly, it was the cemetery where her parents were laid to rest. Every time Emily thought about her parents, her mind would always jump back to the accident. She could remember every last detail of that day, even up to the moment when someone pulled her from the car and out of the water.

"Elena! Emily! Back in the car!" Bonnie yelled.

Emily jumped in fright, not realizing that she had spaced out. "I'm sorry, Bon Bon," she apologized with a small smile.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Elena questioned before shaking her head lightly as she apologized, "I'm sorry, Bonnie." She looked at her friend with furrowed brows as she trailed off, "you were telling us that..."

"That she's psychic now!" Emily jumped in, remembering what Bonnie had told her before she completely spaced out.

"Right," Elena trailed off humorously, not knowing if Bonnie and her sister were serious. She decided to play along as she spoke with a small smile, "okay, then predict something." Elena glanced over at Emily before she added, "about us."

Bonnie took a deep breath before she looked up at Elena through the rearview mirror with a radiant smile, "I see..."

But before Bonnie could finish her sentence, a bird suddenly bounced off the front window, causing Bonnie to lose control of the car. What felt like hours, were actually seconds before she got control and quickly pulled the car to a complete stop.

Bonnie gasped in shock, "what was that!?" She moved her eyes between the two sisters in worry, "oh, my God! Elena, Emily, are you guys okay?"

Emily opened her eyes, that she didn't even know she closed, and looked at her friend with a faint smile. "I'm fine," she told Bonnie in a small whisper. Once she realized that they were safe, Emily quickly looked into the backseat as she stared at Elena in worry before she questioned, "you okay?"

Elena looked at her sister with wide eyes before she quickly nodded her head and took a deep breath. She turned her attention to the worried Bonnie and gave her friend a reassuring smile. "It's okay. I'm fine," Elena muttered.

"It was like a bird or something," Bonnie quickly tried to explain, "it came out of nowhere."

Elena shook her head lightly, "really, w-we can't be freaked out by cars for the rest of our lives."

Emily nodded her head in agreement as she looked over at Bonnie with an encouraging smile. "We'll be okay," she promised.

Bonnie glanced between the two sisters before she took a deep breath. "I predict this year is going to be kick ass. And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you guys are going to be beyond happy," she exclaimed. The two sisters smiled at each other before they smiled over at Bonnie. Because in that moment, they believed Bonnie was right, psychic or not.

* * *

The three girls made their way through the busy hallways of Mystic Falls High School before Bonnie pointed out, "major lack of male real estate." She looked across the hallway before continuing, "look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot -" Bonnie paused in thought before she asked, "can I still say tranny mess?"

As they came to a stop in front of Bonnie's locker, Emily leaned against the pale wall next to her sister. "No, that is definitely over," she smirked.

While Elena playfully rolled her eyes at her sister, Bonnie nodded her head in complete seriousness as she stated, "ahh, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year."

Emily suddenly glanced behind her once she noticed Bonnie's attention was on something over her shoulder. When she looked, she spotted Elena's ex boyfriend and her friend, Matt Donovan, staring right at them. Emily bumped her shoulder into Elena's and pointed with her head towards the blonde. But when Elena turned around and gave her ex boyfriend a small wave, all Matt did was stare hard before stomping away.

Elena sighed sadly as she laid her head on the cool grey locker and mumbled, "he hates me."

Bonnie shook her head and explained, "that's not hate. That's you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits."

Before Emily could console her twin sister, she saw a familiar blonde heading straight towards them like a woman on a mission. "Incoming," Emily warned while she gave the fast girl a friendly smile.

"Elena, Emily. Oh, my God," Caroline yelped before she pulled each sister into a tight hug. As she pulled away and glanced between the pair of brown and green eyes, she questioned softly, "how are you guys?" But before either girl could get a word out, Caroline spoke quickly, "oh, it's so good to see you guys." She turned to Bonnie as she questioned in worry, "how are they? Are they good?"

Emily chuckled lowly at Caroline. She knew the blonde cared a lot about her and Elena, but sometimes she could go overboard with how she expressed her love. "Care, we're okay," Emily promised.

Caroline turned towards Emily and questioned with uncertainty in her voice, "really?"

"Definitely," Emily told the blonde. "Plus, we hung out almost everyday this summer, I think you would have figured out if we weren't," she explained with a gentle smile. Emily linked her arm with Elena's and said, "we're fine, I promise."

Caroline moved her eyes between the two sisters before she quickly pulled both of them into one large, tight hug. "Oh, you poor things," she mumbled.

"Okay, Caroline," Elena wheezed out as her lungs were being closed in by her friend and sister.

"Oh," Caroline sighed before she pulled away and glanced at all three girls with a bright smile, "okay, see you guys later?"

But before any of the girls could respond, Caroline was already strutting down the hallway. "No comment," Elena uttered as she saw the amused look on Bonnie's face.

Bonnie held up her hands in innocence as the three girls continued to walk through the hallways. "I wasn't going to say anything," Bonnie chuckled.

Emily shook her head at the two girls as she defended her best friend, "come on guys, you know Caroline means well."

But out of nowhere, Bonnie suddenly came to a complete stop and called out, "hold up." She held both of her arms out, causing the two sisters to also come to a stop. "Who's this?" Bonnie wondered.

"All I see is back," Elena observed as she looked into the small office.

Emily rolled her eyes at her sister before a smirk grew on her face as she corrected Elena, "no, that's a hot back."

Bonnie nodded her head in agreement with the older Gilbert. "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar," she stated as she focused on the back of the stranger.

Elena looked over at Bonnie and chuckled, "you're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?"

Bonnie shrugged, "pretty much."

Emily glanced around the hallway when she heard someone say her brother's name. She sighed once she realized it was one of Jeremy's stoner friends. Emily glanced over at Elena, hoping she didn't hear it, but of course she did. She watched her sister stomp her way towards the men's restroom as she followed Jeremy. Once Emily turned back to her friend, she touched Bonnie's arm lightly as she told the dark haired girl with a tiny smile, "we'll be right back."

Emily quickly jogged towards the men's restroom as she glanced around the hallway, hoping that no one would see her walk in. Once she made her way inside the restroom, Emily leaned against the white wall silently as she heard Elena interrogating their brother. Emily decided that she would let Elena get all of her frustration out, but she would step in before Jeremy reached his breaking point. She didn't want to have Jeremy hating Elena for pushing him too far.

"Where is it?" Elena questioned as she began to check Jeremy's pockets, "is it on you?" Emily sighed soundlessly, this was definitely a bad start.

Jeremy roughly pushed Elena's hands off of him. "Stop, all right!?" He growled, "you need to chill yourself, all right?"

"Chill myself?" Elena questioned sarcastically, "what is that, stoner talk? Dude, you're so cool."

Elena once again tried to look through Jeremy's pockets, but he quickly pushed her hands away. "Look, stop!" Jeremy yelled out in anger, "I don't have anything on me. Are you crazy?"

Elena chuckled humorlessly with wide eyes, "you haven't seen crazy, Jeremy!"

Emily noticed that her sister was about to go on a rampage, so she quickly moved off the wall and stood in front of Elena. "Okay, that's enough," Emily commanded sternly.

"But -" Elena began.

Emily knew that it wouldn't be good for either of them if Elena kept on yelling at Jeremy, so she looked straight into her sister's brown eyes as she stated, "I'll talk to him. You should go, Bonnie's waiting for you."

Elena nodded her head as her shoulders slumped in sadness before she sluggishly made her way out of the men's restroom. As soon as she was gone, Emily turned towards her brother with a tired sigh and ordered, "don't talk to Elena like that."

Jeremy rolled his eyes as he huffed, "of course you would take her side."

Emily walked closer towards her brother as she began to explain, "I'm not taking anyone's side. We just want you to get better, Jer. We all care about you and don't want to see you destroy yourself." Emily sighed heavily before she pleaded, "look. Just take it easy on Elena, she's just trying to help." Emily gave Jeremy a small smile as she squeezed his shoulder before she continued, "I'm not saying to stop what you're doing, even if it's bad. Just make sure that this is what you want to do. I will always be right there with you, I will always support you."

Jeremy's brown eyes softened as he stared at Emily, before he nodded his head with a deep sigh. "Fine," he mumbled.

Emily smiled brightly before she carelessly messed up her brother's brown hair. "Now get to class and learn something," she commanded with a smirk.

Jeremy rolled his eyes playfully at his sister before he moved in front of the mirror that was attached to a sink and fixed his hair the way he liked it. Once he was happy with his hair, he made his way out of the men's restroom as he decided to listen to his sister and made his way to class.

Emily watched her brother walk out of the restroom, before she leaned against the cold porcelain of the sink with a heavy sigh. She knew that it was going to be a long day, and this was only the beginning. Emily decided not to dwell on it too much, instead she looked into the mirror and placed on another believable smile before she made her way out of the men's restroom. But, of course, Emily didn't get very far. Because the next thing she knew, she slammed right against a brick wall. But when she glanced up, she saw that it wasn't a wall, but a guy she had never seen before with the most gorgeous forest green eyes she had ever laid her eyes on.

As Emily looked up at the stranger, she couldn't help but notice the way his eyes brightened at the sight of her. But when Emily blinked for a second, the only thing she could see on his face was confusion. "Um... is this the men's room?" He questioned.

Emily glanced back at the restroom sign with a quiet groan. This is exactly what she didn't want to happen when she followed Elena into the men's restroom. She looked back up at the green eyed stranger with an embarrassed chuckle, "uh, yes it is, but uh, I..." Emily shook her head with rosy cheeks, "I'm sorry. It's family problems, you know?" Emily smiled awkwardly as she slowly began to walk backwards before she called out quietly, "I'll see you around." Emily quickly turned around when she heard the stranger chuckle lowly. _Nice way to make a first impression,_ Emily thought sarcastically.

* * *

"Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861," Mr. Tanner began, "it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union."

Emily sighed quietly as Mr. Tanner continued to go on and on about the history she had already knew about her hometown since she was younger. So Emily started drawing small flowers along her notebook, when she suddenly heard a familiar vibrating phone. Emily glanced at the seat in front of her, where she saw her twin sister quietly pull her cell phone out. She leaned over Elena's shoulder and saw a text message from Bonnie.

 **HAWT-E. STARING U.**

Emily's brows furrowed at Bonnie's text message. She had known everyone in the classroom for years, so who would be looking at Elena that she didn't already know? Emily slowly looked around the room, until she saw who was looking at her sister. It was the guy that she had bumped into outside the men's restroom. Emily couldn't help but chuckle quietly, of course she and Elena would have the same taste in guys, being twin sisters after all.

Once the final bell rang, Emily and Elena left Mystic Falls High School behind them as they made their way towards the cemetery, where their parents were only buried four months ago. Emily knew it was strange and demented to visit their deceased parents almost everyday, but it was Elena's way of coping, and Emily would do whatever she could to help her sister heal.

It didn't take very long for the two sisters to make it to the familiar spot, it was more muscle memory than anything else. Emily kissed the tip of her fingers before placing them on the middle of her parents' gravestone with a sad smile. It was just something she would do every time she came here. Emily believed every time she did, she grew more stronger to be able to move forward from the tragedy. After a few seconds of staring at her parents' names on the gravestone, Emily slid down against an angel statue that was right across from the Gilbert plot. Once Emily was settled, Elena followed suit as she laid her head in her sister's lap while she wrote in her diary.

As the two sisters sat together, Emily aimlessly began to play with Elena's long brown hair. It was a common thing she would do if she or Elena were upset. It had a calming and soothing effect for the both of them. Elena suddenly placed her diary on the ground and looked up at her sister in wonder. "Are we going to be okay?" She whispered.

Emily looked down at her sister with soft eyes as she answered, "of course we are. Life can't always be so bad." She reached down and squeezed Elena's hand as a small smile made its way onto her face before she continued, "a few months down the road, you aren't going to remember being this sad. It will be just a bump in the road. We all will be okay in the end." Emily linked her pinky with Elena's and vowed, "I promise."

Elena nodded her head with a soft smile dancing on her face before she looked up at the clear sky. But not even a minute later, there was suddenly a loud noise that interrupted the silence. Emily looked around the cemetery in confusion before her eyes landed on a crow sitting on top of her parents' gravestone. Emily twitched her head to the side as she watched the crow just sit there as it stared at her and Elena. "I'm really starting to hate birds now," she mumbled under her breath as she moved Elena out of the way and quietly stood up from the grass. Emily slowly made her way towards the Gilbert gravestone before she waved her arms around in a fast motion. "Shoo!" She yelled at the crow. Finally after a few moments of flapping her arms, the crow flew off the large granite stone. Emily smirked, "that's what I thought." But when she turned back around, the crow was sitting right above Elena's head on the angel statue.

As Emily glanced around the empty cemetery, she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong as she saw fog begin to form around her and Elena. She had seen enough horror movies to know if fog comes out of nowhere, especially in a cemetery, it could only mean that danger was coming. So she quickly grabbed the two purses that laid on the grass and gave Elena hers before latching her hand around Elena's wrist. Emily pulled her sister with her as she walked as fast as she could through the silent cemetery. But when she took a quick look back to their previous spot, Emily saw a shadow of a man standing right behind the angel statue that she and Elena were just sitting by. Not wanting anything to happen to her sister, Emily quickened her pace. But, of course, that caused Elena to trip clumsily and fall against a large oak tree. Emily hurriedly pulled Elena up and tried to leave the cemetery, but when the two girls turned around, there was someone standing right in front of them. As Emily stared at the stranger, she realized he was the guy that she had bumped into earlier that day.

"You okay?" The guy questioned simply as he stared at the uncoordinated girl.

Elena sighed heavily before she looked up at the guy with furrowed brows. "Were you following us?" She questioned.

"Elena!" Emily scolded her sister.

He quickly shook his head before he tried to explain, "no, I, uh, I just - I saw you fall."

"Uh-huh," Elena nodded her head, even though she didn't believe him. "And you just happened to be hanging out in a cemetery," she wondered.

"Oh, my God," Emily mumbled under her breath. "We're doing the same thing, Elena," she added as she scolded her sister once again.

"I'm visiting," the guy explained, "I have family here."

"Oh," Elena mumbled, "wow. Tactless. I'm sorry. It's the fog. It's making me foggy." She glanced over towards Emily in nervousness before continuing, "and then back there, there was this - this bird, it was very Hitchcock for a second." Elena looked at the guy in thought, "that is the bird movie, right, The Hitchcock?"

Emily chuckled lowly at her sister as she decided to jump in before Elena embarrassed herself even more. "I'm Emily," she smiled at the guy in front of her before pointing towards the embarrassed girl next to her, "and this is my twin sister, Elena."

The tall brunette smiled at the older Gilbert as he introduced himself, "I'm Stefan."

"It's nice to put a name to the person I bumped into," Emily joked. She glanced back at her quiet sister and saw Elena looking at Stefan with adoration glowing in her brown eyes. Emily smirked before she turned back to Stefan with a charming smile, "I have somewhere to be, but I bet Elena here would love to keep you company." Emily moved closer to her sister as she whispered teasingly, "you're welcome."

* * *

Emily sighed deeply as she finally made it upstairs and in her bedroom. She threw her black purse on her dresser before throwing herself on her warm, soft bed. Emily closed her eyes happily, but groaned when she heard her cell phone ringing in her jacket pocket. She slowly pulled her cell phone out and glanced at the screen. Emily saw her favorite blonde's smiling face before she answered the call, "hey, Care."

"Why aren't you here at the Grill?" Caroline questioned in a motherly tone.

Emily chuckled as she rolled her eyes playfully. "Was I supposed to meet you there?" She wondered.

"We always go to the Grill after the first day of school. You, me, Bonnie, and Elena. It's tradition," Caroline exclaimed. "Please come!" She pleaded.

Emily glanced back at her warm bed, wanting nothing more than to lay down and go to sleep. But she knew Caroline was right as she remembered the importance of today, it was a tradition. Ever since the four girls were in middle school, they would go straight to the Grill after school and spend the night together until they had to leave by the force of their parents. Emily sighed silently before she spoke into her cell phone, "I'll be right there."

"Yay!" Caroline yelped. "Love you!" She quickly added before hanging up the phone.

Emily shook her head with a small chuckle as she ended the call and placed her cell phone into her jacket pocket. She grabbed her black purse from the top of her dresser before she made her way out the front door once again. Emily drove for about fifteen minutes in her small black Honda before she finally pulled in front of Mystic Grill.

As she made her way through the entrance of the Grill, Emily quickly looked around for either Caroline or Bonnie. Emily spotted Bonnie first, who was with Matt, so she headed straight towards the duo. "Hey, Matty. Hey, Bon Bon," Emily called out with a friendly smile once she was close enough.

Matt turned around in his chair at the new voice and saw the smiling green eyed girl. "Hey," Matt spoke with obvious sadness in his voice. Emily gave Matt's shoulder a short squeeze before sitting across from Bonnie. Emily knew that Matt was still heartbroken over his breakup with Elena. But Emily knew her sister, she just didn't feel that way about the blonde anymore.

"How's Elena doing?" Matt asked the two girls in a timid voice.

Bonnie glanced over at Emily before turning towards Matt with soft eyes, "her mom and dad just died. How do you think?" Bonnie sighed, "she's putting on a good face, but it's only been four months."

Emily nodded her head in agreement. "She's still trying to cope with losing our parents," she explained before shrugging lightly, "it's rough. But she's trying to deal with it as best as she can."

"Has she said anything about me?" Matt asked curiously.

Emily shook her head, "I'm so not getting in the middle of this whole thing." She sighed as she looked at the blonde with soft eyes, "look, you're my friend, but Elena's my sister. If you want to know, then you are going to have to ask her yourself."

"I feel weird calling her," Matt exclaimed, "she broke up with me."

Bonnie shook her head softly as she advised, "give it more time, Matt."

Matt nodded his head silently before he noticed Bonnie's attention was focused on the front door of the Grill. He looked in the direction the brunette was looking at, and saw Elena walk in with Stefan. "More time, huh?" Matt choked out before he stood up from the table and made his way towards the couple.

Emily watched quietly as she saw the heartbroken blonde walk towards Elena and Stefan. She sighed as she glanced over at Bonnie, who had the same expression of sympathy on her face. They both knew that Matt was still in love with Elena, while the younger Gilbert didn't convey the same passion. Emily wished she could just tell Matt the truth, that Elena didn't see him in that way anymore, but she knew that it was something her sister had to handle on her own.

* * *

Later in the night, as the restaurant began to settle down from the noise, the Gilbert sisters sat around a large oak table with their two best friends, Caroline and Bonnie, and the new resident of Mystic Falls, Stefan Salvatore. Emily knew the whole point of sitting at the table was because Caroline wanted to question the new guy. Caroline was someone that Emily knew like the back of her hand, so she knew that Caroline would stop at nothing to get what she wants, and her current target was the green eyed boy.

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline questioned as she stared at Stefan with a charming smile.

"Mm-hmm," Stefan nodded, "and moved when I was still young."

"Parents?" Bonnie questioned.

Stefan looked at each face around the table before he responded quietly, "my parents passed away."

Emily bit her lip as she glanced down at the table, knowing that feeling very well recently. She looked up at Stefan with sincerity in her eyes, "I'm sorry."

Stefan gave Emily a grateful smile, before he turned towards his left when Elena questioned, "any siblings?"

Stefan shook his head as he gave Elena a broad smile. "None that I talk to," he explained, "I live with my uncle."

Caroline didn't like the fact that Stefan's eyes were solely on Elena, so she turned on her charm by smiling brightly over at the tall brunette. "So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow," she stated.

"It's a back to school thing at the Falls," Bonnie explained as she saw the confused look on Stefan's face.

Stefan looked over at Elena with a small smile as he asked, "are you going?"

"Of course she is," Emily quickly told Stefan before Elena had the chance to open her mouth. Elena looked over at her sister in shock, but all Emily did was smirk at the brown eyed girl. Caroline and Bonnie couldn't help but chuckle at the oldest Gilbert, knowing she would stop at nothing to make sure Elena was at the party. Ever since the passing of their parents, Emily always tried to make sure her siblings were okay and happy. And Emily had this strong feeling that Stefan was going to be one of the reasons why a real smile would be making its way on Elena's face again.


	2. Chapter 2

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls," Mr. Tanner stated as he scanned the classroom. "How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?" He questioned.

Bonnie looked up from her notebook in surprise before she mumbled, "um... a lot?" She looked at the history teacher with a small grin as she confirmed, "I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."

Mr. Tanner stared hard at the young girl as he spoke, "cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett." He looked around the room before stopping on another student, "Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

"It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it," Matt told the history teacher while a small grin made its way onto his face.

"Hmm," Mr. Tanner mumbled while the class laughed at the exchange. The history teacher looked around the sea of students before he found his next victim, who so happened to be Emily's sister. "Elena?" Mr. Tanner questioned, "surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

Elena shook her head, "I'm sorry. I-I don't know."

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, Elena. But the personal excuses ended with summer break," Mr. Tanner told the younger Gilbert sister with an intense stare.

Emily glared at the history teacher as he continued to stare down at Elena. What kind of teacher talks to his students like that? Emily wasn't just going to sit there and watch Mr. Tanner belittle her twin sister, so she sat up in her seat as she was about to give the teacher a piece of her mind. But before she could utter a word, Stefan spoke up.

"There were 346 casualties," Stefan answered the previous question. "Unless you're counting local civilians," he added.

Mr. Tanner nodded his head, "that's correct." He looked at the young man in wonder, "mister...?"

"Salvatore," Stefan elaborated as the teacher trailed off.

"Salvatore," Mr. Tanner spoke curiously. "Any relation to the original settlers here in Mystic Falls?" He questioned.

Stefan took a long pause before he nodded his head, "distant."

"Well, very good," Mr. Tanner complimented as he turned towards his desk before adding, "except, of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, they were 27, sir," Stefan corrected the arrogant teacher. "Confederate soldiers, they fired on a church, believing it to be housing weapons," Stefan explained, "they were wrong, it was a night of great loss." He looked at the teacher with humor shining through his green eyes as he added, "the founder's archives are uh, stored in Civil Hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts, Mr. Tanner."  
The history teacher smiled in embarrassment before he mumbled under his breath and turned back to his desk. The whole class couldn't help but laugh at Mr. Tanner, since usually no one is able to prove him wrong and get away with it. So it was a nice change of pace to see the teacher turn red in shame.

But not even a second later, the bell rang and everyone quickly exited the classroom with joy on each of their faces. As Emily made her way through the crowded hallways, she looked for the familiar green eyed brunette. After a few short seconds, she finally spotted his tall frame. "Stefan!" Emily yelled out as she tried to her best to weave around all the students.

Stefan turned around as he heard his name being called, and saw the oldest Gilbert sister walking his way. He gave Emily a small smile as he slowed down so she could catch up with his long strides. Once Emily finally made her way to Stefan's side, the duo began to walk silently through the busy hallways of Mystic Falls High School. "I just wanted to say thank you for sticking up for Elena," Emily explained as the hallways grew quieter once students began to make their way to class.

Stefan nodded his head in understanding before he responded with a small shrug, "it was nothing."

Emily shook her head and stated, "Elena's my sister, so it's nice to have someone sticking up for her. It means a lot to me." She smirked as she added, "and I'm sure it also meant something to Elena."

Stefan chuckled lowly at the young girl before he stated, "well, then I guess you're welcome." The two teenagers continued to walk in peaceful silence before Stefan turned towards Emily in wonder. "So, are you going to the party tonight?" He questioned.

Emily's eyes brightened as she answered the question with excitement in her voice, "definitely. It's always the biggest party of the year before we have to focus on classes." She smirked as she asked, "plus, who's going to make sure my amazing sister gets to you?"

Stefan full on laughed at the brunette before he wondered, "are you trying to set me up with your sister?"

Emily looked up at Stefan in fake shock as she placed her hand over her heart playfully, "of course not."

Stefan chuckled as he looked down at Emily before he commented jokingly, "if you say so."

Emily couldn't help but laugh along with the taller boy. She felt like she could just be herself with Stefan, like she knew him all her life. As they came to a stop at the end of the hallway, Emily turned towards Stefan with a teasing smirk. "I better see you at the party, Mr. Salvatore," she told Stefan in her best posh accent.

"You certainly will, Miss Gilbert," Stefan spoke with the same accent as the brunette. Emily chuckled as she nodded her head before making her way to her next class. Emily knew right then and there, that she and Stefan would be great friends in the near future.  
_

Once the sun settled in the small town, all the teenagers crowded the woods by the famous Falls for the last party of the school year. Emily, Elena, and Bonnie all stood close together as they watched the flames of the fire reach up into the sky. But Bonnie suddenly turned towards the younger sister in amusement, "just admit it, Elena."

As she was being stared down by her sister and best friend, Elena chuckled, "oh, okay. So he's a little pretty."

"He has that romance novel stare," Bonnie exclaimed.

Emily nodded her head in agreement before she turned towards Bonnie with a smirk. She grabbed her friend's face softly as she spoke teasingly, "Stefan looked deeply into her eyes, piercing her very soul." Elena rolled her eyes at the two girls and pushed them playfully before she joined in with the laughter that fell over them.

Once Bonnie stopped laughing along with the two Gilbert sisters, she began to look through the crowd as she questioned, "so, where is he?"

Elena looked around with furrowed brows before mumbling, "I don't know."

Emily smirked, "why don't you tell us, you're the psychic one."

Bonnie smiled brightly as she remembered, "right, I forgot." She closed her eyes before she stated, "okay, so I need a sec. Grams says I have to concentrate."

"Wait!" Emily quickly yelped. "You need a crystal ball," she exclaimed. Emily moved her eyes around the dark woods before she spotted an empty beer bottle laying on the ground. She quickly picked the bottle up and bounced her way towards Bonnie as she held it out for her.

Bonnie chuckled before she wrapped her fingers around the makeshift crystal ball. But when she did, her fingers lapped over Emily's hand, which pulled her into a deep trance. It was silent as Bonnie stared at the older Gilbert with her eyes widened, before she quickly detached her hand from the bottle and from Emily.

"Bonnie?" Elena called out in worry as she watched her best friend continue to stare at her sister strangely.

Bonnie quickly shook her head as she heard the brunette calling her name, which pulled her right out of the trance she found herself in. "That was weird. When I touched you, I saw a crow," she explained.

"What?" Emily questioned in a small whisper before she quickly took a nervous glance towards her sister and noticed the same scared expression on Elena's face.

"A crow," Bonnie stated as she stared off into the distance, "there was fog, a man." As she noticed the worried faces of the two sisters, Bonnie quickly shook her head and tried to explain, "I'm drunk. It's the drinking. There's nothing psychic about it." She grabbed the bottle from Emily's hand without touching her skin and spoke quickly, "yeah? Okay, I'm gonna get a refill," before dashing away from the two sisters.

Emily watched her friend escape before she looked over at her sister, and noticed the concern shining through her brown eyes. Emily touched Elena's arm gently as she spoke, "I'll go check on her." She gave her sister a reassuring smile before she quickly walked away as she went to go find her brunette friend.

Emily made her way around the large party as she looked for Bonnie, but she couldn't find her anywhere. As she began to take another look around the woods for the brown eyed girl, she suddenly heard someone call out her name. Emily hoped that it was Bonnie, but when she turned around, she smirked as she saw it was one of her closest friends since birth, Tyler Lockwood.

Emily decided that she would leave Bonnie alone for the moment, she knew the brunette would make herself known once she was ready to talk. Instead, Emily made her way to Tyler, who was sitting on top of a wooden table. She carefully climbed onto the table with her heeled ankle boots and sat next to the mayor's son. "Thank you," Emily smirked as she grabbed the beer bottle that was in her best friend's hand.

Tyler shook his head as he stared at the young girl with humor shining through his brown eyes. "That was mine, you know?" He jested.

Emily grinned at the dark haired boy with a mischievous twinkle in her green eyes as she brought the beer bottle up to her lips and stated cheerfully, "I know." The two friends sat in peaceful silence for a moment as they enjoyed each others company and the entertainment of all the drunk teenagers that surrounded the woods. "Where's Vicki?" Emily questioned as she turned towards Tyler. Emily always loved Tyler, but she never liked how he treated the Donovan girl, like a toy he could play with whenever he wanted to.

Tyler rolled his eyes as he huffed in annoyance, "probably with your loser brother."

Emily smacked Tyler's chest lightly as she scolded him, "hey, be nice. He's my little brother." She always hated how her best friend and brother never got along. But Emily knew it had something to do with Vicki, since Jeremy was also involved with the Donovan girl.

But before Tyler could even open his mouth, Emily suddenly heard her twin sister yelling for help. She quickly sobered up as she jumped off the table and ran towards Elena's voice in worry. As Emily got closer, she noticed a large crowd starting to form as she saw her brother carrying out a limp Vicki from the shadows that surrounded the dark woods.

"Vicki?" Matt whispered in shock. "Vicki, what the hell?" He questioned out loud as he quickly made his way towards his unconscious sister.

"What happened to her?" Tyler swiftly questioned as he ran up to Matt's side with his brown eyes widened in disbelief.

"Somebody, call an ambulance!" Matt yelled as he ignored his friend's question and only focused his attention on his sister in worry.

As he felt someone breathing down his neck, Tyler quickly turned around and began to push people away. "Everyone back up, give her some space!" He yelled.

"It's her neck!" Elena suddenly exclaimed as she looked down at the girl in concern. "Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood," she cried out.

As Emily noticed the large amount of blood that was dripping down Vicki's neck, she quickly looked up from her place next to her sister, and spotted a light blue scarf lying carelessly on one of the wooden tables. She quickly jogged towards the table and grabbed the scarf tightly in her hand, before she made her way towards Vicki and placed the cloth onto her bleeding neck. She wasn't Vicki's biggest fan, but a lot of people Emily loved, really cared about the older girl, so she would do whatever she could to help.

"Vicki. Vicki, come on," Matt pleaded desperately as he looked down at his sister, "open your eyes. Look at me."  
_

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE As Stefan quickly rushed into the large house, he spotted Zach sitting in his small office. The older man jumped in fright as he looked towards Stefan alarmed. "What's going on?" He asked swiftly as he saw the disturbed look on the brunette's face.

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me," Stefan quickly explained. But before Zach could even comprehend what was happening, Stefan was already gone as he dashed up the stairs.

Once Stefan made his way into his bedroom and slammed the door shut, he walked halfway across the room before he felt something was wrong. As soon as he glanced towards his right, where he noticed his balcony door was wide open, a large crow suddenly flew across the room. He followed the crow with his eyes before he tensed as he felt someone standing right behind him. Stefan slowly turned around and spoke with a hard voice, "Damon."

The dark haired man smirked from the doorway of the balcony as he uttered smoothly, "hello, brother."

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan questioned as he heard the black bird continue to squawk from the wooden rafters of his bedroom.

Damon shrugged his shoulders lightly before he mentioned, "wait till you see what I can do with the fog."

"When did you get here?" Stefan interrogated tensely.

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day of school," Damon smirked as he slowly walked around the room. He glanced over at his brother teasingly and commented, "your hair's different. I like it."

Stefan shook his head and stated, "it's been fifteen years, Damon."

Damon rolled his blue eyes in annoyance, "thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look?" Damon chuckled lightly, "did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads."

Stefan ignored his brother's playful banter as he questioned, "why are you here?"

"I miss my little brother," Damon responded simply.

Stefan shook his head and stated, "you hate small towns. It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

Damon shrugged lightly, "I've managed to keep myself busy."

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight," Stefan stated. "That's very clumsy of you," he proclaimed as he looked at Damon curiously.

Damon screwed up his face in fake worry as he spoke, "ah. That could be a problem." He remarked proudly after a moment of intense silence, "for you."

Stefan shook his head at his brother as he questioned strongly, "why are you here now?"

Damon stared deeply into Stefan's eyes as he uttered, "I could ask you the same question." He slowly made his way in front of his brother as he concluded, "however, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into three little words... the Gilbert sisters."  
_

WOODS Emily sighed quietly as she stood next to her sister while they watched the paramedics load Vicki into the back of an ambulance with Matt quickly following behind. She couldn't believe that such a small town could have so many bad things happen to their residents.

Emily suddenly turned her head to the side when she heard fast footsteps heading straight towards them. "Hey," Bonnie called out softly. "We're gonna go mainline coffee," she explained, "wait for news."

Emily nodded her head in understanding before she glanced over at Elena and stated, "we gotta take Jeremy home."

Bonnie nodded her head before she sighed heavily. She looked between the two Gilbert sisters with her eyes widened as she began to explain, "Emily, Elena, there's no way I'm psychic. I know that." She shook her head and stated, "but whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..."

"Bonnie, what?" Elena questioned as she stared directly at her best friend.

Bonnie moved her eyes between the two sisters before she declared, "that it's just the beginning."  
_

SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE Damon moved around the room slowly before he stated, "she took my breath away, Elena. She's a dead ringer for Katherine." He shook his head with a smirk, "but Emily, wow, she is a beauty." He looked at his brother in wonder, "is it working, Stefan? Being around them, being in their world? Does it make you feel alive?"

"She's not Katherine," Stefan growled before he commanded sternly, "don't go near them."

"Well, let's hope not," Damon commented as he decided to ignore Stefan's warning, "we both know how that ended." Damon slowly began to move closer towards his brother as he questioned curiously, "tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"

Stefan scoffed, "I know what you're doing, Damon." He shook his head, "it's not gonna work."

"Yeah?" Damon questioned as he slammed his hand against Stefan's chest. "Come on. Don't you crave a little?" He growled as he stared menacingly at his brother.

"Stop it," Stefan commanded.

However, Damon decided to ignore his brother once again as he continued to push and shove Stefan around. "Let's do it," Damon instructed, "together. I saw a couple of girls out there." He slapped the side of Stefan's head as he exclaimed, "or let's just cut to the chase, let's go straight for the Gilbert sisters. Better yet, you can have Elena, I want sweet Emily to myself."

Stefan finally reached his breaking point as he suddenly pushed Damon harshly and yelled, "stop it!"

"Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Damon yelled, causing Stefan's face to transform to the monster that was hidden inside. "I can," Damon stated hungrily.

"I said stop!" Stefan growled before he ran towards Damon at full speed, which caused the two brothers to go flying through a window. Once they landed, Stefan slowly and painfully got up from the glass covered ground. But his brows furrowed when he couldn't find Damon anywhere.

"I was impressed," Damon stated casually as he leaned against a small bush. "I give it a six," he shrugged lightly, "missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face thing..." Damon trailed off as he imitated Stefan's growling before he continued with a small nod, "it was good."

"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh?" Stefan grunted as he walked closer towards his brother. "But wherever you go, people die," he stated angrily.

"That's a given," Damon said as it was obvious.

Stefan shook his head, "not here. I won't allow it."

"I take that as an invitation," Damon challenged.

"Damon, please," Stefan cried out, "after all these years, can't we just give it a rest?"

"I promised you an eternity of misery," Damon mentioned. "So, I'm just keeping my word," he vowed with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"Just stay away from Elena and Emily," Stefan commanded as he glared into Damon's vengeful blue eyes.

Damon stared at his brother before he glanced down at Stefan's hand in fake worry, "where's your ring?" Stefan quickly looked down when he suddenly couldn't feel the heavy ring weighing down his hand. "Oh, yeah," Damon spoke with fake concern, "sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof. Ashes to ashes." As Damon watched his brother squirm, he finally chuckled and exclaimed, "relax. It's right here."

Damon moved closer towards Stefan until he was only a few inches away before he held the brunette's ring out to him. But once Stefan placed the ring on his finger, Damon quickly grabbed Stefan by his throat before tossing him against the garage. As soon as Stefan's limp body touched the ground, Damon stood directly over him and growled, "you should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again." After a few seconds passed by, Damon suddenly glanced up when he heard a sound in the distance. He smirked, "I think we woke up Zach."

Damon started to walk towards the Salvatore boarding house as he apologized lightly, "sorry, Zach," before he began to whistle a small tune as he left his brother, who was in disbelief, out on the pavement in the dark with only the full moon shining in the sky. _

WOODS Emily stood to the side in silence with her sister as they watched the flashing lights of the police that littered the Falls. But as Emily looked around the woods, she finally spotted the one person she hadn't seen since the accident occurred. Emily linked her arm with Elena's and pulled her sister with her as she made her way towards Jeremy, who was leaning casually against a large tree while drinking from a beer bottle.

"You okay?" Elena asked softly once they were only a few feet away from their brother.

Emily sighed quietly once a few seconds passed and Jeremy didn't respond to Elena's question, instead, he only kept his eyes forward. "Jenna should be here soon," Emily mentioned as the tension grew between her two siblings.

The three teenagers stood in silence, before Elena decided to interrupt the calmness that surrounded the Falls as she turned towards Jeremy. "Those people in uniforms, last time I checked, they're the police," she exclaimed. But when Jeremy continued to ignore her, Elena tried again, "people are going to stop giving you breaks, Jer. They just don't care anymore. They don't remember that our parents are dead, because they've got their own lives to deal with. The rest of the world has moved on. You should try, too."

"I've seen you two in the cemetery," Jeremy mentioned as he glanced between his two sisters. "Is that - is that supposed to be you guys moving on?" He questioned.

Emily sighed as she noticed her sister went silent and quickly looked towards the ground as she avoided eye contact. She knew that Jeremy was right, none of the Gilbert siblings have moved on from the passing of their parents. So she gave each of her sibling's arm a light squeeze, which of course caused the two brown eyed Gilberts to look up at her. Emily gave both of them a small smile as she spoke, "mom and dad wouldn't have wanted this for any of us. We just have to continue to move forward. Everything will be okay. It has to be."

As Emily stood in the middle of the woods by the Falls with her two siblings, she couldn't help but think back to the night that took their parents away. With all the flashing lights from the police and ambulance vehicles, it reminded Emily of when she had to sit in the back of an ambulance with a passed out Elena as they pulled the family's green SUV from the water that surrounded Wickery Bridge. Emily just hoped that Vicki wouldn't have the same outcome as their parents did. For Matt's sake, she hoped that Vicki would be okay. Matt didn't deserve to go through all that alone when he had no family by his side. As the memories began to come back to her, Emily leaned her head on Elena's shoulder and subconsciously held her sister's hand tightly. She just wished the whole night would be over so she could forget everything and start fresh tomorrow. 


	3. Chapter 3

Emily groaned sleepily as she stretched and forced herself out of bed to get dressed for the day. She sighed when her memories from last night came back to her. But she knew that she couldn't stop all the bad things from happening, so she just had to push through them and move forward.

Emily grabbed her black and blue purse once she finished getting dressed in a blue floral top and black leggings before she went to head downstairs. But before she could even take one step out of her bedroom, Jenna instantly grabbed her arm and asked, "do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?"

Emily looked down at her aunt's outfit and saw a blue knee length dress and her strawberry blonde hair lightly curled down her back. Emily smirked, "I don't know about parental, but you look hot."

Jenna rolled her eyes playfully at her oldest niece before walking towards the hallway mirror and began to mess with her hair. "I have to go to Jeremy's parent-teacher conference," Jenna explained. "Hair up or down?" She questioned as she turned towards Emily with anxiety shining through her eyes.

Emily twitched her head to the side as Jenna placed all of her strawberry blonde hair on the top of her head. She grinned at her aunt as she stated, "sexy stewardess."

Suddenly Elena walked out of her room and made her way towards the two girls after hearing their conversation. "Boozy housewife," she commented with a small smile as she saw Jenna flatten out her hair.

"Up it is," Jenna mumbled. She looked over at Elena in surprise, "you're feisty today."

Emily smirked over at her sister as she threw an arm over Elena's shoulder, "you totally are. And I'm loving it."

Elena rolled her eyes at her sister, before she turned back to her aunt with a bright smile. "I feel good, which is rare," Elena exclaimed, "so I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on sunshine, and all that stuff." Elena then looked down the hallway before turning towards Jenna in confusion as she questioned, "where's Jeremy?"

"He left early," Jenna told Elena as she stared into the mirror. "Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse," she explained. When Jenna didn't hear anything from the two sisters, she glanced behind her in the mirror and saw two very confused faces. "There is no wood shop, is there?" Jenna mumbled.

"No," Elena whispered as she shook her head.

"Yeah," Jenna muttered in disappointment.

"I'm confused," Caroline spoke as she walked through the crowded hallways with her two best friends, Bonnie and Emily. She looked towards the brown eyed girl with furrowed brows. "Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" She questioned.

"She's psychic!" Emily exclaimed as she gave Bonnie an award winning grin.

Bonnie chuckled at the brunette before turning towards Caroline as she explained, "technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these cool Salem witch chicks or something." Bonnie shook her head, "Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor, so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night," Caroline pleaded.

Emily quickly jumped in front of the duo and stared at Caroline with her eyes widened. "Woah, woah, woah. What guy? And why am I just hearing about this now, Caroline Forbes?" Emily scolded the blonde.

Caroline couldn't help but chuckle at her best friend. "Just some extremely hot guy from the Grill last night," she explained before shrugging slightly, "I didn't get his number, so it doesn't matter."

Emily looked at the blonde like she grew another head. "Excuse me, but when does Caroline Forbes ever pass on a hot guy? Why didn't you get his number?" Emily interrogated.

Caroline shrugged, "I don't know. I was drunk."

Emily and Bonnie stared at each other for a long moment, before they both broke into laughter. Anyone that knew Caroline, knew that nothing would stop her from talking to someone she thought was hot. Caroline only rolled her eyes at her two best friends, before she made her way out of Mystic Falls High School with the two amused girls following behind.

Outside of Mystic Grill sat the four girls as they enjoyed the warm weather that has graced the small town. Emily had her twin sister and two best friends help with folding pamphlets for the large celebration that was going to take place tomorrow for the Night of the Comet. The four girls sat in peaceful silence before Bonnie began, "well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."

Caroline nodded her head lightly before she smirked as she looked over at Bonnie, "yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." She quickly turned towards Elena and questioned, "so then what?"

Elena shook her head, "so then nothing."

"You and Stefan talked all night?" Caroline questioned as she stared at Elena in confusion, "there was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?"

"Nope," Elena responded as she shook her head once more, "we didn't go there."

Emily nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I would have heard if they did do anything," she joked.

Caroline continued to stare hard at Elena as she questioned, "not even a handshake?" When Elena only shook her head, Caroline glanced over at the other two girls in shock before turning back to the brunette. "I mean, Elena, we are your friends and Emily's your sister. Okay? You are supposed to share the smut," she exclaimed.

Emily looked at the blonde in disgust, "I don't want to know about my sister's sex life, thank you very much."

"We just talked for hours," Elena tried to explain to Caroline.

Caroline looked at Elena with wide eyes as she yelped, "okay, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already!" She shook her head as she explained, "okay, it's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!"

Emily and Elena glanced at each other before looking towards the blonde as they mumbled together, "profound."

It was quiet once Caroline gave up on trying to find juicy details on Elena's relationship, so the four girls went back to folding the pamphlets together. But not even a minute goes by before Elena suddenly jumps to her feet. Bonnie looked over at youngest Gilbert in confusion as she questioned, "where are you going?"

Elena grabbed her bag from the back her chair before she turned towards the three girls. "Caroline's right," she declared, "it is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do." Elena turned to her sister before grabbing Emily's arm and pulling her up. "And you are coming with me," she commanded.

Emily pulled her hand out of Elena's as she looked at her sister weirdly, "you're serious, aren't you?" Emily watched Elena nod her head once before she groaned, "I don't want to listen to you have sex with Stefan."

Elena looked at her sister pleadingly, "please, Emmie." She quickly shook her head as she explained, "you don't even have to stay, just make sure I get in."

Emily looked at her sister and saw that she was pulling out her only weakness, her brown doe eyes. Emily rolled her eyes before mumbling, "fine." She pointed at Elena as she ordered, "and never word it like that again, it sounds so wrong."

Elena gave her sister a bright smile as she quickly grabbed her arm and pulled Emily towards her car. Bonnie and Caroline both watched the two sisters make their way to Elena's car, one sister willingly and the other being pulled, as they laughed in amusement before focusing their attention back on the pamphlets.

After a few short minutes, but what felt like forever for the excited younger sister, the two girls finally pulled in front of the Salvatore boarding house. As Emily got out of her sister's car, she couldn't help but be amazed by the size of the large house. Once Emily closed the passenger door and looked around, she soon realized that her sister was nowhere to be found. She furrowed her brows before rolling her eyes as she spotted Elena walking quickly as possible towards the entrance. Emily swiftly jogged up to her sister as they both reached the front door at the same time.

Elena looked at her sister with a nervous smile before she turned around and spotted a doorbell hanging right above her head. She pulled as hard as she could two times, however when no one came to the door, Elena decided to use the metal doorbell that was attached to the large oak. But when she knocked, the door slowly pushed open by itself. While Elena took a step back, Emily cautiously making her way inside the large house.

"Emily!" Elena scolded her sister before quickly following closely behind.

As Emily took a few steps inside the house, she paused with Elena right on her tail, as she looked around. When she didn't see or hear anyone, Emily called out loudly, "Stefan?" But when she didn't get a response, Emily began her journey further into the Salvatore boarding house before trying one last time, "Stefan?" When no one answered once again, Emily looked back at her sister, before shrugging as they slowly began to look around the house with interest shining through their eyes. But Emily suddenly turned around when she heard a creaking sound in the very quiet house. She furrowed her brows as she noticed that the front door was wide open instead of partially as they had left it.

Elena quickly latched herself onto her sister's arm in worry as the two girls cautiously made their way towards the front door. But as they took a few steps, a crow suddenly flew across the room, causing the two girls to duck as quickly as they could. Once the room was filled with silence, instead of a squawking crow, the two Gilbert sisters slowly stood up and turned around. But when they did, they jumped in fright as they noticed someone standing directly in front of them.

With the hand Elena had securely wrapped around her sister's, she pulled Emily with her as she took a step back before looking up at the stranger. "I'm sorry for bargaining in. The door was..." Elena apologized as she glanced back at the door, but was confused when she saw that it was fully closed as she mumbled, "open."

The stranger stared deeply into Elena's eyes for a moment before commenting, "you must be Elena." He turned his head and looked at the other girl as he smirked, "and you must be Emily." When the two sisters stayed silent, the man introduced himself, "I'm Damon, Stefan's brother."

Emily glanced over at Elena in confusion as she questioned, "did you know he had a brother?"

Elena shook her head as she responded, "no, he never told me."

Damon shrugged, "well, Stefan's not one to brag." He held his arm out as he exclaimed, "please, come. I'm sure Stefan will be along any second."

As Damon walked through a large room with the two girls, Emily couldn't help but look around the inside of the boarding house in amazement. "Is this your living room?" She questioned in shock. She had never been in a house that was so big and decorative before, well besides the Lockwood Mansion but everyone has been inside the mayor's house one time or another.

"Living room, parlor, Sotheby's auction," Damon listed. "It's a little kitschy for my taste," he commented. Damon turned around and glanced between the two girls before he settled his blue eyes on Elena as he spoke, "I can see why my brother's so smitten." Once Elena's eyes were focused on him, he continued, "for a while there, I never thought he'd get over the last one. Nearly destroyed him."

"The last one?" Elena questioned nervously.

Damon nodded his head as he stated, "yeah. Katherine, his girlfriend." But when Elena didn't say anything, he concluded, "oh, you two haven't had the awkward exes conversation yet."

Elena looked away as she mumbled, "nope."

"Oops," Damon muttered. "Well, I'm sure it'll come up now," he exclaimed. Damon looked down at Elena as he thought out loud, "or maybe he didn't want to tell you because he didn't want you to think he was on the rebound. We all know how those relationships end."

Emily twitched her head to the side as she studied Damon before commenting, "you say that like every relationship is doomed to end."

Damon moved his eyes towards the older Gilbert sister before shrugging, "I'm a fatalist." He kept his eyes on Emily as he greeted his brother, "hello, Stefan."

Emily quickly turned around once Damon had spoke, and sure enough, Stefan was standing in the doorway as he stared hard at the blue eyed man that stood next to her.

"Elena, Emily. I didn't know you guys were coming over," Stefan commented as he kept his eyes on his brother with a strong glare.

Elena shook her head softly as she made her way closer towards Stefan. "I know. I should have called, I just…" she started to explain.

But before Elena could finish her sentence, Damon interrupted, "oh, don't be silly. You're welcome anytime. Aren't they, Stefan?" But when his brother didn't say anything, Damon glanced over at the two girls and commented, "you know, I should break out the family photo albums or some home movies. But…" Damon glanced over at Stefan with a mischievous grin, "I have to warn you. He wasn't always such a looker."

Emily rose an eyebrow as she smirked over at Damon, "oh, and you were?"

Damon smirked right back at the brunette as he moved closer towards Emily and stated, "I like you. You're feisty."

But before Emily could even come up with a remark, Stefan quickly interrupted, not liking how close Damon was to the older Gilbert girl. "Thank you for stopping by, Elena, Emily. Nice to see you," he spoke steadily as he kept his eyes solely on his brother.

Emily noticed the hard glare that Stefan was giving Damon, so she decided that she and Elena should leave the two brothers as she felt the tension grow. Emily looked towards Stefan as she spoke, "we should probably go." She glanced over at Damon, who was only a few feet away, and uttered politely, "it nice to meet you, Damon." Emily didn't like the vibe that Damon gave off, but he was Stefan's brother, so she decided to play nice.

Damon gave Emily a sincere smile as he declared, "it was nice meeting you too, Emily." Once he took his eyes off of the green eyed girl, he smoothly walked directly in front of the younger sister. Damon grabbed Elena's hand before bringing her tan knuckles to his lips and stated, "great meeting you too, Elena."

Elena gave Damon a small smile before turning towards the entrance of the living room, where Stefan was blocking. She looked at him weirdly as she called out, "Stefan... Stefan?"

Finally after a few long and awkward seconds, Stefan moved out of the way as he continued to glare hard at his brother. Elena rolled her eyes in annoyance and in hurt by Stefan's cold attitude. She stomped her way to the door with anger seething through her veins. Emily gave Stefan an apologetic smile before quickly following her upset sister out of the tension filled Salvatore boarding house.

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena grumbled towards her aunt. Once the two sisters had made it home from the Salvatore boarding house, they found their way towards the strawberry blonde in the kitchen, where Elena ranted about Stefan.

Jenna grabbed a bright red apple from a small wooden basket as she leaned against the countertop next to Emily. "Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend," she consoled the younger sister. "Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues," Jenna listed.

Emily bumped her shoulder with her aunt's as she smirked, "you would know from experience, wouldn't you, Jenna?"

Before Jenna could even think about denying the question, she heard the front door open and saw the youngest sibling. "Jeremy?" Jenna called out. But when she saw brunette trying to sneak up the stairs quietly, she quickly rushed towards his direction and interrogated, "Jeremy, where were you?"

"More stoner stories?" Jeremy questioned as he looked down at his aunt. He shook his head, "look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool." Jeremy raised his thumb up as he commented, "and so that's… that's cool."

As Jeremy tried to continue his walk up the stairs, Jenna suddenly yelled out in anger, "oh, no, no, no!" Before she threw her barely eaten apple at the back of Jeremy's head.

Emily quickly shoved a spoonful of vanilla ice cream into her mouth as she tried to hold in her laughter while she watched the exchange between her aunt and brother. Jeremy turned towards Jenna and looked at her like she had gone completely crazy. "Ow! Why? Why did you do that?" He questioned.

"Listen up!" Jenna yelled. "Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion," she commanded.

Jeremy smirked as he looked down at his aunt, "parental authority, I like it." He raised his thumb up one last time as he uttered, "sleep tight," before he continued his way up the stairs and towards his bedroom without anymore eruptions.

Emily sighed as she watched Jenna silently walk back into the kitchen with a shocked expression. So she grabbed one of the bowls of ice cream Elena had made before handing it to Jenna with a small smile, "this might help."

Jenna sighed but took the ice cream with a grateful nod before the three girls made their way to the living room with each a bowl of ice cream, where they spent the rest of the night watching their favorite movies. Emily was happy that this was how her night was ending, without anything major going wrong. It almost felt like before the car accident. But it wasn't, her mother wasn't there - but Emily knew that she was there in spirit. The only thing that was missing was her father arguing about watching an action movie instead of a romantic comedy. But Emily still felt a small smile grow on her face as she laid her head on Jenna's shoulder and Elena's on hers. It was the perfect way to end a normal night in the small town of Mystic Falls. 


	4. Chapter 4

Early in the morning, as the sun began to shine brightly into the sky, there stood Emily with Elena and Bonnie in the middle of town square as they handed out pamphlets for the large celebration of The Night of the Comet. Emily gave a passing stranger a bright smile as she questioned politely, "would you like a pamphlet?"

Bonnie glanced over at Elena as she questioned softly, "he didn't call, huh?"

"Or text," Elena mumbled as she handed someone a pamphlet. "But I realized we never even exchanged that stuff," she recalled, "we've never gotten to the texting part."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship," Bonnie commented.

Elena looked over at Bonnie as she questioned, "isn't it?" She shook her head, "the timing is wrong, anyway."

Emily looked directly into her sister's brown eyes as she stated, "nothing in our lives have ever happened because the timing was right." She shook her head, "it's just not realistic."

"I'm not ready, you guys," Elena mumbled.

"Who is?" Bonnie questioned.

"At least I put myself out there," the younger sister spoke as she tried to explain herself.

Emily rose an eyebrow at her sister as she stated, "we have two very different definitions of putting yourself out there, because you just gave up when things got tough."

Elena quickly looked down at the pamphlet in her hand, as she avoided looking into Emily's green eyes. She knew that her sister was right, but she just didn't want to admit it. Bonnie nodded her head in agreement with the oldest Gilbert as she looked towards Elena with soft eyes, "all I'm hearing is reasons why you can't."

Emily spent the whole day helping all the volunteers with setting up for The Night of the Comet. Before she knew it, it was dark and everyone was surrounding the town square. Emily smiled as she looked at all the cheerful faces of the Mystic Falls residents. The event looked like it was becoming a major success. Ever since Emily's mother passed away, she decided to step up and help with all the Mystic Falls volunteering and foundations that her mother was apart of.

"Hey, there you are," Caroline called out as she spotted the green eyed Gilbert. "I found the candles you asked for," she informed the brunette as she held a large box filled with white candles.

Emily smiled appreciatively at the blonde as she grabbed a handful of candles. "Thank you for helping me so much today," she praised.

Caroline smiled brightly at her best friend. "I'm happy to help," she told the brunette. The two girls made their way through the crowd and handed out the white candles. Once they were finished, the duo found themselves on the side as they watched all the smiling faces.

Caroline looked over at Emily's happy face with soft eyes as she commented, "I like that look."

Emily looked over at Caroline in confusion as she questioned with furrowed brows, "what look?"

Caroline chuckled before she explained, "you look happy. When you are focusing on all this," she pointed towards the crowd of smiling faces and the different decorations before she continued, "you just look really happy."

Emily looked up at the blonde as she explained, "I just want my mom to be proud, that I didn't live for nothing." She looked at all the happy people as she continued, "she was supposed to be in charge of tonight, and I just wanted it to be perfect like she would have done it."

Caroline pulled Emily into a side hug as she informed the brunette, "your mom would have been so proud of you, Emmie. Everything looks perfect." She chuckled with a bright smile, "now enjoy some fun. You need to relax."

Emily shook her head as she laughed at the blonde, before she linked her arm with Caroline's. "Lead the way," she commanded as she grinned at her best friend.

Caroline smiled brightly before the two girls made their way towards Mystic Grill, that was across the street from the celebration. Once Emily opened the door to the familiar restaurant, she spotted their group of friends right away - Elena, Bonnie, Tyler, and Matt. She pulled Caroline in their direction as the group sat at a couple of tables that littered the crowded Mystic Grill. While Caroline made her way towards Bonnie, Emily went directly towards her twin sister. She pulled the brown eyed girl into a tight side hug, causing Elena to chuckle at her sister but hugged her back just as tight.

Before anyone had the chance to open their mouths, Jeremy came rushing over and quickly asked the group, "hey, has anyone seen Vicki?"

"You're her stalker. You tell us," Tyler barked out as he stared hard at the youngest Gilbert.

Elena glanced over at Tyler in confusion, but before she could question him, Jeremy spoke up again, "I can't find her."

Tyler shrugged lightly as he commented, "she probably found someone else to party with." He smirked, "sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced."

Emily slapped the back of Tyler's head as she glared at her best friend. Even though she knew about what Jeremy was doing, it didn't mean that Elena knew about their little brother's extracurricular activities and she wanted to keep it that way.

Elena looked between her twin sister and Tyler in confusion as she questioned, "what's with the pill pusher?"

"Ask him," Tyler responded as he pointed his head in Jeremy's direction.

"You wanna do this right now?" Jeremy growled.

Elena looked at her brother in astonishment before questioning, "are you dealing?"

"She's never gonna go for you," Tyler told Jeremy.

"She already did," Jeremy stated, "over and over and over again."

"Yeah, right," Tyler uttered, not believing a word that was coming out of Jeremy's mouth.

Caroline looked at Jeremy with her eyes widened as she questioned, "you slept with Vicki Donovan?" She chuckled lowly before correcting herself, "I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?"

Tyler shook his head, "there's no way."

"And I didn't even have to force her into it," Jeremy growled.

It felt like the whole Grill went silent at Jeremy's confession before Matt turned to his best friend in anger, "what the hell is he talking about, Ty?"

"Nothing, man, just ignore him, he's a punk," Tyler mumbled as he glared at Jeremy.

"You know what," Matt began before anyone had the chance to say anything. "How about you all shut up and help me find my sister?" He questioned irritatingly.

Bonnie nodded her head as she grabbed Caroline's hand. "We'll check the back," she told the blonde before the two girls quickly left.

"I'll check the square," Matt told the group before he jogged towards the door.

"I'll come with you," Jeremy called out before he tried to follow after Matt.

But Elena quickly grabbed Jeremy's arm tightly. "Oh, no, no, no. You're coming with us," she told Jeremy before pulling him to the side of the Grill. Once Elena saw that everyone left, she turned to Jeremy and asked, "so that's your game now, dealing?"

Jeremy rolled his eyes as he denied, "I'm not dealing."

"Look, I'm sick of the tough love speech, Jer," Elena stressed. "It's clearly having no impact," she told Jeremy.

"You and Jenna, between the two of you. Enough already!" Jeremy huffed. "Emily is the only one that understands me and doesn't try tell me what to do," he commented. "Why can't you be more like her," Jeremy bellowed as he glared at Elena before stomping away.

Once they watched Jeremy stomp out of the Grill, Elena turned towards Emily with hurt shining through her brown eyes. Ever since Jeremy could talk, he's always been closer towards the older sister. Emily knew that Elena hated that Jeremy never talked to her in the same way. She looked over at her sister with a small smile, "just let him cool off. You know he didn't mean that, he's just worried about the girl he likes." She wrapped her arm around Elena's shoulder as she stated, "now let's go help find Vicki."

Emily made her way inside Mystic Grill, after having received a text message from Tyler, as she searched through the town square with Elena, that someone had found Vicki aimlessly walking around. As Emily made her way into the Grill, she spotted Bonnie and Caroline sitting at a small table, so she quietly made her way over and sat across from the two girls.

Caroline groaned as the three girls watched the scene unfold. Matt was helping Vicki with her bandage, when Stefan walked up to the siblings and the two boys spoke quietly. "Ugh, it's just so much drama," Caroline complained. "Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?" She questioned.

"Caroline," Emily scolded her best friend. But all Caroline did was shrug her shoulders carelessly. Emily rolled her eyes at the blonde's rudeness. It didn't matter if it was true or not, it's just something you don't say, especially when that person was attacked badly in a matter of days.

"Excuse me," Stefan spoke softly as he walked towards the three girls with a friendly smile, "hi."

Bonnie smiled up at brunette as she greeted, "hi."

"Um, have you guys seen Elena?" Stefan questioned as he glanced at each girl.

"She went home," Emily responded. After Tyler had texted Emily, her sister had told that she was heading home for the night. Emily smirked secretly as she remembered the conversation she had with her sister earlier that day. She quickly slipped a pen from the pocket of her purse and grabbed a napkin that was laying on the table. "Elena forgot to give you this," Emily stated as she began to write. "It's her number," she clarified as she noticed Stefan's furrowed brows. Emily looked up at the brunette with a bright smile as she added, "my sister loves to text," she shrugged lightly, "just so you know."

Bonnie shook her head with a small smile as she realized what Emily was doing. Once she saw the oldest Gilbert had wrote Elena's number down, she grabbed the napkin and pen. "This is her email too," Bonnie commented before she handed the napkin over to Stefan. But as the grey napkin reached his hand, Bonnie's finger grazed Stefan's, and pulled her into a familiar deep trance. After only a few short seconds passed by, Bonnie pulled her hand away and looked into Stefan's eyes as she questioned softly, "what happened to you?" As silence grew between the four teenagers, Bonnie realized what she said, so she shook her head and apologized, "that's so rude. I'm sorry." She quickly stood up from the table and grabbed her bag as she mumbled, "excuse me," before rushing away.

As Stefan followed the rushing brunette with only his eyes, Caroline explained, "she kind of wigs out." She shrugged, "it's like her thing."

Emily sighed tiredly as she finally opened the door of the Gilbert house. It had been a long day, and she was just ready to lay down in her warm and cozy bed. With being up so early to organize The Night of the Comet, and with Vicki going missing for a while, it just wore out the brunette. Emily sluggishly made her way up the stairs, and was about to walk into her bedroom, but froze in her spot when she heard sounds coming from her brother's bedroom.

"Jer?" Emily called out. She wanted to see how her brother was doing, after he exploded on Elena at the Grill. So she quietly made her way towards his bedroom door, but was surprised when she saw that it wasn't Jeremy.

"No, it's me, the hypocrite patrol," Jenna stated as she dug through Jeremy's bedside table.

Emily looked at her aunt in confusion as she questioned, "what are you doing?"

Jenna stood up and looked over at Emily as she confessed, "I've become my worst nightmare." She took a deep sigh before she continued, "the authority figure who has to violate a 15-year-old's privacy." Jenna thought for a moment before she quickly rushed to the corner of the room and pulled out a bong from the inside of a boot. "Jackpot. I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative," she commented as she held up the bong in one hand and the boot in the other.

Emily made her way further into Jeremy's bedroom before she questioned, "what brought this on?"

Jenna started moved clothes out of the way as she looked all through Jeremy's dresser before she explained, "your ass-hat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday."

Emily smirked, "ah, you got Tannered." She waved her hand carelessly, "you shouldn't worry about that, he's never liked anyone in our family," she joked.

"Discover the impossible, Ms. Sommers," Jenna intimidated Mr. Tanner's voice. "Got it. Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up," she sighed.

Emily looked at her aunt with soft eyes as she shook her head, "you're not screwing up."

"Yes, I am. You know why?" Jenna questioned. "Because I'm not her," she trembled. Emily's heart broke as she saw her aunt's sadden face. Jenna took a deep breath before she continued, "she made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you." Jenna shook her head, "I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and he's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault. It's impossible."

Emily moved towards her teary eyed aunt and grabbed her hand with a small smile. "You're just scared, Jenna. It's okay to be scared," she commented. Emily chuckled lowly as she moved Jenna's sloppy strawberry blonde hair behind her ear as she began, "I mean, come on, you went from only taking care of yourself to taking care of three teenagers. You're doing a good job. Mom would be so proud of you." When Emily noticed Jenna shaking her head with tears in her eyes, she continued, "she wouldn't have left us in your hands if she didn't think you could do it. Jeremy will get better. We all will." Emily pulled Jenna into a tight hug and questioned, "how about we hang out like old times? Just you and me." But she suddenly came up with an idea as she looked up at Jenna with bright eyes. "How about dancing in the living room?" She questioned with a mischievous grin.

Jenna chuckled as she wiped the tears from her glossy hazel eyes and commented, "you were always the dancer in the family." She gasped as she recalled, "remember that time your dad recorded us dancing to Bring It On? Oh, my God! That was so embarrassing!"

Emily couldn't control her laughter as she remembered that day. Her dad had showed everyone that video like it was an award. Who knew that she would become a cheerleader in the future? As Emily thought back to that day that took place so many years ago, she couldn't help but think that her father had always knew that she would become the great cheerleader she is today. Emily had always been the dancer between her and Elena, it was one of her greatest passions.

Emily wrapped an arm around Jenna's waist as the duo made their way down the stairs, and towards the living room. Emily jogged towards the radio and turned it up loudly before she turned back to her aunt while a smirk made its way onto her face. The two girls danced with all their might, just like they did when Emily was only ten years old. Emily knew that this was something that Jenna needed, so she was glad that she could help her aunt get everything off her mind, even if it only for a few hours. 


	5. Chapter 5

As they pulled up in front of Mystic Falls High School, Emily carefully made her way out of Bonnie's white Honda. The two Gilbert sisters stood to the side as they waited for Bonnie to shut her door and join them. Once she closed her door, Bonnie made her way next to the Gilberts, but stared at the younger sister as she spoke, "I'm not saying don't date the guy. I'm just saying take it slow."

Elena pointed at her friend in confusion as she stated, "you were the one who said to go for it."

"Now I'm saying to take it slow," Bonnie stressed lightly.

Emily twitched her head to the side as she watched Bonnie carefully. She pointed to her face and questioned, "why the about-face?"

Bonnie shrugged, "it's not the about-face." She turned to Elena as she explained, "you're single for the first time in your entire high school career. It's the perfect time to play the field."

Emily threw an arm over Elena's shoulder before chuckling, "because Lena is so that girl."

"Seriously, what are you not saying?" Elena wondered.

"It's stupid," Bonnie mumbled.

Elena grabbed Bonnie's arm and faced her as she spoke strongly, "Bonnie."

"What?" Bonnie questioned innocently.

"Spit it out," Elena commanded.

Bonnie took a quick glance towards Emily before turning to younger sister with a sigh, "I accidentally touched Stefan. And I got a really bad feeling," she explained.

Emily looked at Bonnie with furrowed brows, "is that why you left so quickly last night?"

Bonnie looked over at the green eyed girl with a worried expression as she nodded her head. Elena glanced between the two girls before settling on Bonnie, "is that it?" She questioned humorously. Bonnie however didn't think it was funny, so she tried to storm off, but Elena quickly grabbed her arm. "Bonnie," she spoke softly.

"It was bad bad!" Bonnie yelped with wide eyes.

"Is this the whole witch mojo thing again?" Elena questioned with a teasing smile slipping on her face.

"You know what, I'm just concerned," Bonnie told Elena, "this is me expressing concern about my best friend's new boyfriend."

Elena smiled at Bonnie, "and I love you for it, I do. But I feel good. It's been a hard year." Elena glanced over at her sister before she continued, "and I'm starting to kind of feel like things are getting back to normal again. And you know what? Stefan is a big part of that."

Emily couldn't help but smile over at her sister. She was happy that she was right about Stefan, that he would be the reason for Elena's happiness. Emily knew from the first time she saw Stefan, that he would be one of the good guys.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, because not even a minute later, Stefan walked up to the three girls. "Good morning, Elena. Good morning, Bonnie. Good morning, Emily," Stefan greeted each girl with a small smile.

Bonnie avoided looking at Stefan and turned to the two sisters as she spoke," hey, um I gotta find Caroline. She's not answering her phone. So I'll see you guys later," before she quickly rushed towards Mystic Falls High School.

"Bonnie, wait!" Elena called out, but Bonnie either ignored Elena or she was too far into the crowd of students to hear the brunette.

Emily sighed as she watched her friend walk away. She turned to Elena and told her sister, "I'm going to go find her." Emily gave Stefan a quick smile before she made her way towards the steps of the building.

Emily finally made it inside the high school, she seriously was starting to regret wearing these black heels. Emily looked around the hallway, until she spotted the person she was looking for. She walked over to the set of grey lockers as she scolded, "what was that, Bonnie Bennett?"

Bonnie jumped as she quickly whirled around and faced the older Gilbert sister. She sighed before she turned back to her locker and placed a few books into her bag. "I just needed to find Caroline," she explained.

Emily looked around with amusement in green eyes. "Well where is my favorite blonde?" she questioned.

Bonnie sighed as she slammed her locker shut and leaned against it. "I couldn't find her," she mumbled.

Emily smiled as she spoke, "good. Then you can tell me what's going on."

"Nothing's going on," Bonnie uttered as she avoided the bright green eyes that belonged to Emily.

Emily rolled her eyes, "come on, Bonnie. You can tell me anything. I won't judge you or tell anyone. Maybe I can help."

Bonnie stared at the brunette before she nodded her head with a deep sigh. "It's just when I touched Stefan at the Grill last night, I felt so much death. It scared me." She shook her head, "I just get this bad feeling when I'm around him."

Emily nodded her head as she took in the information Bonnie was telling her. She looked at her friend with soft eyes as she asked, "do you think it has something to do with all the witch stuff?"

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders with wide eyes, "I honestly have no idea."

"Maybe you should have a talk with Grams, she could at least put your mind at ease," Emily suggested.

Bonnie looked at her friend with glazed over eyes as she whispered, "I'm scared."

Emily's eyes softened as she stared at Bonnie. She pulled the brown eyed girl into a tight hug as she spoke, "everything will be okay. If you ever need to talk about the witches, then I'll be here to listen. Even if you don't believe in all that stuff, I'll support you." Emily pulled away and looked into Bonnie's brown eyes with a small smile, "okay?"

Bonnie smiled gratefully at Emily as she nodded her head. "Thank you," she whispered softly.

Emily gave her friend a quick nod before she threw her arm over Bonnie's shoulder. "Now, come on. We don't want to late for Satan's class," she joked, causing the two to laugh happily as they made their way to history class.

"World War II ended in…" Mr. Tanner trailed off as he glanced around the classroom, "anyone got anything?" When no one said a word, the teacher moved his eyes around the room before he paused, "Miss Juan?" He questioned. When the student simply shrugged, Mr. Tanner sighed before answering his own question, "1945."

"Pearl Harbor," Mr. Tanner spoke before he glanced around the room and stopped on another student. "Miss Gilbert?" He questioned.

Emily looked up from her notebook and saw the history teacher wasn't looking at her, but her sister. "Hmm?" Elena questioned when she suddenly looked up at Mr. Tanner.

"Pearl Harbor?" The history teacher questioned again.

"Um…" Elena trailed off, not knowing the answer.

"December 7, 1941," Stefan spoke up.

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert," Mr. Tanner praised as he stared at green eyed boy.

"Anytime," Stefan responded with humor in his voice.

Emily couldn't help but join in with the laughter that fell over the classroom. It was nice to see someone who challenged the teacher every chance they could, and Stefan was that person. "Very well," Mr. Tanner uttered as he stared at Stefan. The history teacher looked around the classroom as he spoke, "the fall of the Berlin wall."

"1989," Stefan answered before he clarified, "I'm good with dates, sir."

Mr. Tanner looked at Stefan with amusement as he questioned, "are you? How good?" He thought for a moment before turning back to the brunette as he challenged, "keep it in the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964," Stefan answered.

"John F. Kennedy assassination," Mr. Tanner continued.

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"68."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs Wade."

"1973."

"Brown vs Board."

"1954."

"The battle of Gettysburg."

"1863."

"Korean War."

"1950 to 1953."

"Ha!" Mr. Tanner yelped in excitement, "it ended in '52."

The cocky history teacher chuckled as he stared at Stefan before he turned around and made his way back to the chalkboard with a pep in his step from proving a student wrong. But Stefan quickly corrected the teacher, "uh, actually, sir, it was '53."

Mr. Tanner stared hard at Stefan before he commanded, "look it up, somebody. Quickly."

It was quiet for a long moment before a student read off his phone, "it was 1953."

Everyone couldn't believe that someone had proved Mr. Tanner wrong. He always took pleasure in torturing his students but here was someone challenging the history teacher. Emily turned back towards Stefan and gave him a thumbs up with a bright smile, causing the boy to chuckle. The class started slowly applauding Stefan as the history teacher's face started to turn beet red.

In the soaring heat outside of Mystic Falls High School, Emily stood in front of the Timberwolves cheerleading squad as she commanded the group to start stretching. Emily started to twist her body to the side as she also began to stretch. But when she looked over her shoulder, Emily quickly jumped in excitement. "Is that my twin sister that I see?" Emily questioned with a smirk.

Elena smiled brightly as she moved closer to her sister and best friend, Bonnie, who stood next to Emily. "Yep," Elena nodded her head. But before she could continue, Emily quickly pulled Elena into a hug and twirled her around. Emily was happy that her sister was coming back to cheerleading. Elena laughed happily as Emily finally placed her on the ground. She turned to Bonnie as she explained, "I can't be the sad girl forever. The only way to get back to the way they were are to do things that were."

Emily couldn't stop the proud smile that was shining on her face. She was so happy that Elena was actually trying to be the girl she was before the accident. She was also glad to have her sister cheering with her again, they have always done it together since the very beginning.

Elena suddenly remembered as she turned to her best friend as she stated, "oh, and you're coming to dinner tonight."

Emily looked at her sister in confusion as she questioned, "she is?" At the same time Bonnie questioned, "I am?"

Elena nodded her head as she mumbled, "mm-hmm." She bent down to stretch as she explained, "you, me, Emily, and Stefan." Elena sighed as she saw Bonnie's displeased expression once she heard Stefan's name. "You have to give him a chance," she begged.

Bonnie shook her head and looked away as she spoke, "but tonight's no good. Have you seen Caroline? I texted her like a hundred times."

Emily shook her head with an amused smile. She knew why Bonnie was trying to avoid going, but Emily thought this was a good thing for Bonnie. She could see that he was a good guy and the things she was feeling had nothing to do with green eyed boy. "Come on, Bon Bon. It's free food," Emily joked before she grew serious, "just give him a chance."

Bonnie sighed, "fine. I'll go."

"Good," Elena smiled brightly.

Bonnie glanced down at her phone with furrowed brows as she questioned, "seriously, where is Caroline?"

Emily shook her head, "I haven't seen her all day." She looked around the school, hoping to find the blonde, but of course she was nowhere to be seen. "Where the hell is my co-captain?" Emily mumbled.

Bonnie sighed, "I'll try her again."

While Bonnie dialed Caroline's number for the hundredth time that day, Emily glanced over Bonnie's shoulder when she heard loud music coming closer. She saw a blue car driving towards their direction. As Emily looked carefully, she was shocked with what she saw.

"Uh…" Elena trailed off as she was stunned.

Bonnie turned around when she didn't hear anything from the Gilbert sisters. "Oh, my God. That must be the mystery guy from the Grill," Bonnie commented.

"That's not a mystery guy," Elena mumbled.

Emily shook her head as she continued to stare at the blue car. "That's Damon Salvatore," she told her friend.

Bonnie looked at the two sisters with wide eyes, "Salvatore, as in Stefan!?"

Before either of the girls could respond to Bonnie, Caroline came strutting over. "I got the other brother, hope you don't mind," Caroline told Elena with a smirk.

Emily rolled her eyes at the blonde. Of course she would make it a competition with Elena. Caroline was always jealous of Elena, Emily never understood why. She decided not to say anything, instead Emily stood in front of the cheerleading squad and commanded, "all right, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler." As the group of girls got into line with Emily and Caroline in the front, the captain and co-captain began, "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8."

Caroline suddenly interrupted the cheerleading practice as she spoke, "Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today? Okay?"

Elena looked over at her sister sadly. Emily gave her twin a small smile and a nod before she focused back on the cheerleading squad. "Do it again from the top!" Caroline yelled, "and 5,6,7,8. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8."

Emily glanced over at Elena, who was watching the football team. She wished she could help her sister, but it had to be Elena's choice if she really wanted to do this. From the look in Elena's brown eyes, Emily knew that her sister didn't enjoy it as much as she used to. But Emily knew one thing for sure, is that she would support her sister with whatever choice she makes.

As the sun began to set in the small town, Emily stood in the kitchen with Elena and Bonnie. Emily glanced down at the take out box in her hands with a small chuckle, Elena definitely wasn't the cooking type.

Bonnie suddenly turned to Elena with wide eyes as she began, "you explain it. Last night, I'm watching Nine-o, a commercial break comes on and I'm like, I bet it's that phone commercial," Bonnie explained, "and sure enough, it's that guy and the girl on the bench, he flies to Paris and he flies back. They take a picture."

Elena chuckled, "oh come on. That commercial is on a constant loop."

"Fine," Bonnie sighed. "Well, how about this? Today I'm obsessed with numbers. 3 numbers. I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?" She questioned.

Emily smirked, "maybe we should play the lottery," she joked. Emily was serious when she told the brown eyed girl that she would be there for her, but she tried ease Bonnie's mind by joking around. Plus she promised she wouldn't say anything, and that also meant not telling Elena.

Elena rolled her eyes at her sister before she turned to Bonnie, "have you talked to your Grams?"

Bonnie sighed, "she's just gonna say it's because I'm a witch. I don't want to be a witch." Bonnie glanced between the two girls in question, "do you want to be a witch?"

Elena shook her head, "I don't want to be a witch."

Emily shrugged as she sent her friend a teasing smile, "it could be fun, Bon Bon."

Bonnie gave Emily a small grateful smile before turned to Elena as she saw the younger girl pouring pasta into a bowl. "And putting it in a nice bowl isn't fooling anybody," Bonnie commented.

"I know right!" Emily yelped. "I could have cooked, you know," she told her sister.

Elena rolled her eyes at the two girls before she mumbled out loud, "okay, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?"

"Middle drawer on your left," Bonnie called out as she pointed towards the drawer.

Elena looked at Bonnie weirdly before she slowly opened up the drawer. And sure enough, the wooden serving spoons were sitting inside. "Okay, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times," Elena tried to explain.

"Yeah, that's it," Bonnie mumbled.

Suddenly the front doorbell rang causing Elena to smile in excitement. "Okay, he's here," she announced. Elena quickly turned to Bonnie as she spoke, "don't be nervous. Just be your normal, loving self." Before Bonnie could say anything, Elena bounced out of the kitchen and straight to the door.

Emily glanced over to Bonnie and saw her nervous face. She sighed and grabbed Bonnie's hand, "hey, you can talk to me. Like I told you this morning, if you think you're a witch, I believe you."

Bonnie gave Emily a thankful smile before she mumbled quietly, "birthday candles."

Emily looked over at her friend weirdly and watched Bonnie walk to a random drawer, and sure enough there was birthday candles sitting inside. Emily saw Bonnie's scared and shocked expression, so she quickly pulled her friend into a tight hug. "Come on, just focus on tonight. And maybe you should talk to Grams tomorrow." Bonnie nodded her head before the two girls made their way to the dining room with the bowls of take out food.

The dinner was definitely awkward, all you could hear was the scraping of silver on plates. Emily glanced over at Elena, and saw that she was thinking the same thing by her facial expression. Elena cleared her throat before asking Stefan, "did Tanner give you a hard time today?"

"Well, he let me on the team," Stefan explained, "so I must have done something right."

Elena turned to her sister and best friend as she recalled, "you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him, and…"

But before Elena could finish her sentence, Bonnie quickly interrupted, "yeah, I heard."

"I'm so going to have to hear this story," Emily chuckled, "Tyler must have been embarrassed." But when Bonnie stayed silent as she stared down at her plate, Emily couldn't help but blow out a sigh. Emily knew that Bonnie didn't trust Stefan, but she could at least act like she was trying to be nice and get to know him.

"Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?" Elena tried again as she stared at her best friend with hope in brown eyes.

Bonnie glared over at Elena before she turned towards Stefan as she spoke, "um, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad."

Elena shook her head as she whispered to Bonnie, "no, about the witches." Elena turned to Stefan with a smile as she explained, "Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool."

"Cool isn't the word I'd use," Bonnie mumbled.

Stefan looked over at Bonnie in fascination as he commented, "well, it's certainly interesting." Stefan noticed Bonnie's confused expression, so he continued, "I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800s."

"My family came the way of Salem," Bonnie explained.

"Really?" Stefan questioned in astonishment, "Salem witches?"

"Yeah," Bonnie chuckled as she glanced down at her plate.

"I would say that's pretty cool," Stefan commented.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie questioned as Stefan peaked her interest.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity," Stefan explained.

Bonnie smiled proudly, "yeah, they are."

Suddenly the front doorbell rung causing Emily to look over at her sister in confusion. "Were we expecting more people?" She questioned. But Elena shook her head as she was equally confused as her sister.

Emily quickly made her way to the front door and was surprised to see a certain blonde. "Surprise!" Caroline yelped. "Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert," Caroline explained before she thrusted the store bought cake into Emily's arms and walked through the door.

"Hope you don't mind," Damon commented from the doorway.

Before Emily could respond, Stefan and Elena came up from behind. Stefan questioned his brother, "what are you doing here?"

Damon walked closer to the door as he responded, "waiting for Emily or Elena to invite me in."

Not noticing the tension in the room, Elena nodded her head, "oh, yeah, you can…"

But before Elena could finish her sentence, Stefan quickly jumped in, "no,no, no. He can't…" Stefan glanced over at Damon before he continued, " he can't stay. Can you, Damon?"

"Get in here," Caroline commanded as she stared at the blue eyed man in confusion.

Stefan tried again, "we're just finishing up."

Elena looked over at Stefan weirdly before she turned back to Damon with a smile, "it's fine. Just come on in."

Damon smiled brightly over to his brother before he slowly walked through the door. He slid passed the two sisters as he looked around the house. "You have a beautiful home, girls," Damon commented.

"Thank you," Elena smiled at the older Salvatore brother.

Emily watched with confusion written all over her face. She didn't understand why Stefan didn't want Damon to come inside the house, it was strange. But Emily decided to just push that thought away as everyone made their way to the living room. Once everyone was seated it was Stefan and Elena sitting on a couch, Damon and Caroline sharing a chair, and Bonnie and Emily sharing another couch.

Caroline chuckled with amusement as she spoke up, "I can't believe that Mr. Tanner let you on the team." Caroline glanced over at Emily as she commented, "Tyler must be seething."

Emily couldn't help but chuckle, "he's probably full of shame since he is the number one quarterback," she commented with a small smirk.

Caroline rolled her eyes playfully at her best friend before she looked over at Stefan as she spoke, "but good for you. Go for it."

"That's what I always tell him," Damon stated, "you have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."

Caroline nodded her head, "yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today." She explained as she stared at younger sister, "it's only because you missed summer camp unlike your sister. God, I don't know how you're ever going to learn the routines."

Emily rolled her eyes, "I'm cheer captain, Caroline. I'll teach her."

Caroline sighed, "I guess we could put her in the back."

"You don't have that authority, Caroline. I do," Emily told the blonde. She couldn't help but be annoyed with her best friend. Sometimes Caroline doesn't think about what comes out of her mouth. The blue eyed girl should know better to think she was the queen B, when everyone knew that spot was only for the brunette cheerleading captain.

"You know, you don't seem like the cheerleader type, Elena," Damon commented as he stared at the brown eyed girl.

"Oh, it's just 'cause their parents died," Caroline explained before she glanced over at Elena, "yeah, I mean, she's just totally going through a blah phase. She used to be way more fun." Caroline glanced over at the older sister as she continued, "Emily is the same. She doesn't have fun anymore. All she does is take care of Elena and Jeremy." Noticing the glare Emily and Bonnie was giving her, Caroline quickly added, "and I say that with complete sensitivity."

Emily honestly couldn't believe what was coming out of Caroline's mouth. Emily didn't mind the blonde saying stuff about her, but no one gets to belittle her twin sister like that. But before Emily could tell off Caroline, Damon spoke up, "I'm sorry, girls. I know what it's like to lose both your parents." Damon glanced over at Stefan as he continued, "in fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've cared about die."

"We don't have to get into that now, Damon," Stefan told his brother.

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef. I'm sorry," Damon apologized. "The last thing I wanted to do was bring her up," he commented.

Even though, Caroline was one of Emily's best friends, she could only handle so much before she exploded. So, Emily grabbed the coffee cups that were sitting on table in the living room, and made her way to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Emily was almost done putting the dishes in dishwasher when a voice spoke from behind, "one more."

Emily turned around saw Damon holding up a empty cup. "Thanks," Emily mumbled before she reached for the cup. But when she did, the cup slipped through her fingertips. Emily closed her eyes, waiting for the impact of shattering glass, but when she didn't hear anything, she opened her eyes and saw Damon holding the cup in front of her. "Nice save," Emily smirked.

Damon pointed at Emily as he spoke, "I like you. You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which I haven't seen in a very long time."

Emily looked at Damon in confusion as she questioned, "shouldn't you be telling my sister that? You know, the one that is dating him?"

Damon shrugged lightly, "doesn't mean you don't make him just as happy."

Emily didn't think anything of what the older Salvatore was saying before she questioned in wonder, "earlier, did you mean Katherine?"

"Mm-hmm," Damon mumbled.

Emily looked over at Damon in questioned, "how did she die?"

Damon stayed quiet for a long moment before he responded softly, "in a fire. Tragic fire."

"Recently?" Emily questioned as she noticed Damon's fallen face.

"Well, it seems like it was yesterday," Damon commented with a small smile.

Emily twitched her head to the side as she asked, "what was she like?"

Damon smirked as he answered, "she was beautiful. A lot like you and Elena in that department. She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

Emily smirked, "so which one of you dated her first?"

Damon smirked back, "nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine." It was silent before Damon added, "I'd tell Elena to quit cheerleading if I were you."

Emily already knew that her sister should, but she was curious for Damon's reasons. "Why do you say that?" She questioned.

Damon leaned against the sink as he commented, "oh, I saw her at practice. She look miserable." Damon looked at Emily for a moment before he spoke, "but you already knew that."

Emily nodded her head softly as she uttered, "I thought she would be back into cheerleading, but she's just doesn't like it anymore." Emily shrugged, "things are just different this year."

Damon shrugged, "tell her to quit. You're the captain, problem solved."

Emily stared at Damon for a moment before she nodded her head once, but didn't say anything. She knew that Elena was ready to quit but she wanted her sister to come to that decision and not her. Emily suddenly looked up at Damon and spoke softly, "I'm sorry."

Damon looked at the older Gilbert in confusion before she explained, "about Katherine. You lost her too." Emily noticed Damon was looking at her shock, so she added, "you didn't have to say anything. Your face tells it all, you cared for her."

Before Damon could speak, Bonnie and Elena suddenly walked into the kitchen. "Hey. Need some help?" Bonnie questioned softly.

Emily smiled over at her friend as she responded, "yes, please."

Emily sighed as she threw her sleepy body onto her warm bed after everyone had finally left the Gilbert house. Emily was about to close her eyes, when someone suddenly began to knock on her bedroom door. She confusingly got up from her bed, opened her bedroom door, and saw her sister.

"Can I talk to you?" Elena questioned softly.

Emily looked at her sister in worry before she nodded her head and mumbled, "yeah, sure."

The two sisters made their way to Emily's bed and laid next to each other as they stared at the ceiling. After a moment of silence, Elena turned to her sister and spoke cautiously, "I want to quit cheerleading."

Emily turned to her sister with a small smile as she spoke softly, "I know."

Elena looked over at her sister with wide eyes, "what?"

Emily chuckled as she stared into Elena's brown eyes, "you don't like it anymore, I understand."

Elena looked at her sister with worried eyes, "are you sure? I don't want you to be mad at me."

Emily laughed as she pulled Elena towards her, "I could never be mad at you, Lena. If you aren't happy, I'm not going to force you into cheerleading. I'm just happy that you made it your own choice." Emily smirked, "but now you have deal with Caroline."

Elena groaned but cuddled up with her sister anyway, just like they used to as little girls. Ever since they were six years old, the two girls would always sleep in the same room, no matter what the reason was. It was nice to hold her sister, and Emily also knew that her sister needed her at this moment. It was a huge step to quit cheerleading after being on the team since she was in junior high. But Emily was happy for her sister, finally taking charge of her life, instead of letting it pass her by. 


	6. Chapter 6

Emily woke up with a bright smile on her face as soon as her alarm clock went off. It was the first football game of the season, which means it was the first time that Emily and the cheerleading squad would be showing their routine. Emily had always loved football season since she knew what cheerleading was. It has been a big part of her life ever since she was in junior high and got the chance to join a cheerleading squad.

Emily and Elena slowly made their way through the packed out crowd that surrounded the outside of Mystic Falls High School. Emily was dressed in her cheerleading uniform while Elena was in a denim skirt and a regular tank top. This would be the first time the two girls wouldn't be cheering together, but Emily was still excited for the first game like she was every time she stepped foot on the field.

The two girls were aimlessly walking around until it was time for the game when someone suddenly spoke up from behind them. The two sisters turned at the same time, and saw it was Stefan in a football uniform.

"Ooh. Look at you. You look hot in your jersey," Elena smiled at her boyfriend.

Emily faked gagged at her sister while Stefan smiled at the two sisters. Stefan looked at Elena up and down before he questioned, "what happened? No more cheerleader?"

"I quit," Elena commented at the same time that Emily said, "she's a quitter."

"No, hey, you're not a quitter," Stefan consoled Elena as he grabbed her hands. Stefan glanced over at Emily before he kept his gaze on the brown eyed Gilbert, "you both suffered a great loss. You're not the same person. You should be looking ahead. You should be starting over. Okay?" Emily couldn't help but smile at Stefan's word. She was glad that her sister had someone in her life that cared and protected her like Stefan did. Emily always knew from the beginning that Stefan was one of the good guys.

Once Elena nodded her head with a smile, Stefan pulled out two small boxes from his pocket. He looked at the two girls in nervousness before he spoke, "I hope you two don't think this is too weird, but I, uh, I wanted you both to have this."

Emily looked at Stefan weirdly but carefully took the small box from his hands. When Emily opened the box, she saw the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen. Emily looked up at Stefan in shock, "it's beautiful." She twitched her head to the side as she asked, "but why get me one?"

Stefan shrugged lightly with a smile, "you're Elena's sister, and I see you as a close friend. I hope you can take it as a token of our friendship."

Emily nodded her head in understanding, knowing what the necklace meant. She pulled Stefan into a surprising hug as she praised, "thank you, I love it." Emily gave the couple a smile before quickly speaking, "I'll see you two tonight. I need to go get the cheerleading squad in order," before she jogged towards the field to find her squad.

As the sun disappeared and the moon shined bright in the sky, the students of Mystic Falls High School crowded together in excitement for the first game of the year. It was time for the pre-game tradition that was led by Mr. Tanner. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," the history teacher spoke from the beginning on the small makeshift stage. "Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" Mr. Tanner yelled. As on queue, Emily got the whole cheerleading squad to start booing which caused the whole student body to follow along.

Once it got quiet, Mr. Tanner began again, "we've got some great new talent tonight starting on offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" Emily cheered loudly, causing everyone to follow in excitement.

"... That have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column, I have only thing to say to you. Your Timberwolves are hungry!" Mr. Tanner yelled. The crowd didn't need to be told anything before they started cheer their very loudest.

But Emily stopped cheering when she heard yells for help. She glanced around and couldn't see anything, until she glanced behind her and saw Vicki yelling for Tyler to stop. Emily softly threw her red pompoms on the ground before she jogged towards the yelling and when she did, she saw Tyler and Jeremy fighting. "Stop!" Emily yelled when she saw Tyler leaning over her younger brother and throwing punches like there was no tomorrow.

"Tyler, stop it!" Vicki cried out.

But neither boys would stop fighting each other until Stefan quickly showed up and grabbed Tyler's arm before he could slam his fist into Jeremy's bloody face again. "Hey, he's down! Enough!" Stefan yelled at Tyler. But Tyler was blind with rage and took a swing at Stefan's stomach. Tyler looked shocked when he had no effect on Stefan.

Emily went to go check on her brother, but when she turned around, she saw Jeremy grab a piece of glass from a broken bottle. "Jeremy no!" Emily yelled out, but Jeremy ignored her and went straight for Tyler. But Tyler quickly moved out of the way in mid strike, causing Stefan to get hit with the broken glass bottle.

Emily quickly walked towards Jeremy and his bloody face. "Put your head up, Jer," Emily spoke softly as she titled Jeremy's head towards the dark sky.

"I'm fine!" Jeremy yelled. "Leave me alone," he growled before stomping away from his shocked sister. Jeremy never yelled at Emily before, but she didn't take it to heart. All he was feeling was pain and rage at the moment.

Elena quickly came over to her sister as she questioned worriedly, "are you okay? And Jeremy?"

Emily sighed, "I'm fine and Jeremy will be fine. Just leave him alone for a while." Her eyes widened as she remembered, "hey, you should check on Stefan. I saw the glass cut his hand." Once Elena nodded her head, Emily touched Elena's shoulder lightly with a small smile, "I'm going to grab my jacket, I'll be right back," before she started walking towards the parking lot.

Emily quickly opened the back of Elena's trunk and grabbed her leather jacket before closing it. She slipped on the warm jacket with a sigh, but when she turned around, she jumped in fright. Damon was standing directly in front of her.

Emily chuckled lowly, "you scared the hell out of me." She twitched her head to the side as questioned, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm hiding from Caroline," Damon whispered.

"Why is that?" Emily whispered back.

"I needed a break," Damon explained, "she talks more than I can listen."

Emily shrugged lightly, "you know, that could be a sign."

"Well, she's awfully young," Damon commented.

Emily looked at Damon in confusion, "she's not that much younger than you."

Damon chuckled lowly, "I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture. I think she's drive me crazy."

Emily rose an angry eyebrow at the older Salvatore, "I'd watch what you say to me. Caroline may be difficult at times, but she's been my best friend since I could walk."

"Duly noted," Damon commented, "I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention."

Emily rolled her eyes, "yes it is. Otherwise you wouldn't put an alternative meaning behind everything you say."

Damon smiled and nodded his head, "you're right. I do have other intentions, but so do you."

"Oh really?" Emily questioned, "and what are those intentions?"

"Mm-hmm," Damon mumbled. "I see 'em. You want me," he explained.

Emily rose an eyebrow at Damon, "excuse me?"

"I get to you," Damon continued, "you find yourself drawn to me. You think about me even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dreamed about me." Damon stared directly into Emily's green eyes as he stated, "and right now… You want to kiss me."

Emily stared right into Damon's eyes. For some reason, she felt a pull to listen to him but when he moved closer to her lips, she finally snapped out of it and slapped Damon across his face. "Watch yourself, Damon," Emily growled out as she glared at the older Salvatore brother. "I would never kiss you. You're dating my best friend, even though talk bad about her behind her back. And I see what you're trying to do. Leave Stefan and Elena's relationship alone and don't even try to make me get in the middle of it. I will always protect my loved ones, so back down." Emily glared at Damon once last time before she stormed away from the very shocked Salvatore.

Emily sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest while she leaned against the side of Mystic Falls High School. She watched as the coroners loaded the deceased Mr. Tanner in the back of the van. Emily couldn't believe that her history teacher had gotten mauled by an animal.

Emily suddenly looked to her right when she heard someone running towards her. When she looked closely she saw it was Bonnie with tears in her eyes. Emily looked at her friend in worry as she questioned quickly, "Bonnie, what's wrong?"

Bonnie didn't say anything but she quickly pulled Emily to the side where no one would hear them. "You know, about the numbers I was seeing yesterday? 8, 14, 22? " She quickly questioned.

Emily nodded her head as she looked at Bonnie in confusion. But before Emily could say anything, Bonnie grabbed her hand and pointed towards a building. Emily looked closely and noticed it said BLDG 8. Bonnie turned Emily to another direction and pointed to a car with the license plate that had 14. The brown eyed girl then pointed next to the car, where the number 22 was painted.

Emily honestly didn't know what to say as she saw the same three numbers Bonnie was obsessed with only just yesterday. Emily turned to her friend, and saw that Bonnie had tears streaming down her face. "Oh, Bonnie," Emily spoke softly before pulled her friend into a tight hug. She pulled away and held Bonnie's face softly in her hands as explained, "you couldn't have known this was going to happen, okay?"

But Bonnie didn't say anything, all she could do was lay her head on Emily's chest as she cried silently. Emily held her friend closely as she spoke, "I'm going to drive you home and you really need to talk to Grams." When Bonnie tried to shake her head, Emily pulled away from the brown eyed girl and stared at her seriously, "Bonnie, you need help with this. I can only support you, but Grams can actually help you understand this." Emily gave Bonnie a small smile, "you will be okay, I promise."

Emily slowly made her way towards her car as she held Bonnie closely to her side. The two girls stayed silent in the car as the radio played quietly. It didn't take long before Emily finally arrived at the Bennett house. She made sure Bonnie got into her house and made sure that she was okay for the night before leaving.

As Emily finally made it home and back to her warm bed, she couldn't help but sigh deeply. She couldn't believe that such a good day, turned into a disaster. Emily didn't understand what was going on in the small town. Mr. Tanner was the second person, that she knew of, that was found with bite marks on their necks. First was Vicki, but thankfully she survived. But Mr. Tanner wasn't so lucky. Emily was glad that her siblings had made it home safely before she arrived, so she didn't have to worry about her family anymore for the night. Emily didn't know what was happening with the small town, it seemed everytime Emily turned around, something was going wrong. She just hoped it would get better, but you never know with Mystic Falls anymore. 


	7. Chapter 7

Emily bounced down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen when she heard voices. But in reality, it was only one voice talking to the the TV. As Emily made her way into the room, she saw her aunt glaring at the TV with hatred as she mumbled, "scum ball. Scum bucket."

Emily looked over at Elena, who was sitting at the dining room table while she watched Jenna in amusement. "Who the hell is she talking to?" She asked her sister.

"Him," Jenna spoke as she pointed towards the TV.

Emily looked closely at the TV before she realized who it was. She groaned as she looked her aunt in question, "is that Logan Fell?"

Jenna nodded her head as she commented, "also known as Logan "Scum" Fell." Jenna looked over at Elena as she questioned, "did your mom ever tell you why I moved away from Mystic Falls?"

Elena chuckled, "oh, no way. You and him?" She looked back at the TV as she commented, "he's cute."

Emily looked over at her sister in disgust, "are you blind, Lena? That man is not cute." The older sister knew all about Logan, after Jenna had told her one night when she was drunk.

Jenna nodded her head in agreement with Emily, "definitely not cute. There's nothing cute about him." Jenna glanced over at Elena, who was digging inside of a familiar old wooden box. "What are you doing with that?" Jenna questioned.

Elena grabbed a gold watch and began to clean it as she spoke, "I went yesterday and got it from the safe deposit box. Mom told Mrs. Lockwood she would loan it to the founder's council for their heritage display."

Jenna carefully picked up a ring from inside the box and examined it before she wondered, "is that grandma Beth's wedding ring?"

"Originally, it was great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring," Emily corrected her aunt with proudness leaking from her voice.

Elena looked over at her sister in shock as she questioned, "how did you know that?"

Emily explained, "mom told me when I turned 18 that I would get to have the ring." She glanced down at the ring in Jenna's hand with a small smile before she mumbled, "it was always my favorite."

Elena squeezed her sister's shoulder, but before she could say anything, Jeremy came towards the table and grabbed a pocket watch from the box. "How much do you think this stuff is worth?" He questioned, "you know, like on eBay?"

Elena quickly reached over the table and grabbed the watch from Jeremy's hand. "You're not gonna find out," she stated.

"That stuff is mom and dad's," Jeremy grumbled, "you can't just give it away."

The front doorbell suddenly interrupted the siblings dispute. Elena looked up with a bright smile before she quickly ran towards the door. Emily chuckled lowly, she knew it was probably Stefan at the door. So she turned to her brother with soft eyes as she vowed, "we're not giving it away, Jer. The council just needs it for a while, we'll get it back, I promise."

It was a little after three in the afternoon when the front doorbell rang. Emily was already in the kitchen, so she made her way to the front entrance. But Emily wished she hadn't, when she saw who was at the door. It was Tyler Lockwood. Emily wasn't that happy with Tyler at the moment, since he beaten Jeremy to a pulp.

"I'm here for my mom. I was supposed to pick up a box of stuff," Tyler mumbled as he avoided eye contact with the Gilbert girl.

Emily nodded her head before leaving the door wide open and quickly grabbing the small box from the dining room table. "Please be careful with it, Ty," Emily commanded.

Tyler looked up at Emily when she used his nickname. He sighed as he apologized, "look, I'm sorry about fighting with Jeremy. It was just in the heat on the moment, I was angry." But when Emily only stayed silent, Tyler looked into Emily's green eyes as he begged, "please, Emmie."

Emily rolled her eyes. Ever since she was little, she could never be mad at her best friend for too long. "Fine," she huffed, "just stop fighting with my little brother."

Tyler gave the oldest Gilbert a bright smile before he pulled her into a hug. "I'll see you tonight, right?" He questioned. Emily nodded her head as she watched one last smile grow onto Tyler's face before he quickly jogged towards his truck.

Later in the evening, while Elena was in the kitchen, Emily sat at the dining room table with Bonnie as they looked over several different colors of nail polishes."Delicate flower vs naughty vixen," Bonnie called out as she held up two colored nail polishes.

Elena looked over at the two colors with furrowed brows as she spoke, "tough call. Can we mix them?"

Bonnie looked over at Elena with teasing smile as she observed, "look at you, getting all pretty for your date. You seem happy-ish."

"I am… ish," Elena commented as she sat across from the two girls, "tonight's gonna be a good night."

"Speaking of dates," Emily spoke. She smiled vibrantly at Bonnie as she questioned, "would you do the honor of being my beautiful date?"

Bonnie faked gasped in happiness, "the Emily Gilbert asking me to be her date? I would love to!" Emily chuckled before she pulled Bonnie into a tight hug. Ever since Bonnie had came to Emily about all the witch stuff, the green eyed girl felt like they have became closer.

Elena rolled her eyes at her sister before she turned to Bonnie seriously, "you looked like you had something important to tell us as soon as you walked in."

Bonnie sighed as she looked away from Elena's doe eyes as she spoke, "what if I tell you guys in the morning? I don't want to ruin the night."

Elena grabbed the nail polish from Bonnie's hand, so she would focus on her before she commanded, "Bonnie, out with it."

"Okay," Bonnie sighed, "but it has to go in the fault, because Caroline would kill me if it gets back to Damon that she squealed." Bonnie took a deep breath before she explained, "apparently Stefan has a very interesting back story."

"Uh-huh," Elena mumbled, not knowing what Bonnie was getting at.

"Do you know what happened with his ex-girlfriend Katherine?" Bonnie questioned.

That grabbed Emily's attention since Damon had told her about Katherine, which Emily also told her sister about. Emily shrugged her shoulders, "we know that they both dated her."

"Yeah," Bonnie nodded her head. "They both dated her, only she chose Damon," Bonnie began to explain, "and that drove Stefan mad, so he did horrible things to try and break them up. He manipulated Katherine. He filled her head with all these lies until finally it worked, and she turned against Damon."

Emily rolled her eyes as she chuckled, "come on, that doesn't sound like Stefan at all. I'm guessing it's all lies."

Elena nodded her head in agreement, "that sounds like one person's side of the story, meaning Damon's."

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders lightly, "I just wanted you to know." She looked over at Emily, "I know he is your friend now," before she moved her eyes to Elena, "and you are dating him."

"Anyway, his past relationships are none of my business," Elena told Bonnie.

"Unless he's a calculating, manipulative liar," Bonnie mumbled as she painted her nails. "That is your business," she explained.

"Stefan is none of those things." Elena defended her boyfriend.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Bonnie questioned.

Elena opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out, because she didn't really know Stefan as good as she thought. He doesn't tell her anything about his life. She only knows about Katherine because what of Damon told her sister.

In the crowded bathroom that the three Gilbert siblings shared, the two sisters and Bonnie stood in front of the large mirror as they got ready for the founder's party. Bonnie was curling her hair while Emily was helping Elena straighten her's as Elena did her makeup. Suddenly the house phone rang that was sitting on the bathroom counter. Elena was the closest, so she reached over and answered the phone as Emily continued to straighten her hair.

"Hello?" Elena spoke into the phone, "hi, Mrs. Lockwood. What do you mean?" Elena looked at her sister in the mirror with worry written all over her face. "Is it? Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it. Let me check. Mm-hmm. I will find it and bring it. Okay. Bye," Elena spoke into the phone.

Emily watched her sister carefully as she saw the distressed look in Elena's brown eyes. The younger sister hung up the phone before she sighed, "come with me." Emily nodded her head before she placed the hot straightener carefully on the counter and quickly followed after Elena, who was heading straight for Jeremy's bedroom.

Elena rushed into Jeremy's bedroom with Emily following confusingly behind. She slapped the back of Jeremy's head, causing Jeremy to jump in annoyance. "Ahh! God, what now?" He groaned.

"The pocket watch," Elena commanded, "where is it?"

"What watch?" Jeremy questioned in annoyance.

Elena explained, "the one you stole from mom's box." She sighed, "look, Mrs. Lockwood just called me, freaking out. It was on the list, Jeremy. And she can't find it, and she thinks she's the one who lost it."

"Maybe she did," Jeremy shrugged. "Maybe Tyler took it," he commented.

Emily rolled her eyes, "don't go blaming this on Tyler."

Elena glared at her brother, "Jeremy, you took it." She questioned, "if I go online, am I going to find it on eBay? Is that how you pay for your pot?"

"Screw you," Jeremy growled before he stomped over to his bookshelf and bent down. He pulled out the watch from a small hiding place and walked directly in front of Elena. "I would never sell this, okay?" Jeremy hissed.

"Then why did you take it?" Elena questioned in confusion.

"Because it's supposed to be mine," Jeremy responded. But when he saw the confused expressions on his sister's faces, he continued, "dad said it goes to the firstborn son. His father gave it to him, and now what?" Jeremy slammed the pocket watch into Elena's hand before he stomped back towards his desk.

Emily's eyes widened in realization. Just like great-great-grandma Mary's wedding ring was Emily's, the pocket watch was supposed to be his. Emily looked at her brother softly, "and dad was going to give it to you."

"Yeah," Jeremy mumbled sadly.

"Look, Jeremy, it's still yours, okay? Mom promised Mrs. Lockwood. What do you want me to do?" Elena questioned as she stared at her brother.

"Just take it and get out," Jeremy grumbled before he placed his headphones over his ears, ignoring whatever his sisters had to say.

Emily and Bonnie finally made it to the front doors of the Lockwood mansion after waiting in line for all the residents of Mystic Falls to greet the mayor of the small town. Emily couldn't help but chuckle at Bonnie when she saw the brown eyed girl roll her eyes at the mayor's wife as she smiled at everyone.

"Emily! You look gorgeous!" Mrs. Lockwood yelped when she saw the oldest Gilbert sibling walk towards the door.

"As do you, Mrs. Lockwood," Emily spoke politely.

"Hello, Bonnie," Mrs. Lockwood greeted as she saw the other founding families child.

Bonnie let out a quiet, "hi," before she quickly linked her arm with Emily's and walked away from the older woman. Emily chuckled when they were finally away from Mrs. Lockwood. "You really don't like her?" Emily questioned with amusement in your voice.

"Nope!" Bonnie smiled before chuckling. "I'm going to go find me a drink. I'll see you later," she told her date. Emily nodded her head before she slowly began to look for her twin sister. She finally found Elena after a few minutes of talking to different people.

Emily walked inside the small room that held all of the founder's personal items before she called out with a smirk, "looking sharp, Stef."

Stefan turned around and chuckled when he saw the older Gilbert. "Looking beautiful, Emily," He complimented with a small smile.

"Looking stunning as always, Lena," Emily smiled at her sister before she glanced to the wall that Elena was looking at.

Elena gave her sister a bright smile before she turned back to the wall and began to read, "the founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration." Elena chuckled in astonishment, "wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names - Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood." Elena looked at the registry in confusion, "is that Damon Salvatore? And Stefan Salvatore?"

"The original Salvatore brothers," Damon spoke from behind the trio. "Our ancestors," he explained, "tragic story, actually."

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past," Stefan quickly told his brother before he could continue.

Elena smiled brightly over at her boyfriend as she spoke, "it's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family."

"Well, I'm bored," Caroline exclaimed from Damon's side. "I want to dance. And Damon won't dance with me," she explained.

Damon shook his head, "mm-hmm."

Caroline looked over at Elena as she questioned, "could I just borrow your date?"

"Oh, uh…" Elena trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"I don't really dance," Stefan told Caroline.

"Oh, sure he does. You should see him," Damon explained, "waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all."

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Caroline asked.

Elena stay quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say, but also not wanting Stefan to go. But finally, she mumbled, "it's up to Stefan."

Before Stefan could decline, Caroline quickly spoke up, "well, sorry, but I'm not gonna take no for an answer." She grabbed Stefan's arm and the both of them left the room.

It was silent as Emily and Elena slowly looked at the different artifacts that were being displayed before Damon suddenly spoke towards the oldest Gilbert girl, "I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you."

Elena looked over at Emily in shock, but she quickly shook her head, telling Elena not to question it right now. Damon continued, "there's no excuse. My therapist says I'm… acting out, trying to punish Stefan."

Elena looked over at Damon in confusion as she questioned, "for what?"

Damon shook his head, "it's all in the past. I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers."

"The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town," Damon explained, "until the war. There was a battle here -"

"The Battle of Willow Creek," Emily interrupted.

"Right," Damon spoke with evidence of shock in his voice.

Emily chuckled at Damon's surprised face before she explained, "I'm apart of the founding families too. Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside."

Damon nodded his head, "what the history books left out was the people that were killed, they weren't there by accident." Damon slowly moved over towards to a small model of the exact church before he continued, "they were believed to be union sympathizers. So some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive." Damon looked down at the model as he spoke, "Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" Elena questioned as she was sucked into the story.

"A woman, I guess," Damon shrugged lightly. "Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?" He questioned.

It was quiet for a moment before Emily sighed as she looked over at Damon. "Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you," Emily began as she glanced over at Elena, "but neither Elena or I can get in the middle of it."

"I hope you two can work it out," Elena added as she looked Damon with soft brown eyes.

"I hope so, too," Damon whispered as he stared at the younger sister.

Emily and Bonnie sat quietly in a small room on one of the many couch that were inside the Lockwood mansion as they shared a bowl of ice cream. But that was suddenly interrupted when Elena came into the room and plopped down next to her sister with a deep sigh.

Bonnie sighed as she saw Elena's face. "This is my fault. I planted doubt. I'm a doubt planter," she admitted.

Elena shook her head, "It's not your fault." She glanced over at her sister as she continued, "I just - I feel terrible because you promised we wouldn't get in the middle of it, and then that's exactly what I did." Elena sighed, "I got all snotty."

"Girls, there you are," Mrs. Lockwood spoke as she walked into the room and saw the three girls. "I notice the watch still isn't in the collection," the older woman commented as she looked at the two Gilbert sisters.

Emily looked over at Elena in confusion, she was there when her sister took the watch from Jeremy. Elena ignored her sister's confused expression and turned to Mrs. Lockwood with soft eyes. "Oh, um, I'm sorry, Mrs. Lockwood. I, um, couldn't find it. I guess it's still packed up in our parents' stuff somewhere," Elena apologized.

Mrs. Lockwood looked at the younger sister in disappointment. "I see. Well, please let me know if you find it," she told Elena.

"Okay," Elena mumbled politely.

Once Mrs. Lockwood was out of the room, Emily turned to her sister in confusion as she questioned, "I thought you took it from Jeremy?"

Elena shook her head, "I gave it back to him before I left the house."

Emily smiled proudly at her sister, "that's nice of you." She smirked at Elena as she stated, "we need to work on your lying skills, because they suck badly." Elena rolled her eyes at her sister before the three girls laughed together.

Being one of the founding families are a big thing for the small town, so Emily and her sister mingled with a lot of different people from Mystic Falls. Everywhere you looked, there was someone wanting to socialize with the Gilbert family. After finally getting a second alone, Emily and Elena quickly made their way to the powder room.

As the two girls made their way into the room, they saw Caroline by the mirror. "Hey," Elena spoke softly to the blonde.

"Hey," Caroline smiled. "How are things with Stefan?" She questioned the younger sister.

Elena stared into the mirror with an emotionless expression before she smiled over at the blonde, "great. Just great."

"Really?" Caroline questioned. "Well, my radar must be off, 'cause I was getting all sorts of other vibes," she commented.

Elena didn't say anything but she only stared at Caroline. She looked at the blonde weirdly when she noticed something poking out from Caroline's scarf. "What is that?" Elena questioned.

"Hmm?" Caroline questioned even though she wasn't really paying attention.

Elena glanced over at her sister in worry before she slowly moved Caroline's scarf to see what was under it. But Caroline quickly pushed Elena's hand away as she yelled, "don't!"

While Caroline was distracted by Elena, Emily quickly lifted up Caroline's scarf and gasped, "Caroline! What happened?"

Caroline quickly pushed Emily's hands away as she yelped, "nothing, okay!?"

Emily couldn't believe what she saw on Caroline's neck. It was like someone took a bite out of her. "Caroline, that's not nothing! Did someone hurt you?" She questioned with worry in her green eyes.

"No, okay, nothing," Caroline mumbled, "it just… my mom would kill me."

While Caroline was busy looking in the mirror, Elena quickly moved Caroline's white shawl from her back and the two girls saw a large bite mark. Emily couldn't control her anger as she growled out, "did Damon do this to you?"

"No!" Caroline yelled as she fixed her shawl over her shoulders, "of course not! Just leave me alone! Okay, Emily!?" Before she quickly rushed out of the powder room.

Emily looked over at Elena, before she quickly made up her mind. She rushed out of the powder room and looked through the crowd. After a moment, she found the smirking blue eyed devil and stomped her way towards him with Elena quickly following behind her. Once Emily was close enough, she pushed hard on Damon's chest. The older Salvatore's smirk vanished when Emily spoke angrily, "I told you what would happen if you messed with people I love. Hurt Caroline again and her mother, the sheriff, will be the least of your worries. If i see another mark, I will end you."

Emily marched away from Damon when Elena quickly pulled her arm to a stop. She looked at her sister with a sad and angry expressed on her face. "Come with me," Elena mumbled before she pulled her sister down by the lake, where Emily saw Stefan.

"I'm sorry," Elena spoke causing Stefan to glance at the two sisters in confusion. "I take it all back. You're completely right about Damon," she explained.

"Wait what did he do?" Stefan questioned nervously.

Emily spoke up, seeing that she connected the dots about what Damon was doing to her best friend, "Caroline has bite marks all over her body. And she's confused and doesn't know what happened to her."

Elena looked at Stefan face carefully and saw that he wasn't shocked. "You don't look surprised," Elena mumbled.

"Um… I'm handling it," Stefan uttered as he avoided looking into the Gilbert sister's eyes.

Emily looked at Stefan angrily, "he's abusing my best friend. He should be in jail!"

"Emily, Elena," Stefan spoke softly, "I...I don't expect you to understand."

"I don't understand anything, Stefan," Elena cried out. "So why don't you just clear it up for me?" She questioned.

"Look, there are things that you don't know. Neither of you, okay?" Stefan glanced between the two sisters before he focused on Elena as he spoke, "things I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to. And I need you to trust me."

"Trust is earned," Elena told Stefan, "I can't just magically hand it over."

Stefan glanced over Elena's shoulder before he quickly apologized, "I'm so sorry. I have to go," before he rushed away.

It was getting late at the Lockwood mansion as everyone slowly began to leave one by one. Emily had let Bonnie take her car home since she was tired and the Gilbert sisters were still searching for Caroline. Emily was worried about her best friend with everything that happened tonight with Damon. Emily was about to call sheriff Forbes when she walked onto the front lawn of the Lockwood mansion and saw Caroline standing in the dark.

"Caroline!" Emily yelled. She quickly jogged towards the blonde, with her heels in hand and Elena quickly follow behind her.

"Are you okay?" Elena questioned once they got closer to Caroline.

"I'm fine," Caroline mumbled.

Emily saw right through Caroline as she saw tears forming in her blue eyes. She touched Caroline's shoulder softly as she questioned, "what happened, Care?"

"I'm fine," Caroline sobbed quietly.

Elena looked at Caroline in confusion as she stated, "you're shaking."

Caroline tried again as she kept repeating, "I'm fine."

"Oh, Care," Emily mumbled sadly before she pulled her best friend into a tight hug. "I got you. It's going to be okay," Emily consoled Caroline while she looked at Elena over the blonde's shoulder with sadness in her green eyes. "Come on, Care. Let us take you home, okay?" Emily told her best friend. But all she got was a small nod and continuous sobbing. Emily and Elena slowly made their way to Elena's car with the sobbing Caroline. Emily just wanted to put her best friend to sleep and let Caroline forget about the horrible day for a few hours. 


	8. Chapter 8

Emily was quietly enjoying her cup of coffee as she watched her aunt study for college when Elena suddenly came rushing down the stairs. She looked at the two in disgust as she questioned, "are you guys aware of what's going on upstairs?"

"Uh-huh," Jenna mumbled without looking up from her notebook.

Emily smirked as she questioned, "you mean that our brother getting some?"

"And you have no objection?" Elena questioned Jenna.

Jenna chuckled, "he could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak her in and out." She glanced between the two girls as she mentioned, "oh, just so you know, I won't be home for dinner."

Emily groaned as she looked at her aunt. "You're actually going to go on a date with the scum?" She questioned.

Jenna looked at her oldest niece proudly before she explained, "I'm going to show up and torture him, yes." She suddenly turned to Elena with worry in her eyes, "have you heard from Stefan?"

Elena huffed, "not since he left that very vague message three days ago." She cleared her throat before she imitated Stefan's deep voice, "hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days."

Jenna chuckled before she questioned, "have you called him?"

"Nope. Not going to either," Elena mumbled. She looked up at her sister, remembering that Emily and Stefan were friends. "Did he call you?" Elena asked.

Emily nodded her head before she shrugged lightly, "just that he'd call in a couple days." She smirked at her sister as she tried to make Elena feel better, "but I do have to say, you do a better Stefan impression that he does."

While Elena rolled her eyes playfully at her sister, Jenna questioned the brunette softly, "and you're okay with everything?"

Elena slammed the milk that she had in her hand down and sighed, "no, I'm not okay with any of it. But I'm not gonna cry about it either." Elena shook her head as she continued, "you know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not gonna be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy."

As Elena closed her eyes and took a deep breath, Jenna looked over at her oldest niece in surprise, seeing as none of them have ever seen Elena rant like that. "Okay, then," Jenna uttered quietly.

Elena rolled her eyes when she saw that her aunt and sister were looking at each other with wide eyes. "I'll be fine," she mumbled.

Emily and Elena were leaning against the row of grey lockers with Bonnie standing in front of them as the three girls waited for the bell to ring for class. Elena was looking through the crowd of students until she spotted a familiar blonde. Elena bumped her shoulder into her sisters to get her attention. Emily looked at Elena in confusion, before following her sister's brown eyes and saw Caroline smiling away as she bossed people around and handed out flyers for the car wash that they cheerleading squad was organizing.

"Unbelievable," Elena huffed, "it's like nothing happened."

Bonnie shook her head, "she's in denial."

But suddenly out of nowhere, Stefan walked up to the three girls and uttered softly, "hey."

Bonnie glanced between the two Gilbert sisters and the Salvatore boy, and noticed the tension. "Hey. You know, I gotta go, um, be somewhere right now," she mumbled before quickly walking away.

"I'm so sorry I haven't called," Stefan apologized as he stared at Elena.

"No worries," Elena shrugged, "I'll live."

"I was dealing with Damon," Stefan explained.

"And did you… deal with Damon?" Emily questioned. She didn't want the oldest Salvatore anywhere near her best friend anymore.

"Yes," Stefan nodded, "yeah."

Elena looked at Stefan with an amused smile as she questioned, "for four days?"

"You have every right to be upset with me," Stefan told Elena before he glanced over at Emily, "but can I explain it all to you? To the both of you? Please."

Elena looked over at her sister, wanting Emily's final say about what they should do. As Emily stared into Elena's brown eyes, she couldn't help but think that they should at least give Stefan a chance. Even though his brother hurt Caroline, Emily still cared about Stefan as a friend. What could go wrong if they at least let Stefan explain everything? Emily gave her sister a small nod, deciding that this was the right decision. Elena looked over at Stefan as she finally nodded her head and responded, "sure. When?"

"I gotta be home after school, but the Grill, around four o'clock?" Stefan asked.

"Okay," Elena mumbled.

Stefan glanced between the two girls with sincerity in his green eyes as he spoke, "thank you."

"Stefan, where is Damon?" Caroline asked once she had spotted the younger Salvatore brother. "He has some serious apologizing to do," Caroline smiled.

Emily couldn't believe that her best friend was asking about the man that physically and emotionally hurt her. While Emily was trying to keep Caroline from Damon, she was trying to see him.

"He's gone, Caroline," Stefan told the blonde.

Caroline's smile dropped from her face before she asked, "when is he coming back?"

"He's not coming back," Stefan told Caroline seriously before apologizing, "I'm sorry." He looked at the three faces before he quickly walked away.

Emily glanced over at Caroline as Stefan walked away, and noticed the blonde's sadden face. "It's for the best, Care," she told her best friend softly. Emily didn't want Caroline to be hung up on the older Salvatore and have the chance for Damon to hurt her again.

Caroline nodded her head as she uttered quietly, "I know that."

At exactly four o'clock, Emily and Elena made their way into the crowded Mystic Falls. The two girls carefully looked around the Grill for the younger Salvatore brother, but they couldn't find him anywhere. Suddenly Elena bumped her shoulder into her sister's as she spotted someone familiar by the pool tables.

"Hey, Matt, um, have you seen Stefan?" Elena questioned once she and Emily were close enough for the blonde to hear her over the chattering residents that scattered the Grill.

"Nope," Matt responded as he looked up at the brown eyed girl. But as the Gilbert sisters were about to walk away, Matt quickly called out, "if you want to kill some time, um, you could rack." Matt saw Elena chuckle, so he tried again with a small smile on his face, "come on. We haven't played in forever. I'll let you break."

Emily walked around the pool table, grabbed two pool sticks, and handed one to Elena. She smirked over at Matt as she spoke teasingly, "get ready to lose to the Gilbert sisters, Matty."

As the three teenagers began playing pool, Emily couldn't help but think back to when Matt and Elena first started dating. This is what they would do when they all hanged out together, but it was usually Matt and Elena verses Tyler and Emily. There wasn't many things a teenager could do in the small town, so this is where they would find themselves.

Elena focused on the striped green ball as she carefully took her shot before she looked up at Matt. "And there's Vicki, all nonchalant in the bathroom like it's no big deal that they're hooking up," she told the blonde as she explained what she witnessed this morning.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Your brother and my sister, that's weird," Matt commented.

"Yeah," Elena mumbled distractedly as she heard her phone begin to vibrate. She glanced down at her phone before placing it on the table with a heavy sigh.

"How late is he?" Matt asked softly.

"Hitting the hour park. Nothing wrong though." Elena answered with a small smile. She took another shot, and realized Matt was still staring at her. Elena sighed, "which means I'm not talking boy problems with you."

"Good," Matt chuckled, "it's not like we were ever best friends or anything."

Emily threw an arm over Elena's shoulder as she spoke jokingly, "the best friend spot is already taken by me, sorry Matty."

Elena rolled her eyes at her sister before he turned to Matt seriously, "okay, here it goes. What do you think about Stefan? Is he a good guy?"

"Why? What's he done?" Matt questioned.

"Not any one thing," Elena began to explain, "he's just so secretive all the time. I think there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more."

"Like what?" Matt chuckled. "Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?" He joked.

Elena chuckled, "no of course not. But what do we know about him, really?"

"He's great at football," Matt stated, "a little bit of a loner. And as much as I hate saying it, he might be a nice guy."

"Plus you are more happier when you are with him," Emily added with a small smile. She might be a little bias since she's friends with the younger Salvatore, and he makes her sister smile.

Elena gave Emily a small smile before she turned to Matt and questioned, "so you think I'm being paranoid?"

"I think you should talk to him," Matt advised. "Plus, you have your bodyguard over here, ready to protect you," he joked as he smirked over at Emily.

"Talk to who?" Stefan asked from behind the three teenagers. Once all eyes were on him, he quickly apologized, "I'm so sorry that I'm late."

Emily rose an eyebrow at Stefan as she questioned, "what happened?"

"I got held up," Stefan simply answered.

"Is everything okay?" Elena questioned worriedly.

"There was this thing with my uncle," Stefan explained.

"And you couldn't have called either us and tell us you were going to an hour late?" Elena questioned in annoyance.

Matt noticed the tension between the three teenagers, so he spoke quickly, "okay. I'm gonna go." He smirked over at Emily as he whispered, "have fun," before walking away.

Stefan moved a few steps closer to Elena as he apologized, "I'm really sorry. It was unavoidable."

"What was unavoidable?" Elena questioned. But Stefan never did answer her question. The younger sister chuckled humorlessly before she grabbed Emily's hand, "okay," she mumbled and began to pull her sister towards the entrance of the Grill.

"Elena, please," Stefan called out.

Elena turned around towards Stefan and spoke tiredly, "no, Stefan, don't you get it?" She shook her head, "every question gets a vague non-answer. What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?"

Before Stefan could say anything, an older man walked up to the trio. "I know you," the man gasped quietly as he stared at Stefan. "My God," he mumbled in surprise.

Stefan looked at the man in confusion as he questioned, "I'm sorry?"

"I know you," the man repeated himself. "How can it be?" He questioned.

"I think you have the wrong person, sir," Stefan stressed.

"You haven't aged a day," the man mumbled as he looked at Stefan carefully.

Stefan stared at the man for a moment before he quickly spoke, "I'm sorry. Excuse me." He turned towards the confused Gilbert sisters, "hey, can we… can I take you home and we talk about it?" Stefan began to push the girls towards the door of Mystic Falls, "is that okay?"

Before Stefan could push the two girls fully through the door, Elena quickly turned around towards Stefan and questioned, "wait, what was that?"

"I-I don't know. Uh, nothing," Stefan tried to explain as he jumped over his words.

"Right, nothing," Elena mumbled. "Okay, um… we gotta go, Stefan," Elena whispered before she grabbed Emily's arm and quickly escaped from Stefan's eyes.

Once the two sisters made it inside of Emily's car, she glanced over at her sister and asked softly, "are you okay?"

Elena glanced over at her sister with a tired sigh as she shook her head before quietly leaning against the cool window. Emily looked at her sister sadly before she reached over and squeezed Elena's hand. She knew her sister didn't want to talk at the moment, so she started up her car before making her way to the Gilbert house.

Emily was sitting in the living room as she watched a movie, when suddenly the front doorbell rang. She confusingly got up from the couch and made her way to the door. She didn't recall that someone was supposed to be coming cover since Jenna was with Logan, and Emily's two siblings were both upstairs.

Emily was surprised when she saw Stefan standing on the other side of the door. "What are you doing here?" She questioned.

Stefan looked at the green eyed girl nervously as he explained, "I don't want to hide anything for Elena. I want her to know whatever she wants."

"I hope you know that means that I will know too since Elena is my sister," Emily joked as she tried to ease the tension that had been falling over the two lately.

Stefan chuckled lightly as he spoke, "I know. You're my friend, so please, ask away."

"I'll leave that for Elena," she told Stefan with a small smile. Emily was glad that it wasn't awkward between them anymore. She was angry at him for knowing that his brother was hurting Caroline, but Emily could see that Stefan was really trying to help.

Emily opened the door wider as she let Stefan finally walk into the Gilbert house before she made her way towards the stairs. But before she could walk up them, she turned back to Stefan and spoke, "Elena's favorite meal is Chicken Parmesan." She smirked, "just so you know." Elena and Stefan were two important people in her life, and they both made each other happy, so she wanted to help as much as she could. "Good luck," Emily gave Stefan one last smile before she quickly made her way upstairs and towards her sister's bedroom.

Emily knocked on Elena's bedroom door softly before she peeked her head through and saw Elena laying down on her bed as she held her old teddy bear close to her body. Emily walked into the room and sat beside the laying down Elena. "How are you doing?" She asked softly as she began to run her fingers through her sister's brown hair.

"I'm miserable," Elena mumbled.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Emily questioned.

Elena looked up at her sister with sad brown eyes for a moment before she finally nodded head as she laid on Emily's lap.

Emily smirked secretly as she looked down at her sister with bright eyes. "Why don't you go get the ice cream and then we can talk?"

Elena looked at Emily weirdly as she questioned, "shouldn't you be the one getting the ice cream and let me mope around?"

Emily rolled her eyes at her sister before she jumped up from the bed and pulled Elena with her. "Just listen to what I say and get the ice cream, Elena," she commanded. Elena sighed heavily but listened to her sister as she stomped her way out of her own bedroom and mumbled under her breath about how she just wanted to lay down. Emily chuckled when she heard her sister complain before she happily jumped onto Elena's bed. She was glad that Stefan was willing to work everything out to be with Elena. That was what Emily always wanted for her sister, for her to be happy, and Stefan was the way for that to happen. 


	9. Chapter 9

As the sun shined brightly into sky in the early morning, the parking lot outside of Mystic Falls High School was filled with different vehicles for the car wash fundraiser. Being the leader of the whole event, Emily stood to the side as she watched for something she had to fix. She noticed everything was running smoothly, so she joined Bonnie, who was washing a car with Matt.

Bonnie gave Emily a thankful smile as she noticed the oldest Gilbert girl before they started to wash the windows of a small car. But Bonnie glanced up when she didn't hear the water hose, which Matt was in charge of. "Uh-uh, no. None of that tortured pinning stuff," she told Matt as she saw him staring at Elena and Stefan while they kissed.

Matt shrugged lightly as he uttered, "I'm just observing."

"Mm-hmm," Bonnie mumbled even though she didn't believe Matt for one minute.

"Whatever you say, Matty," Emily smirked at her blonde friend. But she quickly turned around when she heard someone honking. Emily glanced around for someone who wasn't busy at the moment. She called out as she pointed at the red car, "Tiki! This one is yours!"

"Why do I always get the homely ones?" Tiki groaned. "Just to be clear," she told the man, "your car's a P.O.S. I mean, we can wash it, but it's still a P.O.S."

Emily glared at Tiki as she growled, "you don't have to rude." She always hated when someone was rude for no reason. Emily definitely didn't want that attitude on her cheerleading team either. It was just how Emily was raised, to always be respectful - she has her mother to thank for that.

"Rude is uglying up the road with that junker," Tiki told her cheerleading captain. But as soon as Tiki began to fill up the water bucket, the water and soap sprayed all over her. Emily couldn't help but laugh, that's karma for you. "Woah! What the hell?" Tiki yelled out.

Matt quickly ran over and grabbed the water hose that was moving out of control before handing the dark haired girl a towel. He chuckled as he smirked, "wet and wild, Tik!"

Emily grew tired after she had been washing dirty vehicles for a few hours, so she let Bonnie be in charge since she could find Caroline anymore, instead Emily made her way to the cashier to handle the money. Apparently her sister had the same idea, because once Emily got closer, she saw Elena sitting behind the cashier.

""Hey, sis," Emily called out as she moved to sit next to Elena with a bright smile.

But not even a moment later, Emily noticed a familiar man walking up to the cashier. Elena must have had the same thought, because she mentioned, "we saw you last night. You were talking to a friend of ours. At the Grill?"

"Well, I..." the man began before he took a long pause in confusion, "I thought it was somebody I knew."

"Stefan Salvatore," Elena clarified.

"Nah, it can't be," the man shook his head. "It's just my mind playing tricks on me," he tried to explain.

"Where do you think you'd seen him before?" Emily asked the man in confusion.

"When I first moved here, I stayed at the Salvatore boarding house," the older man explained.

"Oh," Elena commented softly.

"Stefan was just passing through to visit his uncle," the man continued. "I mean, none of us knew he was even here until the attack," he added.

"The attack?" Emily asked.

"His uncle got killed," the man explained, "mauled by an animal in the woods."

"His uncle?" Elena questioned, "Zach?"

"Mm-mmm," the man shook his head. "Joseph," he clarified.

Emily looked at the man in confusion. She didn't understand, she knew every resident that lived in Mystic Falls in her lifetime. The only Salvatore she always knew was Zach, even though he kept more to himself. Emily shook her head as she looked at the man with furrowed brows, "I don't think I'm familiar with the story."

"Oh, how could you?" The man shook his head, "I mean, this happened years ago."

Before anyone could say anything more, Tiki suddenly walked up towards the older man. "Grandpa, you gotta go. Mom want you home. Okay?" She told the man softly.

The older man looked at his granddaughter before he nodded his head and slowly turned around. Tiki looked over at the Gilbert sisters as she asked, "he wasn't bugging you guys, was he? He's a little alzy-heimer."

Emily gave Tiki a small friendly smile as she stood up, "no, he's very sweet. Can you watch the cashier for a moment, Tiki?" Once Tiki nodded her head, Emily grabbed her sister's hand and hurried after the older man. Emily was beyond confused what the man was talking about and she wanted the whole story.

"Excuse me, sir," Emily called out softly. Once the man turned around, Emily asked, "are you sure the man you saw, the man you knew, was Stefan Salvatore?"

The man nodded his head, "yes. I remember his ring and his brother - "

"Damon?" Elena questioned.

"Yeah," the man nodded his head, " Stefan and Damon Salvatore."

Emily didn't understand how this man knew the Salvatore brothers and knew their uncle, that wasn't Zach, who has been living the boarding house for the last seventeen years. "When did this all happen?" Emily asked.

"It was early June, 1953," the man responded. He thought for a moment before he nodded his head, "yeah. June, 1953."

Emily quickly looked over at her sister when the older man walked away. Both of the girls had their eyes widened in shock. How could that be? But one thing was for sure, Emily was going to find out the truth somehow.

Emily quickly looked over at her sister once the older man walked away. Both of the girls were in shock as what the man confessed. But how could that be when that was over fifty years ago? Emily knew one thing was for sure, she was going to do whatever she could to know the whole truth.

Emily was slowly walking around the parking lot, making sure that the whole event was running smoothly, and thankfully everything was in order. She suddenly glanced around the benched and was surprised when she saw that her aunt was still her. Emily remember that Jenna's car was one of the very first ones to have been washed. She walked towards the bench where Jenna was sitting with Elena and questioned in confusion, "why are you still here?"  
"My car isn't done yet," Jenna told her oldest niece.

"Um, yes it is. It was done hours ago," Emily told her aunt.

Jenna avoided looking into Emily green eyes she mumbled stubbornly, "no it isn't."

"Hi," Logan greeted as he walked up to the three girls. He looked towards the left of Jenna and questioned, "Elena, right?" Once Elena nodded her head, Logan turned towards Jenna's right as he stated, "and that would mean, you're Emily."

Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes towards her aunt, now she realized why Jenna was still hanging around the car wash. But Emily decided to be nice for Jenna's sake since apparently her aunt still like the guy. "I remember seeing you when we were younger," she told the news reporter.

"Your emotional maturity level when we were together," Jenna commented as she looked at Logan.

"Ouch," Logan mumbled. "Here I thought we were making progress," he told Jenna.

Emily couldn't help but smirk as she watched her sassy aunt talk to her ex boyfriend. She noticed the way the news reporter stared at Jenna or how needy he was for the strawberry blonde's affection, so she decided to use that to get her information about what happened in 1953. "Hey, Logan. If it isn't too much trouble, could I ask you for a favor?" Emily asked with a charming smile. Logan turned to Jenna as he questioned with a small smile, "if I do her a favor, will I get back into your good graces?"

Jenna sighed, "uh, a very reluctant maybe."

Logan turned to Emily with a smile as he spoke, "done." But he quickly turned back to Jenna, "wait. One condition. Dinner, tonight, your house."

"Fine," Jenna deadpanned as her two nieces smirked at her. "But you're eating leftovers," she told Logan.

"Ooh," Logan cooed in fake excitement before he turned to Emily. "What do you need?" He questioned.

Emily bit her lip before she questioned, "do you have access to old new stories, say the fifties?"

"Yeah," Logan nodded, "at the station. Between the archives and the internet, we pretty much have everything."

Elena realized what her sister was doing, so she turned to Logan with a bright smile, "we have this report way past due. It'd be a lifesaver."

Logan nodded his head as he told the two sisters, "heading there now. Let's go."

The Gilbert sisters gave Logan a identical dazzling smile before Emily turned to her aunt, "if you see Caroline, tell her I'm putting her in charge as my co-captain." Once Jenna gave her a small nod, Emily grabbed Elena's hand and quickly followed after Logan.

Logan directed the two Gilbert sisters to a small room as he began to explain, "we digitized all our archives last year. You can pull all the remote footage right up on screen." He glanced at the two girls as he questioned, "what is it exactly you're looking for?"

"An incident from 1953," Emily explained, "at the old Salvatore boarding house."

Before Logan could say anything, his cell phone began to ring. "Sorry, one second," he told the girls. "Yeah? Fire? All right, be right there," Logan spoke into the phone before hanging it up. "I gotta go," he told the two sisters. "Can you believe there is actual news to cover in this town," Logan chuckled. "All right, use keywords to search the database. It's pretty easy to navigate," he explained, "and Brady down in Tech will help you out with anything you need."  
Elena nodded her head with a small smile, "okay."

"All right?" Logan questioned. He was almost out of the door before he turned around and asked, "oh, hey. Could you guys put in a good word for me with Jenna?"

"You got it," Elena told Logan with a polite smile.

Logan nodded his head as he spoke, "alright." He threw in a quick, "good luck," before shutting the door behind him as he went on his way.

Emily rolled her eyes once the news reporter was gone. "He does not deserve Jenna," she told her sister. But Emily grew serious once she sat in one of the rolling chairs next to Elena and pulled up the search engine on the computer. She thought for a moment before she typed in 'Joseph Salvatore + animal attack' before pressing search. It took only a few seconds before the page popped up with one match found. Emily clicked on the link and the two sisters silently began to watch the old black and white video.

"This is Franklin Fell, reporting to you from the Salvatore boarding house, where a brutal animal attack has ended in tragedy," the news reporter spoke as he stared into the camera. "Okay, they're bringing out the bodies. See if you can get closer," the older Fell commanded. "Is that the nephew?" He questioned as he noticed someone.

The cameraman zoomed onto the lone person in the background, causing Emily's eyes to widened. The nephew was Stefan Salvatore. He looked exactly the same as he does right now. Emily looked over at her sister, who had the same facial expression. What the hell was going on?

Emily paced up and down her bedroom hardwood floors as she was lost in thought. She didn't know to think after what she and Elena watched at the news station. She didn't understand how Stefan was alive and still young after being in Mystic Falls during the fifties. Emily sighed heavily as she threw her body on top of her bed. She went to close her eyes, to hopefully forget everything for a few hours. But before she could even close her eyes, Elena busted open her bedroom door with wide eyes.

Emily quickly jumped us as she questioned her sister in worry, "what's wrong?"

"Come with me, please," Elena begged.

Emily nodded her head before she quickly followed her sister towards the car. Once Elena started to drive, Emily turned to Elena and questioned once again, "what's wrong?"

"I know what Stefan is," Elena mumbled to her sister as she focused on her driving.

Emily's eyes widened at her sister's confession. Emily had a thought about what Stefan could be as she had paced for hours through her bedroom. But was it really possible? Stefan never ages and as soon as he and Damon come into town, there are animal bite marks on people as well as people being drained of their blood. There was only one thing that could mean... and Emily really hoped that she was wrong.

As soon as Elena pulled in front of Salvatore boarding house, she rushed towards the front door with Emily following quickly behind. Elena took a deep breath before knocked on the door. Not even a second later the younger Salvatore brother answered the door. "What are you?" Elena questioned as her breathing was out of focus.

Stefan stared at the two girls with shock in his eyes. But when he didn't say anything, Elena questioned again, "what are you?"

"You know," Stefan stated.

Emily decided to stay silent, hoping that she was wrong about Stefan. Elena quickly shook her head, "no, I don't."

"Yes, you do," Stefan stated as he nodded his head, "or you wouldn't be here."

Elena continued to shake her head as she spoke, "it's not possible. It can't be."

"Everything you know… and every belief that you have is about to change. Are you ready for that?" Stefan questioned.

Elena grabbed her sister's hand tightly as she asked one last time, "what are you?"

Stefan stayed quiet as he stared into Elena's brown eyes until he finally confessed, "I'm a vampire."

Emily gasped as she pulled Elena closer to her and took a few steps back from the door. She couldn't believe that she was right and Stefan was an actual vampire. Emily had always thought vampires were from made up stories that people told their kids to scare them.  
Elena shook her head and mumbled, "we shouldn't have come," before she quickly pulled Emily towards her car.

"No. Please," Stefan begged.

"No," Elena yelled when Stefan tried to walk closer. "No, no," Elena continued to repeat as she ran back to her car as she held tightly onto Emily's arm. But before they could make it to the car, Stefan was suddenly in front of them. "How did you do that?" Elena asked in shock.

"Please don't be afraid of me," Stefan begged with sorrow in his green eyes.

"Let me go," Elena stressed as she began to slowly walk backwards.

"No. Elena, there's things you have to know and understand, both of you," Stefan told the two girls. He went to grab for Elena's hand but Emily quickly placed herself in front of her sister. She didn't know what to think, and she definitely wasn't going to put her sister in danger.  
While Elena was hiding behind her sister's back, she quickly made a run for it to her car. "Don't come any closer, Stefan," Emily commanded before she quickly sprinted to Elena's car and jumped into the passenger seat before Elena drove away from the Salvatore boarding house.

The whole ride back to the Gilbert house, the two sisters were completely silent. There was nothing they could say, when they were both freaking out about what they found out to be true. Once Emily opened the front door of their house, Elena quickly ran up stairs. Emily sighed before she slammed the door shut and raced upstairs to check on her sister. As Emily walked into Elena's bedroom, she saw her sister was pacing back and forth as she breathed in and out hard and fast. Emily quickly pulled Elena into a tight hug as she spoke, "hey, hey. Calm down."

Emily suddenly looked over Elena's shoulder and jumped in fright as she saw Stefan staring at the two girls. "Elena. Emily," Stefan called out.

As Stefan walked closer to the two girls, Emily quickly moved her sister behind her and began to walk slowly backwards as he continued to move forward. Stefan noticed right away that the two girls were scared, so he came to a complete stop. "I would never hurt you, either of you," Stefan commented as he stared into Emily's green eyes and Elena's scared brown ones. "You're safe with me," he promised.

Elena stepped out from behind her sister but kept a tight grip on Emily's hand as she spoke in realization, "all those animal attacks, those people who died…"

"No," Stefan quickly shook his head, "that was Damon."

"Damon?" Elena asked in shock as tears began to build up in her eyes.

"Yes," Stefan nodded his head. "I don't drink human blood. That's not how I choose to survive, but Damon does!" Stefan clarified. "I'll explain everything to you both, but I beg you, do not tell anybody," Stefan continued desperately.

"How can you ask us that?" Elena questioned in shock.

"Because you knowing this is dangerous for so many reasons," Stefan explained. "You can hate me, but I need you to trust me," he uttered.

Emily noticed Elena's heartbroken and confused face, so she looked Stefan directly into his green eyes as she spoke, "just go. Please, if you want us to trust you, you will leave now."

Stefan nodded his head sadly as he whispered, "I never wanted this." He took one last look at the Gilbert sisters before he quickly left Elena's bedroom through the opened window.

As soon as Stefan was gone, Elena broke down in tears. She went to slid down on the hard ground, but Emily quickly caught her sister and brought her into a tight hug. Elena hugged Emily just as tight as tears fell down her face. "I got you. I got you. You're safe," Emily mumbled into her sister's ear softly. She slowly moved Elena towards her bed and laid right next to her sister as she held Elena tightly. The younger sister never loosened her grip on the green eyed girl during the whole transition to the bed. Emily honestly didn't know what to as she held her heartbroken sister. How was she supposed to protect everyone she cared about from something she never knew existed? But Emily knew one thing, she was going to do whatever it took to protect everyone she loved no matter what the outcome may be. 


	10. Chapter 10

It was barely six o'clock in the morning when Emily woke up next to her sister. She couldn't sleep knowing what was actually out there in the small town. As soon as Elena was awake, the two girls were ready to get the answers that they deserved. If they were going to be involved in this, they should know everything there is to know about vampires. So Emily called Stefan, since Elena was still frightened by the younger Salvatore, and arranged a meeting at Mystic Grill.

As the two Gilbert sisters sat across from Stefan at a small table outside of the Grill, Elena quickly spoke, "you said you would explain everything."

Emily nodded her head as she looked at Stefan and stated, "that's why I called you. We want to know the truth."

Once Stefan nodded his head, Elena continued, "when you Google 'vampire' you get a world of fiction. What's the reality?"

"I can tell you whatever you want to know," Stefan stated.

Elena glanced over at her sister before she turned back Stefan and spoke, "I know you eat garlic."

"Yes," Stefan nodded.

"And somehow, sunlight's not an issue," Elena continued.

"Hi, here are your drinks," a waitress spoke as she placed down three coffee cups.

"Thank you," Emily smiled politely.

Once the waitress was out of hearing range, Stefan responded, "we have rings to protect us." Emily looked down at the large ring that was hanging on Stefan's finger. It makes sense, Damon has almost the same one.

"Crucifixes?" Elena asked.

"Decorative," Stefan answered.

"Holy water?" Elena continued.

Stefan shrugged," drinkable."

"Mirrors?" Elena questioned.

"Myth," Stefan answered.

"You said you don't kill to survive," Emily stated. She wanted to know the important answers that could cause harm to her family.

Stefan nodded his head, "animal blood keeps me alive, but not as strong as Damon. He can be very powerful."

Emily looked up at Stefan in disgust and anger, "and you let him be involved with Caroline?"

"Forcing Damon not to do something is much more dangerous, believe me," Stefan tried to explain.

"He was hurting her!" Emily yelled out in anger. What Damon was doing to her best friend, would never be okay in Emily's book.

"He was feeding on her," Stefan corrected the green eyed girl. "He was able to take away her memories of being bitten, using a form of mind compulsion. She never knew what was happening to her. If he wanted to kill her, he would have," he explained.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Emily growled.

Stefan shook his head quickly as he stared at the oldest Gilbert. "No. No, none of this is okay, Emily," he told the brunette.

"Are there any others, aside from you and Damon?" Elena questioned quietly as a silence fell over the trio.

Stefan shook his head, "not in Mystic Falls; not anymore."

"Not anymore?" Elena questioned in confusion.

Stefan nodded his head once as he thought for a moment before he explained, "there was a time when this town was… very much aware of vampires, and it didn't end well for anybody." Stefan glanced between the two sisters with seriousness shining through his green eyes, "that's why it's important that you don't tell anyone, either of you."

Elena glanced at her sister before she turned back to Stefan and stated, "I can't promise that."

"Elena," Stefan spoke softly as he reached across the table and placed her small hand into his two large ones, "give me today." He glanced over at the older sister as he continued, "I will answer any questions that you have, and when it's over, you can decide for yourself what you wanna do with what you know. It'll be your choice."

Emily glanced over at her sister, and saw Elena was staring hard at the table as she avoided looking into Stefan's green eyes. The only thing Emily wanted was the truth, and Stefan was the only way she could have that. So she looked up at the younger Salvatore with determination in her eyes, "we'll listen." He never gave off that Emily couldn't trust him, so she decided this was the only option to be able to protect her family.

* * *

An awkward silence well over the trio as they rode through Mystic Falls in Elena's car while Stefan directed from the passenger seat. Neither sister knew if they could still trust Stefan. What was there to say when you find out your friend is a vampire? Emily didn't know what to think as she sat in the backseat, all she knew was that she wanted to know everything. She needed to know if she would have to protect her family even more with the knowledge of vampires in the small town.

Stefan suddenly broke the silence as he called out, "stop here."

Once Elena pulled the car to a stop, Emily jumped out and began to look around. All she could see was woods and what looks to be the remains of an old building. Emily turned to Stefan as she questioned confusingly, "you aren't planning to kill us, are you?"

Even though the situation was serious, Stefan couldn't help but let a small chuckle as he shook his head. "I want to show you guys something," he explained.

"In the middle of nowhere?" Elena questioned as slowly moved closer towards her sister.

"This," Stefan spoke as he began to look around, "didn't use to be nowhere. Used to be my home."

"It looks so…" Elena trailed off, not knowing what to call it.

"Old?" Stefan questioned. "It's because they are," he responded.

Emily carefully began to walk around the woods as she saw bricks barely standing. She noticed an off white broken statue, so made her way towards it. Emily's brows furrowed as she noticed how old it looked. She turned to Stefan and questioned, "this has to be over 100 years old... so am I getting warmer on your real age?"

"You're close," Stefan nodded his head as he commented. "I've been 17 years old since 1864," he explained.

"Oh, my God," Elena mumbled in disbelief as she reached for her sister's hand and held on tightly. Emily squeezed her sister's hand back just as tightly. Even though she had guessed his real age, Emily didn't think she was going to right. So she was secretly freaking out at the realization that her friend was over 100 years old, but she had to stay calm for her sister.

"You said you wanted to know. I'm not gonna hold anything back," Stefan told the two girls. "Half a century before the boarding house was even built, this was my family's home," he began to explain, "Damon and I… we were both born here. The Salvatore brothers, best friends."

* * *

 _Damon rushed out the large white colored house as Stefan chased after him just as quick. The two brothers ran into the field, but before Damon could throw the ball at this younger brother, Stefan quickly asked, "wait. Where did you learn this game?"_

 _"Camp outside Atlanta," Damon explained, "one of the officers picked it up at Harvard." He threw the ball into the air as he exclaimed, "catch."_

 _Stefan caught the ball but quickly yelled out as Damon began to chase him, "wait a minute. Wait a minute. What are the rules?"_

 _But Damon only ignored his brother and tried to grab the ball out of his hands. The two brothers continued to run around but was stopped by a sweet voice that spoke up, "who needs rules?" The two boys turned around and saw the beautiful Katherine Pierce. "Mind if I join you?" She questioned._

 _"Uh, well, you could, uh… you could get hurt," Stefan spoke out of breath. "My brother likes to play rough," he explained._

 _Katherine chuckled as she stared into Stefan's eyes with amusement, "somehow, I think that you play rougher."_

 _While Stefan was distracted by Katherine's beautiful laugh, she quickly stole the brown ball right out of his hands. The young girl ran away from the two brothers with the ball in hand as Stefan stared at the brunette with love in his forest green eyes._

 _Damon interrupted his brother's thoughts as he questioned, "why are you just standing there?" He pointed towards the beautiful girl as he exclaimed, "that is a girl who clearly wants to be chased. If you don't do it, I will." As soon as the words were out of Damon's mouth, he quickly ran after Katherine with Stefan only a few steps behind._

* * *

"You knew Katherine in 1864?" Elena asked in shock. "Damon made it seem like..." She trailed off.

"Damon was trying to make you think that... I was still heartbroken," Stefan told Elena, "he saw that I was happy with you, and wanted to ruin it."

"All because you both loved the same women 145 years ago?" Emily questioned in confusion. How special could the girl had been if she made two brothers fight for her love?

"She wasn't just any girl," Stefan explained as a small smile danced on his lips.

* * *

 _Katherine was running around the large garden out in front of the Salvatore house as she laughed when Stefan tried to catch up to her. The brown eyed girl suddenly placed her hands on a white statue before she turned to Stefan with a proud smile, "ha! I win! What's my prize?"_

 _Katherine slowly moved closer to Stefan but froze in her place when a voice spoke up, "what would you like it to be?" The duo quickly turned to their right, and was surprised to see a smiling Damon looking at them._

 _"They extended your leave?" Stefan questioned his brother with a bright smile._

 _"I was simply having too much fun to return to battle," Damon responded with a cheerful grin._

 _"Your commitment to the confederacy is inspiring," Stefan told his brother before he pulled him into a tight loving hug._

 _"Well, this works out wonderfully for me," Katherine commented as she stared at the brothers with a dazzling smile._

 _"How's that, Miss Katherine?" Damon questioned the beautiful girl._

 _Katherine shrugged her shoulders lightly as she responded, "now I'll have both of you to keep me entertained." She pointed out, "first and foremost, I'll need someone to escort me to the founder's ball."_

 _"With pleasure," Damon bowed while Stefan answered at the same time, "I would be honored."_

 _Katherine had her back to the boys as a bright smile graced her lips. She turned back around as she spoke, "the smart and kind Salvatore brothers both coming to my rescue. How will I ever choose?" Before either boys could say anything, the young girl made her way through the garden as the two brothers watched her every move._

* * *

"She chose me," Stefan explained, "I escorted her to the ball at the original Lockwood mansion."

"The first founder's party," Elena recalled, "where you sighed the registry."

Stefan nodded his head as he continued, "I didn't care that I had gotten something that my brother wanted. I didn't even care if it hurt him. I only knew that I wanted her."

"So he was upset," Elena guessed.

"That's the thing about Damon," Stefan began, "he doesn't get mad. He gets even." He took a long pause before he continued to explain, "what Damon wants, Damon usually get." Stefan shook his head as he recalled, "I didn't know at the time, but... turns out that night... Katherine was with him, too."

Emily shook her head, "wait, wait." She looked up at Stefan in confusion, "so did he steal her from you or did you steal her from him?"

Stefan shook his head as he explained, "turns out, she wasn't ours to steal."

* * *

 _Stefan was carefully laid over Katherine's body on his warm bed as he kissed the young girl with passion. But Katherine suddenly rolled over Stefan's body and sat up in his lap. Stefan sat up as well and wrapped his hands around her small waist before pulling her into another heated kiss. Katherine pulled away from the boy's lips, causing Stefan to move his lips down her neck. He pulled away and grabbed Katherine's face lightly and looked into her memorizing brown eyes as he spoke softly, "I will love you forever."_

 _"Forever is a very long time, you know," Katherine whispered as she closed her eyes in pleasure._

 _"Not long enough," Stefan mumbled with his lips pressed lightly against the brunette's skin._  
 _As Stefan continued to kiss down Katherine's neck, she suddenly couldn't control it anymore and her face slowly changed as her fangs sprouted from her gums. Stefan glanced up at the beautiful brunette, and was in shock when he saw a monster take over her tan face. But before he could say anything, Katherine quickly turned Stefan's head to the side and took a significant bite out of his neck._

 _Only a few hours later, Katherine was standing in front of a large mirror while her handmaiden, Emily Bennett, was helping her get ready for the day by pulling and tugging on her dress from the back. Katherine glanced behind her through the mirror and saw Stefan to begin to stir from his slumber. "Good morning," she called out sweetly as Stefan sat up in his bed. "Clear the room, please," Katherine told her handmaiden when she saw Stefan looking at the blood that was still visible from his neck wound._

 _"You're upset," Katherine stated as she turned to Stefan._

 _"Your face," Stefan spoke breathlessly, "it was like a demon."_

 _Katherine slowly moved towards Stefan's side of the bed as she stated, "but you're not afraid."_

 _"Get away from me," Stefan commanded as he tried to move as far as he could while he was still in his bed. "Get away," he repeated._

 _Katherine looked at Stefan directly into his eyes and spoke carefully, "it doesn't change the way you feel about me. You will not tell anyone."_

 _"I-" Stefan began but Katherine placed her slim finger against Stefan's pink lips and continued, "shh. We will go on exactly as we have."_

 _"Yes," Stefan spoke and repeated after Katherine, "we will go on."_

 _Katherine chuckled with a smile gracing her face as she told the young boy, "you have no idea of the future I have planned for us, Stefan. You, me, and Damon. No rules."_

* * *

"She could control my mind; and Damon's," Stefan explained, "she compelled each of us to keep the secret from the other. She wanted us to be together. Forever." Stefan leaned down and picked up a small cloth as he continued talking, "didn't work out that way, but… Damon and I, looks like we're stuck with each other… like it or not."

Emily watched carefully as Stefan slowly began to open the small cloth and pull out a shiny object. She twitched her head to the side as she questioned, "is that Damon's ring?"

Stefan nodded his head and stated, "I took it from him, but I have to give it back."

Elena quickly shook her head as she spoke, "no, don't, Stefan. Keep it hidden."

"That's not a good idea, Lena," Emily told her sister. She felt unsettling about the idea of not giving Damon what he wants from what Stefan had told them. It would be too dangerous.

Stefan nodded his head in agreement with the older sister. "If I don't get it to him, he'll retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me."

"And how is that?" Elena asked.

Stefan glanced between the two Gilbert sisters before he stated softly, "by hurting the both of you."

At Stefan's confession, the sisters grew silent in the woods that used to be the Salvatore Estate, so the trio slowly began to make their way back to Elena's car. But as the younger sister opened the driver side door, she quickly turned to Stefan and questioned, "the mind control... you said Katherine used. Did you ever use that on me?"

Stefan shook his head as he responded, "no." He pointed towards Elena's necklace and the one that was hanging around Emily's neck as he explained, "the necklaces, they contain an herb called vervain. It protects you from being compelled." Stefan glanced between the two sisters as he stated, "I wanted to protect you both from Damon's influence," before he moved his eyes over to only Elena's as he continued, "but I also wanted to protect you from me."

Stefan stared into the two different colored eyes as he pleaded, "Elena, Emily. You should never take those necklaces off... because no matter what happens after today, no matter what either of you feel about me... you'll know that you were making your own choice."

Emily looked at Stefan one last time before she made her way into the backseat of her sister's car. She wanted to believe what Stefan had told her and Elena, that he wouldn't hurt them. He did give them each a necklace that would protect them from a vampire's mind games, so he must of cared a lot for them. After today, Emily could see herself trusting Stefan again in the long run, knowing that he has always been trying to protect her and Elena.

* * *

As soon as Emily opened the front door of the Gilbert house, she heard a couple of loud noises coming from the living room. She looked back at Stefan and Elena in confusion, before quickly walked into the room. "What's going on?" She questioned as she noticed the tension between Jeremy, Matt, and Vicki.

"She's really messed up," Matt told Gilbert girl as he looked at his sister in worry.

"Emily, back up," Stefan commanded the brunette, since she was the closest to Vicki. He moved so he was standing directly in front of the Donovan girl and grabbed her face softly. "Vicki, look at me. Focus," Stefan ordered. "You're gonna to be fine. Everything is going to be fine," he whispered. "Guys, take her to bed. Shut the blinds. She's gonna be okay," Stefan told Matt and Jeremy.

Once the two boys took Vicki out of the room, Emily turned to Stefan and noticed that he knew what was happening by the look on his face. "What's wrong with her?" Emily questioned.

Stefan sighed heavily before he responded quietly, "she's transitioning."

"Transitioning into what?" Elena questioned in confusion.

Emily stared long and hard at Stefan as she thought what could possibly be happening to Vicki and only one thing popped into her head. She stated with wide eyes, "a vampire."

"What?" Elena whispered in shock as she glanced between her sister and Stefan.

"Damon must have gotten to her," Stefan concluded. "She's new. She hasn't completed her transformation yet," he explained.

"H-how does she do that?" Elena asked with worry in her voice.

"She has to feed on human blood," Stefan explained.

"And what if she doesn't?" Elena questioned.

Stefan stared into Elena's brown eyes as he answered, "she'll die. She may only have a few hours."

Emily looked up at Stefan in concern as she stated, "she's upstairs with Jeremy right now."

Emily went to go upstairs to check on her brother, but Stefan quickly grabbed her arm. "It's okay. She doesn't know what's happening to her yet," he consoled the green eyed girl.

Emily folded her arms over her chest as she paced the room and questioned, "when will she?"

"Right now, she doesn't remember anything," Stefan answered. "A part of her is still human, but slowly, the deeper she gets into the transition, the memories will start to come back, and then she'll know she has to make the choice," he explained.

"The same choice you made?" Elena questioned.

When Stefan didn't respond to Elena's question and the tension in the room grew, Emily sighed and sat at one the chairs in the dining room table with her head in her hands. Emily couldn't even process what was happening at the moment. She barely found out the existence of vampires, and now her brother's girlfriend was turning into a vampire.

But Emily suddenly jumped up from the chair when she heard Matt yell out for Vicki. She quickly made her way to the hallway, and barely saw Vicki run out of the front door before she slammed it behind her. Everyone followed after Matt as he ran out to the front yard to hopefully catch Vicki.

"She was fine, and then she just… she just freaked out," Jeremy explained quickly.

"I'm gonna go look for her. Call me if you hear anything," Matt commanded before running towards his pick-up truck and driving away.

Stefan moved over to the Gilbert sisters and whispered, "I can track her."

"Go," Elena commanded before Stefan quickly took off as the younger sister held onto Emily's hand for dear life.

Emily and Elena were cleaning up the mess Vicki must have made when she tried to eat everything that was in the refrigerator. Elena handed Jeremy a plate and coffee cup before Jeremy finally spoke up, "maybe we should check in with Matt."

Emily shook her head, "he'll call us when he finds her, Jer."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" Jeremy huffed.

"We wait," Elena stressed as she quickly moved around the kitchen, "we're supposed to wait."

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Jeremy told his two sisters as sadness pooled into his brown eyes.

Emily squeezed Jeremy's shoulder as she spoke softly, "Vicki will be okay. We all will, I promise." Emily knew she couldn't really promise that Vicki would be okay, but she knew Jeremy needed to hear it.

Suddenly the front doorbell rang, so Emily quickly made her way to the door, but of course she had two shadows that belonged to her siblings. Emily opened the door, thinking it was Stefan with news, but it was only the devil. She quickly tried to close the door, but Damon was way stronger and pushed it open with ease. Emily stared hard at Damon as she spoke to her brother, "Jeremy, upstairs now." Jeremy looked at his sister weirdly, but decided not to argue at the seriousness in Emily's voice and made his way upstairs.

As Emily heard Jeremy's footsteps walk up the stairs, she knew at least one of her siblings were safe from the blue eyed vampire. Emily quickly moved in front of her sister as Damon smirked down at her as he spoke, "you're afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid of anyone," Emily growled out as she tried to keep her voice strong.  
Damon rolled his eyes before he guessed, "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess. Stefan finally 'fessed up."

"Stay away from my family," Emily commanded.

Damon held his hands up in innocence, "hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just looking for Stefan." Damon questioned, "may I come in?" He smirked and stepped through the door, "oh, wait. Of course I can. I've been invited in." Damon looked at Emily standing in front of her sister protectively and stated, "we can cut to the chase if you want. I'm not gonna kill either of you right now. That wouldn't serve my greater agenda. So…" Damon trailed off before he questioned, "where is Stefan?"

"He's out looking for Vicki," Elena responded from behind her sister.

Damon rolled his eyes at the two girls, "don't look at me with those judgy little eyes. Girl's gonna thank me for what I did for her."

Emily smirked as stared at Damon, "did you thank Katherine?"

"Mmm," Damon mumbled before turning his back to the girls. "Got the whole life story, huh?" He questioned.

"We got enough," Elena spoke again and tried to move from behind her sister, but Emily wouldn't budge her grip from Elena's hand.

"Oh, I doubt that," Damon seethed. He turned back to the sisters as he commanded, "tell my brother I'm looking for him." Damon walked out the door before turning back around and smirked, "oh, tip for later, be careful who you invite in the house."

* * *

Emily was lying in her bed when suddenly her bedroom door was threw open and standing in front of the doorway was Elena in tears. Emily quickly jumped up and stood in front of her sister as she questioned in worry, "hey. What's wrong, Lena?"

Elena gasped for breath and quickly shook her head. The only thing she could do was place her forehead on Emily's shoulder as she continued to shake as tears fell from her brown eyes. After a few moments, Elena pulled away and looked into her sister's eyes. "I told Stefan I couldn't be with him," she explained.

Emily sighed, "oh, Lena. I'm so sorry." She pulled her sister to the bed and laid her carefully down. Once Elena was on the bed, Emily pulled Elena's sneakers off and covered her sister up with her large blanket. Emily made sure her sister was okay, before she quietly laid next to Elena and began to run her fingers through her sister's long brown hair. "You're going to be okay, I promise. You're hurting right now, but I need you to breath," Emily spoke softly. She noticed her sister was having a hard time breathing with all the crying. Finally, Elena took a deep breath and gained control of her breathing. "Good girl," Emily commented as she continued, "just get some sleep, we'll deal with this in the morning."

Emily sighed when she noticed Elena finally fall asleep after a few short minutes. She leaned down and kissed Elena's forehead before she relaxed against her pillow. Even though she acted strong in front of Damon, she was beyond scared that he would have snapped and slaughtered everyone she loved. But Emily had to be strong for Elena, especially now that Elena needed her more than ever. Emily needed to protect her sister, but now she also needed to protect Jeremy since his girlfriend was a new vampire. Emily sighed, how the hell was she supposed to protect her siblings from vampires? She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she would do anything and everything to make sure her siblings would be okay even if it meant she got hurt in the process.


	11. Chapter 11

Emily kept her promise that she had told her sister last night, they would deal with everything in the morning. Even though Elena didn't want to be with Stefan anymore, the sisters were going to help with Vicki. The new vampire was dating Emily's younger brother, so she were going to help as much as she can. Emily needed to protect Jeremy from all the vampire drama as much as she could.

Once Emily pulled up at the Salvatore boarding house, she quickly made her way to the front door with Elena slowly following after her. Emily pulled the large doorbell and waits for someone to come to the door. When the door finally opened, Emily rolled her eyes, of course it was Damon who opens the door. Emily still didn't trust Damon around her siblings, so she stood directly in front of Damon before questioning the older Salvatore, "is Stefan here?"

"Yep," Damon responded.

"Where is he?" Emily questioned in annoyance, she was tired of Damon's games and she only been standing in front of him for less than a minute.

Damon smirked, "and good morning to you, little miss I'm on a mission."

Elena moved out from behind her sister and questioned, "how can you be so arrogant and glib after everything that you've done?"

"And how can you be so brave and stupid to call a vampire arrogant and glib?" Damon questioned right back.

Emily rolled her eyes and pushed Elena back behind her as she stared at the vampire. "Was that a threat, Damon? I wouldn't do that if I were you." Emily taunted. Even if she was scared of Damon, Emily wasn't going to show that to him.

"Where is Stefan?" Elena asked quickly, not wanting her sister to get herself killed by a vampire because of her mouth.

"He upstairs," Damon smirked, "singing The Rain In Spain. Knock yourself out," Damon commented as he made his way out of the boarding house while he stared down at Elena.

Emily rolled her eyes and pulled her sister inside the boarding house before she slammed the door. The two sisters slowly walked through the hallway before the younger sister called out, "Stefan?" Elena tried again when they didn't get a response, "Stefan?"

"Yes," Stefan called out softly from the top of the stairs.

"Where is Vicki?" Elena questioned.

"She's upstairs," Stefan whispered before he made his way down the stairs.

"What happens now?" Elena questioned. "Our brother has the whole town looking for her when she's not missing," Elena added.

"I'm working with her," Stefan explained. "But's going to take time. She's a very volatile and impulsive personality. She's a drug user. I mean, all that's gonna play a part in how she responds to his," he continued.

"So, she's a vampire with issues?" Elena questioned, "what am I supposed to do?" She glanced over at her sister before she continued, "because we're lying to everyone that we care about. What's gonna happen to her?"

"I'm gonna keep her here with me until I know that she's safe," Stefan explained.

Emily let a small sigh pass your her lips, knowing that at least for now, her brother would be safe.

"How long is that?" Vicki questioned as she made her way down the stairs.

Stefan sighed quietly, "we can talk about that later."

"Hey, Vicki. How are you doing?" Elena asked the new vampire softly.

"How am I?" Vicki rolled her eyes. "You're kidding, right?" She huffed.

The two Gilbert sisters and the two vampires moved to the dining room of the Salvatore boarding house, where Stefan made everyone a cup of coffee before he turned to Vicki and explained, "coffee is out friend. It's the caffeine. It circulates through our veins, and it warms our body so we're not so cold to the touch."

Vicki looked at Stefan in confusion as she questioned, "well, what if I wanna drink human blood?"

"You're gonna have to learn how to live with that urge and fight it on a daily basis, one day at a time," Stefan explained.

"Oh God!" Vicki groaned. "Don't start with that whole 12 steps thing. School counselor has been down that road, and it doesn't work for me," she told the older vampire.

"It can work. It's your choice, Vicki," Stefan stated.

"So you've never tasted human blood?" Vicki asked with a smile.

Stefan stayed quiet for a moment before answering carefully, "not in a long time."

"How long?" Vicki questioned.

Stefan glanced over at Elena before he looked down and mumbled, "years and years. I'm not proud of my past behavior."

Vicki sighed and questioned, "does this sketchy feeling ever go away?" She moved her fingers to her temple as she continued, "it's like I have a massive hangover. This daylight thing is a bitch." Vicki suddenly stood up from the table and sighed, "I need more blood. Where's your bathroom? I have to pee." She scrunched up her face and looked over at Stefan, "why do I have to pee? I thought I was dead." Vicki barely paused before she quickly left the room.

It was silent for a moment before Stefan stood up from the table and stated, "I'm gonna go, uh, I'm gonna get her some more. All right. I'll be quick," before he also left the room.

As soon as Stefan was out of the room, Vicki was right back. "False alarm," she called out. "My body's feeling really funky. It's a good funky, but it's weird," she commented. Vicki made her way to the dining room table and picked up her cell phone.

Elena looked at Vicki as she questioned, "who are you calling?"

"Jeremy," Vicki answered simply.

"Vicki, you can't see Jeremy anymore," Elena stated as she stood up from the dining room table.

Vicki rolled her eyes, "oh, come on, don't you start. I'm gonna see whoever I wanna see."

"Vicki, you could hurt him," Emily told the vampire as she tried to help out her sister.

"I would never hurt Jeremy," Vicki stated.

"I know you believe that you would never hurt him, but the blood lust could control you. I think you should learn to control yourself before you saw Jeremy again." Emily told Vicki softly. She wanted to keep the conversation nice and simple. She didn't want Vicki to get angry, that would only end badly.

It seemed like Elena had read her sister's mind, because the younger girl decided to ruin what Emily had planned for everything to go smoothly. "You're gonna have to let Jeremy go now." Elena told Vicki.

"Oh really?" Vicki growled at Elena. "And how long have you been preparing the 'you're not good enough' speech? I'm assuming it predates the whole vampire thing," she commented.

"All I am saying is Jeremy is not getting involved in any of this. I mean it, Vicki," Elena spoke strongly.

"Or what?" Vicki questioned with a sarcastic smile. She stared hard at Elena before pushing her to the wall as she held Elena tightly by her neck.

Emily quickly ran towards Vicki and tried to pry her hands from Elena's neck, but Vicki used her new found strength and pushed Emily towards a wall that was across from her. Emily gasped as she got her breath knocked out of her.

As Emily bent over in pain, all she could do was watch Vicki hold her sister against the wall tightly. "Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitch," Vicki seethed. "You had my brother whipped for fifteen years. Fifteen years and then you dumped him. When I look at you, that is all I see, just so you know," Vicki told the choking girl.

While Vicki was distracted, Emily slowly pulled herself up from the ground and decided she would try to get Vicki's attention off of Elena and onto her. Emily knew it was stupid and dangerous, but she did it anyway. She kicked the back of Vicki's leg, causing the vampire to turn to Emily in anger. Emily was thankful that Vicki finally had let Elena go from her tight grip, but now Vicki found a new target. Vicki slammed Emily into the wall like she just did with the younger sister and held tightly on her neck. "I'm gonna see Jeremy whenever I want to see Jeremy," Vicki told the green eyed girl, "you can't protect Jeremy from me, Emily. Get in my way and I'll force you to watch me rip your little sister's head off before doing the same to you." Vicki squeezed Emily's neck a little more before dropping her and quickly leaving the Salvatore boarding house.

Emily gasped for breath once Vicki finally let her go. She looked over beside her and saw her sister holding onto her neck. "Are you okay?" Emily asked in worry.

Elena nodded her head before swallowing a few times and helped her sister off the floor. "Why did you do that?" Elena questioned.

Emily shrugged while she tried to catch her breath. "She was hurting you. I'd rather she hurt me than you," she explained. "Are you sure you're okay?" Emily asked her sister one last time as she stared at Elena in worry.

Elena nodded her head with a tearful smile. She wrapped her arms around her sister tightly, needing to know if Emily was okay also. Emily sighed but also wrapped her arms around Elena. _What horrible way to start the morning,_ Emily thought.

Finally, Stefan came back into the room, after it was too late and Vicki was already gone. He moved the two girls outside on the porch where Elena huffed, "she threatened me."

"She's on edge," Stefan explained. "Imagine every sense in your body operating at super speed. I mean, she's uncomfortable in her own skin. And then when you throw in her other issues…" Stefan trailed off.

"How long before it settles?" Elena questioned, "hours? Days? Weeks?"

Stefan shook his head, "there's no rule book."

"Well, how long before you learned to control it?" Elena asked.

"A while," Stefan answered. "But I didn't have anybody helping me. I had to do it on my own," he explained. "The thing is, it's hard to resist certain people, especially when you're new, it's difficult to separate your feelings. Love, lust, anger, desire. It can blur into one urge, hunger," Stefan continued.

"What does that mean?" Elena questioned in confusion.

Emily sighed, realizing what Stefan was saying. "What Stef means is that Jeremy can't see her. She could hurt him without even meaning to."

Stefan nodded his head in agreement as he repeated, "she could hurt him."

"Or worse," Elena mumbled.

"I'm not gonna let anybody get hurt," Stefan promised as he looked directly at Elena.

Elena quickly looked away from Stefan's eyes and looked over at her sister before she spoke, "we need to get going."

"Elena," Stefan pleaded.

"Please, Stefan. There's only so much I can take," Elena stressed before walking towards Emily's car. Emily gave Stefan a small smile before she quickly followed after her sister. She felt bad for Stefan, but she knew her sister, and knew that they would somehow work it out.

Emily made her way into the kitchen with her sister trailing slowly behind. She saw her little brother, Jeremy, on the phone and only got his side of the phone call. "You gotta call me, Vic. I don't get it. What's going on with you? Just… Just call me back," Jeremy pleaded into his cell phone.

Emily sighed, she wished Jeremy would just stop looking for Vicki. She's too dangerous for Jeremy to be around her. Emily gave her brother a small smile as she spoke, "we should all hang out tonight. Just the three of us." When Jeremy looked at her weirdly, she rolled her eyes before explaining, "there's been crazy around here lately, so why not go have so fun? You, me, and Elena." She smirked as she looked at Jeremy, "the school is having a Halloween party tonight."

"Cool. Sure. Sounds uh… sounds fun. Can't wait," Jeremy deadpanned.

As Jeremy started to walk out of the kitchen, Elena called out, "I know you're upset about Vicki. I heard she called Matt. But you can't be with her." Elena explained, "she needs to get better. The best thing you can do for her is to let her go." Emily sighed as she laid her head on the kitchen counter. Of course Elena had to say something make Jeremy mad, she always goes overboard.

"What does that even mean, let her go?" Jeremy questioned as he looked at Elena with frustration written all over his face. "Oh, okay, sure. Since we're such experts on letting people go, right?" Jeremy questioned sarcastically.

Elena looked over at her sister for help, but Emily just shrugged her shoulders light. She wasn't going to get involved in this train wreck of a conversation. Elena dug the hole, she can dig her way out of it. Elena sighed and looked at Jeremy softly, "I know you may not see it, but trust me Jer. It's for the best."

Jeremy made his way closer towards Elena as he spoke, "look, for months after mom and dad died, I felt like crap, like 'nothing really ever mattered' crap. Now all of a sudden, I get these moments and things started to feel just a little bit better, and Vicki was in every single one of 'em. So you may not see it, but trust me. Keeping me away from her is not for the best."

Jeremy stomped out of the room and up to his bedroom once he finished explaining to his sister. Elena sighed and looked at Emily sadly. Emily gave her sister a small reassuring smile as she stated, "don't worry about him, I'll protect him." She looked at Elena with a smirk, "now get ready, we have a Halloween party to get to." Elena chuckled and rolled her eyes but followed after her sister as Emily excitedly made her way up the stairs.

As the sun finally decided to disappear into the night, the Gilbert siblings slowly made their way through the loud crowd of scary and funny costumes that littered the field outside of Mystic Falls High School. Emily headed straight towards the building, where the party really was when Emily suddenly heard someone yelling from behind her. When Emily turned around, she saw Jeremy scare a couple of young children. Emily couldn't help but chuckle when she saw Elena scold their younger brother.

Finally the three siblings made their way up the stairs of Mystic Falls High School where Matt was standing. He smiled and chuckled as he looked at Elena, "you went with last year's costume too, huh?"

"Yeah," Elena nodded her head as she glanced down at her costume. "I didn't know I was coming until a couple of hours ago," she explained.

"Me either," Matt commented before he looked over at Emily. "Hello kitty cat," he smirked.

Emily fake gasped, "my sister is right here, Matthew."

Matt chuckled at his friend before he looked over at Jeremy in confusion, "and you're going as… you?"

Jeremy rolled his eyes before stomping away from the trio. Elena sighed and explained to Matt, "he's not talking to me right now. We got into a fight."

Matt nodded his head, "yeah, I got into it with Vic, too, when she got home. I'm trying not to smother her tonight, but part of me didn't wanna let her out of my sight."

Emily looked at Matt in shock as she questioned, "Vicki's here?"

Matt looked over at Emily weirdly before nodding his head, "yeah, you can't miss her." Matt chuckled, "she's a vampire."

Emily rolled her eyes, of course Vicki would be dressed up as a vampire. Elena suddenly began to look around in worry, "where did Jeremy go?"

"Elena, what's the matter?" Matt questioned in confusion.

Emily looked around the party and couldn't find her brother anywhere. She didn't even realize he had left in the first place. "Sorry, Matty. We have to go!" Emily apologized before pulling Elena through the crowd and began looking for Jeremy.

Emily held Elena's hand tightly, not wanting to let another sibling out of her sight with a new vampire running around the party. The two girls looked everywhere and still couldn't find their brother anymore. Emily pulled her sister to the side where it was quiet, before pulling out of cell phone. She quickly texted Stefan to come find her and Elena.

"Thank God," Emily sighed when she saw Stefan heading straight towards her and Elena only a few minutes later. She noticed Stefan had Vicki in his arms, at least she wasn't with Jeremy.

"What's the matter?" Stefan asked as he glanced between the two sisters.

"We lost sight of Jeremy," Elena sighed.

Emily nodded her head as she spoke, "we looked everywhere. I got worried so I called you."

Before Stefan could say anything, Matt came up to the group and questioned, "what's goin' on?"

"Hey. Uh, everything's fine," Stefan told Matt.

"I told you to quit bothering me," Vicki yelled at Stefan as she pushed his arm off of her.

Emily rolled her eyes, of course Vicki would make a bigger mess of everything. "Don't do this, Vicki," Emily growled.

"Matt, he won't leave me alone," Vicki cried out to her brother.

"You need to back off, man," Matt commanded Stefan.

"Matt, it's… it's okay," Elena tried to tell Matt.

"No, it's not okay," Matt told Elena before he walked closer to Stefan and questioned in anger, "what the hell is your problem?"

"Stefan, she's gone!" Elena yelped before she grabbed Emily's hand and began to run through the crowd as they once again tried to find their brother.

Emily somehow got separated from Elena, but she couldn't worry about that right now. She needed to make sure Jeremy was nowhere near Vicki. Emily looked everywhere in the building before going through the back door, maybe they were back here, it was the only other place that they could have been. As soon as the door closed behind her, Emily heard her brother yell in pain. She quickly looked for some sort of weapon and saw a trash can filled with wooden planks. Emily grabbed one tightly in her small hands before carefully running through the buses until she finally found her brother with Vicki about to bite him. "Vicki! No!" Emily yelled at the vampire.

Vicki pushed Jeremy to the ground before turning her attention to the oldest Gilbert. She stomped over to Emily, but before she could take a bite, Emily quickly swung the wooden plank. But Vicki saw it coming, and threw the plank out of Emily's hands and threw the brunette to the side of the school. Emily gasped in pain when she landed on a pile of trash and more planks. Elena suddenly ran out of the school and hurried to her sister with wide eyes before she carefully helped Emily from the ground.

Vicki was about to rush towards the Gilbert girl, when suddenly Stefan pushed Vicki against one of the school buses. But it didn't last long before Vicki threw Stefan off of her.

"Vicki!" Jeremy yelled. But Vicki quickly used her new vampire speed and left as fast as she could. Stefan looked around for the female vampire but he couldn't find her. He turned to Jeremy and commanded, "go. Get inside." When Jeremy didn't move, Stefan quickly yelled, "go!"

Elena helped Emily from the ground before grabbing Jeremy's hand and running back towards the school. But when Elena opened the door, Vicki came out of nowhere. She pushed Jeremy to the ground and was about to take a bite out of Elena, but Emily thought quickly and pushed her sister out of the way, so Vicki latched onto Emily's neck. Emily tried to hold in the pain but when Vicki took away her fangs before pushing them in farther into Emily's flesh, she couldn't hold it in any longer and yelled out in pain.

But suddenly, Emily didn't feel the pain in her neck anymore. When she looked up, she saw a broken wooden plank thrusted into Vicki's heart. Emily quickly took a step back in shock as she watched Vicki fall to the ground before her skin started to fade into a grey color.

"Vicki!" Jeremy yelled in shock, "Vicki! Vicki! Vicki!" Jeremy tried to move closer to the girl, but Stefan steadily held the young boy back.

Emily got up from the ground with the help of her sister before she turned to Stefan and commanded shakily, "get him out of here."

Stefan stared at the oldest Gilbert for a moment before he nodded his hand and forced Jeremy away from the very dead Vicki Donovan, and back to the party.

Elena slid down onto the floor beside Vicki before she looked up at her sister and mumbled for the second time that day, "why did you move me out of the way?"

Emily held her hand onto her bleeding neck as she stared at her sister with an eyebrow raised. "Isn't it obvious?" She questioned. "I pushed you out of the way because you're my sister and I didn't want you to get hurt."

"But you got hurt!" Elena yelped as she stared at her sister with wide brown eyes.

Emily shrugged her shoulders lightly, opening not to cause more blood to pool out her neck. "I'd rather get hurt then watch you or Jeremy get hurt. I will always take the pain before I let you get hurt, Lena. I will die before I let anything happen to you," she explained strongly.

Elena only silently nodded her head, she knew there was no reason to argue with her sister when Emily would only keep repeating herself. Instead, Elena moved her eyes over to the grey vampire. Emily sighed as she watched her sister before she learned her head against one of the school buses. She was beyond tired with everything that happened tonight and she was beginning to feel weak, but she wasn't going to tell anyone, she had to stay strong.

"You should go. I got this," Damon called out to the two girls once he got closer.

"You did this," Elena growled out as she stood up from the ground, "this is your fault."

"You confuse me for someone with remorse," Damon told Elena as he looked down at the dead vampire.

Elena moved closer to Damon and in anger, she pushed against his shoulders, but all she got was an angry vampire. Elena didn't care, so she tried to slap him but Damon quickly caught her arm. "None of this matters to me," Damon stated, "none of it."

Emily slowly moved her way to Elena and commanded, "stop, Elena."

Elena looked at her sister with anger shining through her eyes as she spoke, "this is all his fault, Emily! It's his fault that you are bleeding and hurting."

Elena's statement must have caught Damon's attention, because he moved his blue eyes hungrily to the side of Emily's bleeding neck. "You need to leave," Damon commanded, "your wounds are bleeding and you need to leave."

Emily didn't want to test the vampire at the moment and she was too tired, so she quickly grabbed Elena's arm and pulled her back into the party to get to her car. The two girls were almost out of the school when Matt suddenly called out from behind them.

"Elena! Emily! Hey, have you seen…" Matt trailed off when he saw that Emily had something red all over her. "Whoa… what happened?" He questioned.

Emily looked down in confusion before her eyes went wide. She had blood trailing down her neck and she had a cut through the middle of her that was also leaking blood. Emily chuckled falsely and rolled her eyes, "some kid came up to me and ruined my outfit with fake blood." Emily looked over at Elena, who was staring at the floor. "I'm going to take Lena home, she's tired," Emily explained to the blonde.

Emily quickly turned around and began to walk away with her sister, when Matt suddenly called out, "I can't find Vicki. She totally bailed on me."

"We don't know where she is," Emily told Matt.

Matt sighed, "is this what I'm in for, a lifetime of worrying about her?"

"I'll meet you in the car," Elena mumbled before quickly walking away. She couldn't hear Matt talk about his sister when she just witnessed Vicki dying.

Emily gave Matt a tiny smile as she spoke softly, "you're doing a good job with her, Matty."

"Yeah, maybe she went home," Matt commented in thought.

"Maybe," Emily mumbled. She was about to walk away but she turned around and pulled Matt into a tight hug, "night, Matty." Even though Emily didn't usually give hugs as said goodbye, she just didn't some type of human contact that wasn't involved in this mess.

As Emily made her way into her car, she saw Elena leaning against the window with tears in her eyes. Emily sighed, even though Elena didn't get hurt, she had to watch Vicki die right in front of her, it would shake anyone to their core. Emily leaned over and squeezed her sisters hand before making her way out of the parking lot and towards the Gilbert house.

Once she pulled up at the Gilbert house, she met her sister around the car before she linked her arm with Elena's as they slowly made their way to the stairs on the porch. Emily was using half her weight to hold herself up as she leaned on her sister, she felt like she was going to pass out soon and she was too weak to be standing in heels. Emily looked up when she got onto the porch and saw Stefan standing by the door. "Where's Jeremy?" Emily questioned.

Stefan pointed with his head as he spoke, "inside."

Emily nodded her head before pulling Elena with her as she made her way upstairs towards Jeremy's bedroom. She slowly opened the door and saw Jeremy sitting on his bed with his knees to his chest as sobbed softly. Emily carefully sat down next to Jeremy and asked, "do you understand what happened tonight?"

"No, Jeremy cried, "I don't understand. I mean, I know what I saw, but… I don't understand."

Emily grabbed Jeremy's hand tightly as she glanced over at Elena, who was standing above her before he turned back to Jeremy and spoke, "she was going to hurt Elena, and she was going to kill me."

"Now she's dead," Jeremy stated tearfully, "Vicki's dead."

Elena moved over and sat next to her sister and spoke with tears streaming down her face, "I'm so sorry, Jer."

Jeremy glanced between his two sisters before his eyes rested on his older sister and stated, "make it stop. It hurts."

Emily's heart broke at her brother's words, she never wanted to feel this way ever again. After watching go through the death of their parents, she didn't think he would be able to go through it again. Emily quickly pulled Jeremy into a tight hug as she promised, "I'll protect you, Jer. You will be okay."

"Why does everybody have to die on me?" Jeremy questioned his sister with tears in his eyes.

"Elena and I aren't going anywhere, Jer. you can always count on us," Emily told her brother before she pulled Elena into the hug, knowing her sister needed the hug just as much as Jeremy did. The only thing Emily could do was hold both of her siblings close to her as they cried. It hurts Emily so much to see the two most important people in her life breakdown.

After a few more minutes, Emily made sure that Jeremy was okay before she and Elena made their way back outside to Stefan. "Are you okay?" Elena questioned Stefan as soon as the two girls walked out on the porch.

Stefan nodded his head once, "I, uh… I wanted to help her. But instead…" Stefan trailed off before asking, "how's he doin?"

Emily ran a hand through her brown hair as she sighed heavily, "he's broken. He won't survive if he has to go through another death."

"What can I do? I… what can I do to help? I'll do anything," Stefan stressed as he looked at the two heartbroken sisters.

"Can you make him forget?" Elena suddenly questioned.

"Elena…" Stefan trailed off as he looked into her brown eyes.

"Stefan, please. I don't know how he'll ever get passed this. I just want him to forget everything that happened," Elena begged.

"If I did it, there's no guarantee that it would work, because of who I am," Stefan explained, "because of how I live. I don't have the ability to do it right."

"I can do it," Damon spoke from behind the trio. "If that is what you want… I'll do it," he stated as he stared at Elena.

Elena looked over to her sister, to see what she thought, Emily always gets the final decision. Emily looked at her sister for a moment before turning to Damon and nodded her head, "do it." Emily knew this was the only way that her brother would be okay without being in constant pain.

"What do you want him to know?" Damon asked.

Elena thought for a moment before she told Damon, "I want you to tell him that Vicki left town and she's not coming back. That he shouldn't look for her or worry about her." Emily nodded her head at her sister before she added, "he's gonna miss her, but he knows this is for the best. Tell him, he's going to move on and he's going to find joy in his life again, like before our parents died."

Damon nodded his head before making his way into the house and towards Jeremy's bedroom. Emily looked back at Elena and Stefan and noticed their sadden faces, so quickly mumbled, "I'll give you two a moment," before making her way into the Gilbert house.

Emily made her upstairs and stood outside of Jeremy's and waited for Damon to be done. A couple of minutes of standing alone, Damon suddenly came out of Jeremy's bedroom. Emily looked up at the older Salvatore and spoke sincerely, "thank you." Damon only gave Emily a small nod before he made his way out of the Gilbert house.

Emily quietly looked through Jeremy's bedroom door and saw him sound asleep. At least one of her siblings would be okay. Emily slowly made her way to her bedroom and pushed the door open before she slipped off her heels. She moved to her closet and took off her bloody dress before putting on a t-shirt and sweatpants. Emily made her way towards her bathroom and looked at her neck. She sighed when she saw the dry blood and the large bite mark. Emily slowly cleaned up her neck and placed a large band-aid over the wound before making her way towards her bed. Emily was beyond exhausted, today has been the most stressful day since her parent's accident. Once Emily finally let everything hit her, tears started to stream down her face. She honestly didn't know how she didn't cry in front of everyone. Emily had been slammed against a wall, twice, and had gotten bitten from an angry vampire. She was hurting psychically and mentally. But Emily knew this would happen again while being in the world that had vampires, she just had to get used to it. The only thing she can focus on right now is to protect her family, no matter what.


	12. Chapter 12

Early the next morning, Emily was seated right in front of sheriff Forbes. After the search for Vicki didn't go anywhere in the small town, the police decided that they would get involved and began questioning anyone Vicki would have known. Each of the Gilbert siblings were being asked questions, Emily being the last one. But she wasn't worried, sheriff Forbes had always loved Emily like a daughter since she grew up with Caroline.

"Thank you for coming in, Emily," sheriff Forbes told her daughter's best friend.

Emily smiled, "it's no problem."

Sheriff Forbes nodded her head before she began her questions, "where did Vicki say she was going?"

Emily shook her head, "she didn't. I wouldn't know anyway. I've always been more friends with Matt than Vicki."

"Did she tell your brother anything?" Sheriff Forbes continued.

"Jeremy told me that Vicki said she was leaving town," Emily commented.

"So you really believe Vicki left town?" Sheriff Forbes asked one last question.

Emily nodded her head, "yes. She didn't seem happy in Mystic Falls, I think this what she needed."

Sheriff Forbes nodded her head before smiling at the young girl, "thank you, Emily."

Emily smiled brightly and hugged her best friend's mother before walking out of the room and made her way towards Jeremy, Jenna, and Elena. The Gilbert family made their way out of the police station, where the two sisters saw Stefan standing out the end of the steps. Emily gave her sister a look, to go talk to him before speaking, "we'll meet you at the car, okay?"

Once Elena nodded her head, Emily made her way to the car with Jenna and Jeremy following behind. But not even five minutes later, Elena came walking towards the car. Emily sighed, she knew that wasn't a good sign. While Jenna and Jeremy got into the car, Emily waited for Elena to get closer before asking softly, "I'm guessing it didn't go well?"

Elena shook her head as she leaned her head on Emily's shoulder. "I'm sad," she mumbled.

Emily sighed, "let's go home and we can watch whatever movie you want. Just you and me today, I promise." Elena smiled thankfully at her sister before the two girls quickly jumped into Jenna's car.

Being the amazing sister that she was, soon as the Gilbert family walked into the house, Emily pulled her sad sister and pushed her onto the couch. Emily found Elena's favorite movies and the two sisters watched them together. After the third movie, Emily turned off the TV and leaned against her sister's shoulder. Emily knew Elena just needed to think about everything so that's what they did, she comforted her sister in silence.

Jenna suddenly plopped next to Elena and stated, "you're wallowing."

"So are you," Elena mumbled.

"My wallow is legitimate," Jenna stated, "I was dumped."

"Logan didn't deserve you, he was an ass," Emily told her aunt.

Jenna gave her oldest niece a small smile before she turned to Elena and exclaimed, "you didn't get a brush-off email saying, I'm leaving town. See ya."

"Wanna keep it down over there?" Jeremy called out from the dining room table.

"Why?" Jenna asked. "What are you doing?" She questioned as she turned from the couch and glanced over at the young boy.

"Homework," Jeremy answered while not even looking up from his writing.

Emily and Elena looked at each other with confusion before turning to look over at Jeremy. "Since when do you do homework?" Elena questioned.

"I gotta finish this," Jeremy mumbled. "I'm way behind and I have a quiz tomorrow, so…" Jeremy trailed off when he looked up at the girls in his family before focusing back on his homework.

Elena glanced between Jenna and Emily before whispering, "what do you think? Alien?"

Emily nodded her head as she stared at Jeremy before whispering to her sister, "could be."

Jenna shook her head as she whispered, "some sort of replicant."

Jeremy looked up at the girls in annoyance as he mumbled, "he can hear you."

Emily was about to walk up the stairs to check on her heartbroken sister, but the front doorbell rang before she could even take one step. Emily looked around in confusion as she didn't hear anyone rushing to the door. Jenna and Jeremy must be gone since Emily already knew where her sister was and couldn't find her aunt or brother anywhere. Emily made her way to the door and smiled when she saw it was Bonnie Bennett.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Emily questioned.

"I wanted to check up on Elena," Bonnie explained. "How is she?" she wondered. Emily had talked to Bonnie earlier in the day and explained that Elena was sad, even though Emily didn't tell her the reason.

Emily rolled her eyes, "she's been moping around the house all day. I tried everything, but she's still sad."

Bonnie nodded her head before smiling brightly, "come on, I want to show you guys something. I think it'll make her smile."

"You can try," Emily chuckled before the two girls made their way upstairs to Elena's bedroom.

Emily knocked on Elena's door quietly before she peeked her head through the door. She smiled at her sister as she spoke, "I have a surprise for you."

Elena looked at her sister with annoyance and confusion shining through her brown eyes but watched her sister open up the door widely. "You up?" Bonnie questioned as she walked into the room.

"No," Elena mumbled before throwing her head back into her warm soft pillow. Bonnie tried to pull Elena's covers from her face, but had no luck since Elena wouldn't let go.

Bonnie finally gave up and sat at the end of Elena's bed as she questioned, "why haven't you called me back?"

"I'm sorry," Elena mumbled.

Emily jumped on Elena's bed and laid down next to her. She looked at her sister in worry as she questioned, "are you going to stay in bed forever?"

"Yep," Elena mumbled.

Bonnie sighed before she commanded, "move over." But when Elena didn't move, Emily rolled her eyes and moved over as she pulled Elena with her. Bonnie laid next to Elena before stating, "I'm officially worried. What's going on?"

Elena stared at the ceiling before trying to explain, "I'm tired of thinking… of talking I…" Elena trailed off.

"Can I get a one-line version so I can at least pretend to be helpful?" Bonnie questioned.

Knowing how heartbroken her sister has been, Emily decided to answer for her, "she and Stefan broke up."

Bonnie looked at Elena in shock, "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She shook her head, "right, stupid question." Bonnie sighed, "I know I've been kind of M.I.A. when you need me the most. I suck."

"You wanna make it up to me?" Elena questioned. "Get my mind off of it," she suggested.

Bonnie smiled brightly, "just remember, you asked for it."

Bonnie jumped up from Elena' bed and walked towards Elena's opened window before closing it. She walked towards Elena's bed and grabbed a nail filer from Elena's bedside table and split one of Elena's pillows open.

"Hey," Elena yelped.

Bonnie dumped all the feathers from the pillow onto Elena's bed and commanded, "be patient."

"Okay," Elena mumbled.

Bonnie jumped back onto the bed as she looked between the two Gilbert sisters, "I need to swear you to secrecy."

Elena glanced over at her sister and mumbled, "it's kind of a bad week for that kind of stuff."

"Swear," Bonnie commanded. "Cause I'm not supposed to be showing you this," she told the two girls.

Emily glanced over at Elena before turning to Bonnie, "we swear."

Bonnie nodded her head before questioning, "okay, there's no windows open, right?"

Emily glanced at Elena's windows before shaking her head as Elena spoke, "right."

"There's no fan. No air conditioning," Bonnie continued.

Elena shook her head, "none."

Emily looked at Bonnie in confusion as she questioned, "what are you doing?"

"Grams just showed me this. You're gonna love it," Bonnie told the two girls before asking, "you ready?"

Once Bonnie saw the two girls nod, she slowly lifted her hand a little bit from the bed. She continued to move her hand slowly and when she did a small white feather was floating underneath her hand. Bonnie continued to move her hand around before letting her hand fall back onto the bed, and sure enough, the feather fell also.

"Bonnie, what's going on?" Elena questioned in shock.

Bonnie just gave the two sisters a smile before lifting up both of her hands slowly and when she did, multiple feathers followed her hands. Bonnie let her hands fall back to the bed and, of course, the feathers followed too. Bonnie stared at the two shocked faces before suddenly all the feathers were floating around Elena's bedroom.

Bonnie smiled at the two sisters as she spoke, "it's true, guys. Everything my Grams told me. It's impossible and it's true."

"You're a witch," Emily stated as she looked at Bonnie with a proud smile.

"I believe you," Elena chuckled.

"It's weird, huh?" Bonnie chuckled, "after all this joking about being psychic. I really am a witch." Bonnie looked at the two girls worried as she questioned, "you guys don't think I'm a freak now, do you?"

Emily grabbed Bonnie's hand softly as she spoke, "of course not, Bon Bon." Emily smirked at her friend, "and I even believed you were a witch before you did."

Bonnie chuckled but gave the green eyed girl a thankful smile. "I just… I don't understand though," Elena jumped in. "If Grams asked you to keep all this a secret, why tell us?" She questioned.

"You guys are my best friends," Bonnie stated like it was obvious. "I can't keep secrets from you," she explained.

Elena glanced over at Emily with sadness in her brown eyes. Emily knew what that look meant, because she felt the same way. She wished she could tell Bonnie everything about the existence of vampires, but Emily knew that Bonnie would somehow get hurt from knowing the information. Emily just had to tell herself that she was protecting Bonnie from the danger.

Emily was relaxing on her bed when suddenly there was a soft knock on her bedroom door. She looked up when the door slowly opened and saw her sister standing there nervously. "Can you come with me?" Elena asked.

Emily sat up and looked at her sister in confusion as she questioned, "where?"

Elena sighed as she sat on the edge of Emily's bed as she responded, "I'm going to go see Stefan."

"Are you sure you are ready to see him again?" Emily questioned her sister in worry. She knew how heartbroken her sister is, Emily didn't want Elena to do something she's not ready for even though she knew her sister's feelings for Stefan wouldn't be going anywhere.

Elena nodded her head as she looked down at her hands, I need to see him. To talk."

Emily smiled at her sister before standing up from her bed and grabbed Elena's hand to pull her up. "I'll come with you," Emily told her sister, "I always got your back."

Elena sighed thankfully, not wanting to go alone. When she is with Emily, she feels like she could do anything. Elena felt like she never wanted to disappoint her sister. The Gilbert girls made their way to Elena's car once they left the Gilbert house and drove towards the familiar Salvatore boarding house.

After a few silent minutes, Elena finally pulled up at the Salvatore boarding house, but she didn't get out just yet. Emily looked at her sister with soft eyes as she spoke, "don't worry. I'll be there the whole time."

Elena smiled at her sister, knowing that is what she needed before she made her way to the front door of the boarding house with Emily right beside her. Elena pulled the doorbell but instead of someone coming to the door, someone shouted from inside.

"It's open! Come on in," a female voice yelled.

Emily looked at her sister in confusion as she heard the girl's voice. She never seen any girl in the Salvatore boarding house except for her, Elena, and of course Vicki Donovan. Emily shrugged her shoulders before pushing the door open and began to look around for the younger Salvatore brother. But when she looked to her left, she saw a blonde girl in a brown towel.

The girl looked shocked as she yelped, "oh my God!" She looked over at Elena as she confusingly mumbled, "how… uh-wh… who?"

Emily rose an eyebrow at the stranger before introducing herself, "I'm Emily and this is my twin sister, Elena." Emily twitched her head to the side as she questioned, "and who are you?"

"Lexi, a friend of Stefan's," the stranger, Lexi, responded.

Emily smirked, "so Stefan does have friends?"

Elena interrupted the conversation and quickly asked, "is he here?"

"He's in the shower," Lexi stated. "Um, do you wanna wait?" she questioned.

Elena looked over at her sister uncomfortably, so Emily quickly jumped in. She smiled at Lexi as she spoke, "no, it's okay. We should be going. It was nice to meet you, Lexi."

Lexi nodded her head as she stared at the older Gilbert and stated, "I'll tell him you stopped by."

"Thanks," Emily smiled politely before grabbing Elena's arm softly and quickly got Elena out of the Salvatore boarding house. Emily knew Elena was freaking out over Lexi. She decided she would drive Elena home, since her mind was probably all over the place. After a few minutes of driving, Emily glanced over at her sister and questioned, "how are you doing over there?"

"I feel worse," Elena mumbled.

"She might just be a friend, you never know," Emily tried to help her sister ease her mind.

Elena didn't say anything, she just leaned her head against the cool window. Emily kept quiet until she pulled into the driveway of the Gilbert house. Before Elena could get out of the car, Emily quickly grabbed a hold of her arm. Emily sighed, "look, Stefan likes you a lot. He wouldn't try so hard to get you to talk and understand him. He wouldn't just have some random girl in his house." Emily gave her sister a small smile, "how about you take a nap, you never know, things might be better when you wake up. You need to get your mind off of everything and relax."

Elena sighed quietly but nodded her head as she gave her sister a small smile. The two sisters made their up to the porch and into the Gilbert house. Emily was about to walk into the living room, but Elena quickly grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her into a hug. Emily was shocked but she quickly wrapped her arms around her sister. "You're the best sister I could ever ask for," Elena told her sister truthfully before making her way upstairs to do what Emily suggested and to take a nap.

Emily smiled as she watched her sister walk up the stairs. She knew Elena would be okay in the end. Emily made her into the living room, and was about to sit down but her cell phone began to ring. Emily sighed but pulled her cell phone out and saw it was her favorite blonde.

"Hey, Care," Emily answered.

"I'm having a party at the Grill," Caroline stated, "please tell me you're coming."

"What's the occasion?" Emily questioned.

Caroline was quiet for a moment before mumbling, "I don't know." Before Emily could ask if she was okay, Caroline quickly questioned sarcastically, "do you really need a reason to party?"

Emily chuckled, "you're right. I'll be there soon."

"Yay!" Caroline yelped. "There can't be a party without Emily Gilbert. I'll see you soon, bestie," spoke before she ended the phone call. Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes at the blonde when she didn't even get a word in.

Emily was about to go see if Elena wanted to go the party before she smirked, she had another idea. Emily grabbed her black purse that was hanging by the door before made her way to her car and made her way back to the Salvatore boarding house. It didn't take long before she pulled back into the driveway. Emily made her way to the door and walked in, surely Stefan wouldn't mind if she just walked in. It's not like they ever locked the door anyway.

Emily made her way into the living room and saw Stefan and Lexi talking. She knocked against the side of the wall a few times before the duo looked up. Emily smiled, "knock, knock."

Stefan looked up at the older Gilbert and smiled, "hey. What are you doing back? Lexi told me you stopped by."

Emily looked between the two before speaking, "I just wanted to talk to you about something."

Lexi stood up from the couch and smiled, "I'll give you two a moment," before walking out of the living room to get the duo some privacy.

Emily sat across from Stefan as she stated, "I wanted to talk about Elena."

Stefan looked at her worry as he questioned, "is she okay?"

Emily waved her hand, letting Stefan know not to worry. "She's fine. But…" Emily trailed off with a smile, "you should talk to her."

Stefan sighed, "she told she didn't want to talk to me anymore."

Emily rolled her eyes before explaining, "Elena is too proud to say she needs you in her life, but she does. I know my sister. She's just confused and scared. All our lives, everything has been simple and straightforward. But with you," Emily smiled, "she's experiencing new feels that she never had with Matt. Just go talk to her."

Stefan looked at Emily for a moment before nodding his head with a small smile, "I'll talk to her."

"Good," Emily smiled before she looked at Stefan seriously, "I know you care about Elena. I mean, you told Elena about Katherine and being a vampire, you wouldn't have done that just for anyone. Elena's my sister but you are also my friend, I want you to be happy. I know Elena is the way to your happiness like you are for her," Emily stated.

Emily could see that Stefan was thinking hard about everything that she had said, which caused a small smile to lift onto her face. She knows that Stefan will listen to her advise and talk to Elena. Emily quickly stood up from the couch and spoke, "well then, my job is done." Emily walked towards the doorway but looked back at Stefan with a smirk, "by the way, happy birthday."

Stefan looked at Emily in shock as he questioned, "how did you know that?"

Emily continued to smirk as she responded, "I have my ways, Mr. Salvatore."

Emily was about to turn around and leave the boarding house, but Stefan called out her name. She rose an eyebrow at Stefan before he spoke softly, "thank you."

Emily looked up at Stefan in confusion, he moved to stand in front of her before he stated sincerely, "you're a good friend. I know Elena's your sister but you also want me to be happy, so thank you."

Emily chuckled and pulled Stefan into a hug, "hey, that's what best friends are for." She gave Stefan a final smile before walking towards the hallways where she saw Lexi sitting by the stairs.

Lexi looked up when she heard footsteps and saw it was one of the Gilbert sisters. She stood up and looked at the young girl with a small smile as she questioned, "Emily, right?"

Emily nodded her head with a smile, "yeah, that's right." She smirked at the blonde, "and you are the other best friend."

Lexi chuckled, "yeah, that's right," mimicking what Emily had just said. "You seem very protective over Stefan," Lexi stated.

Emily shrugged slightly as she spoke, "he was my sister's boyfriend and he has protected my family ever since he came into town. He's a great guy."

Lexi nodded her head in agreement before she stated, "I'm glad he has someone here that would protect him like I would."

Emily was really starting to like this girl. She smiled as she questioned, "hey, do you want a ride to the Grill for the party?"

Lexi grinned, "yeah, I'd like that."

"Bye, Stefan!" Both girls called out at the same time before chuckling as they made their way to Emily's car. Not even a few minutes after leaving the boarding house, Emily questioned, "so when did you meet Stefan?"

Lexi looked over at Emily before with uncertainty, "do you know?"

Emily looked over at Lexi in confusion before realizing what she meant, "you mean, vampires? Then yes. Found out a couple weeks ago."

Lexi nodded her head before answering Emily's previous question, "actually I met Stefan the same year he was turned, in 1864." Lexi chuckled at the memory, "he tried to drink from me, not knowing I was a vampire."

Emily chuckled before she questioned, "can't you tell the difference between a vampire and a human?"

Lexi nodded her head, "of course. One has blood running through their veins and other doesn't." She shrugged her shoulders as she continued, "he was a new vampire so he couldn't tell the difference."

Emily nodded her head in understanding before she smirked, "do you have any juicy stories about our best friend?"

Lexi smirked over at the young girl, "you bet your ass I do." She chuckled as she questioned, "did he ever tell you that he met Bon Jovi?"

Emily gasped as she quickly looked over at Lexi, "are you serious?"

Lexi nodded her head with a smile, "dead serious." She chuckled as she continued, "we partied with Bon Jovi. Stefan was the life of the party."

Emily smiled in amazement as she stated, "that must have been so much fun meeting Bon Jovi." She smirked over at the vampire as she suggested, "maybe someday you, me, and Stefan can go."

Emily parked the car in front of the Grill and the two girls got out and made their way to the restaurant before Lexi responded to Emily a smile, "I'm holding you to it."

Emily and Lexi made their way through the party until they found an empty table between the pool tables and the dancing strangers. Lexi smiled over at the brunette as she spoke, "I got an embarrassing moment about our Stefan." She smirked, "let's just say, Stefan, naked, and the Trevi fountain."

Emily couldn't help but bust out laughing. "No way! Our Stefan went streaking in Italy?" She smiled brightly at Lexi as she questioned, "where have you been all my life?"

"Waiting for you," Lexi joked.

"Hey," someone called out to the new best friends. Emily turned around and saw it was Stefan. "What are you two talking about?" He questioned.

Emily smirked, "we're just talking about the amazing Trevi fountain, you ever been?"

Stefan groaned as he sat across from the two girls. "Lexi, that was a secret. I was drunk," he complained to the blonde.

Lexi shrugged as she leaned against Emily's shoulder, "she my new best friend so I had to tell her."

"Yeah, you've been replaced, Mr. Salvatore," Emily smirked.

Lexi suddenly stood up from her chair and shouted over the loud music, "let's dance, new best friend and old best friend!"

Emily jumped up while Stefan groaned but followed after the two girls to the dance floor. Emily and Lexi danced together before Lexi turned to Stefan, "I'm gonna need a little more foot movement."

"Yeah, I'm not really interested in making a fool out of myself," Stefan stated while he moved in slow motions that he called dancing.

"Oh, come on, Stef. It's your birthday. Just one day, let yourself relax," Emily told Stefan as she continued to dance with her new best friend, Lexi.

Stefan looked around the party before he told the girls, "do me a favor, tell me if you see Damon with his camera phone."

"Right," Emily and Lexi said at the same time sarcastically.

Stefan finally got the two girls away from the dance floor so he wouldn't embarrass himself anymore and moved towards the pool table instead. It was Lexi and Emily verses Stefan, who made the first move. Once Stefan made his move, he yelped, "whoo!"

"Nice!" Lexi yelled in excitement as she high-hived Stefan while Emily chuckled at the two. Stefan went for another shot, but this time, he didn't even hit a single ball. Emily walked towards Stefan and grabbed the pool stick as she taunted, "get ready to lose to the new best friends, Salvatore."

Stefan rolled his eyes playfully, "in your dreams, Gilbert."

"Don't make me hurt you, Stefan," Lexi called out teasingly.

Stefan held up his hands in innocence, which caused Emily and Lexi to laugh at the younger Salvatore. The trio continued to play pool and enjoyed each other's company. Emily really liked Lexi. she was fun and Emily could tell that she was a good person in the inside. She was just an easy person to get along with. Emily thought she could be best friend with Lexi forever if she could.

Once the game was over, Lexi told Stefan, "we'll be right back," before wrapping an arm around Emily's waist and pulled her towards the bar. Emily looked over at Lexi in confusion before the blonde explained, "your sister is here and I want to talk to her, you're my backup."

Emily nodded her head in agreement as the duo made their way to the bar. Lexi stood in front of the male bartender and stated, "three shots of tequila." Emily faked coughed causing Lexi to smirk, "make that four shots."

The bartender poured three of the shots before he looked up at Lexi and stated, "you know, I need to see some I.D."

Lexi lost her smile as she looked the bartender straight into his eyes and compelled, "no, you don't."

"That'll be, uh-" the bartender started before Lexi interrupted.

"Free!" Lexi exclaimed.

"On the house," the bartender smiled.

"Thanks," Lexi smiled at the bartender before handing Emily two of the shots and taking the other two as they slowly made their way to Elena, who was sitting alone.

"Oh!" Lexi yelped in shock as she faked bumped into the younger Gilbert sister. "You must be Elena," she recalled.

Elena looked over at her sister in confusion, not knowing that she was friendly with Lexi. Lexi turned back to the blonde as she mumbled, "towel girl."

"Don't be rude, Lena," Emily scolded her sister, "she's my new best friend."

Lexi shrugged lightly, "I've been called worse." She sat down one of the shot glasses she had in her hand and pushed into the brown eyed girl, "here."

Elena looked over at Lexi in wonder as she commented, "I didn't know you guys could drink."

"Oh, yeah, it helps curb the cravings," Lexi stated, "but makes for a lot of lushy vamps."

Elena chuckled, "you know, I've never seen Stefan drunk. He always seems so…" Elena trailed off.

Lexi and Emily both took their shot with a sour face before the two new best friends spoke at the same time, "uptight?"

Elena looked over at her sister weirdly as she questioned, "I thought that was our twin thing?"

Emily smirked playfully at her sister, "you've been replaced."

Elena couldn't help but chuckle when she saw Emily and Lexi place an arm around each other's waist. She grew serious as she went back to Lexi's question, "yeah. But not with you."

Lexi smiled, "well, that's the benefit of knowing someone for over a hundred years. You can be yourself."

Elena shook her head, "yeah, he can't be himself with me."

"Well, not yet," Lexi told Elena, "the first step was him telling you. The rest comes with time."

"You seem so sure," Elena spoke as she looked at Lexi with furrowed brows.

Lexi looked down with a small smile playing her face before she looked up at the two sisters and began, "the love of my life was human. He went through, what I imagine you're going through; denial, anger, etcetera. But at the end of the day, love really did conquers all." Lexi motioned to Elena's full glass and questioned, "are you going to drink that?"

Elena shook her head, "go for it."

Lexi smiled before turning to Emily and bumped her shot glass with the one that was in Emily's hands and smirked, "bottoms up."

Once the two girls downed the alcohol in their hands, Elena stated softly, "I'm scared."

Emily moved over to her sister and threw her arm over Elena's shoulder as she spoke sincerely, "that's a good thing, Lena. It means you're scared to lose him. He's good for you." Emily gave her sister a smile as she continued, "all joking aside, I'm your twin sister, I know these things and you can't deny you don't want him in your life, because you do."

Lexi nodded her head, "she's right. 'Cause you're crazy about him. I get it, okay?" Lexi glanced back at Stefan, who was playing pool by himself before she added, "I mean, what's not to love." She turned back to Elena and spoke seriously, "listen. Take it from someone who's been around a long time. When it's real, you can't walk away."

Once Lexi saw that Elena was smiling, she went to walk away, but the brown eyes girl called out, "hey, Lexi. It was really nice to meet you."

Lexi gave Elena a small smile before turning to Emily with an eyebrow raised. Emily chuckled, "I'll be over in a minute."

"You better," Lexi joked before walking back towards Stefan at the pool table.

Emily turned to her sister with a bright smile, "I'm guessing Stefan came to see you."

"Yeah," Elena trailed off, not know how her sister knew that.

"You're welcome," Emily smirked. "Being the amazing sister I am, I went to talk to him and made him man up," she explained playfully.

Elena looked at her sister gratefully, "thank you, Emmie." She looked at Emily seriously as she questioned, "when did you start taking shots?"

Emily chuckled, "it's a party, Lena." She linked her arms with her sisters as she spoke, "now, go get your man."

Elena blushed but nodded her head and followed Emily to the pool table where Lexi and Stefan were playing a game. "Hi," Elena smiled when she moved closer to Stefan. Emily made her way towards Lexi with a smirk and the two girls high-fived each other.

Stefan ignored the two smiling girls and focused his attention on Elena as he spoke, "hey, you came."

Elena smiled up at Stefan as she explained, "I couldn't miss your hundredth and…" she trailed off as she thought, "whatever birthday."

The four began playing a new game of pool with Elena and Stefan on one team and Emily and Lexi on the other. In the middle of the game, Lexi told the trio, "I'll be right back." She pointed at Emily as she spoke, "don't let them catch up. I'm counting on you."

Emily chuckled as she pulled Lexi into a side hug, "they can't be us, Lex." The blonde smiled before she began walking towards the bar.

Elena, Stefan, and Emily continued the game since Lexi never did come back, but they didn't mind. Suddenly Stefan looked up when he saw the police walk into the Grill. Emily and Elena both turned to see what was happening and saw the sheriff and her deputy's drag Lexi out of the Grill.

"Oh, my God," Stefan gasped in shock.

"What is it?" Elena questioned in confusion.

Emily couldn't believe what she just saw, she was worried about what they were going to do to Lexi. Emily ignored her sister's questioned, instead she grabbed her hand and pulled her to follow Stefan out of the Grill.

The trio quickly moved through the crowd and tried to leave the Grill, but two deputy's stood in the way. "Can't go out this way," one of them said.

Stefan didn't wait before he began jogging through the back way with Emily and Elena following quickly behind. The trio ran from behind the Grill when they heard gunshots and saw the sheriff shooting straight at Lexi. But suddenly out of nowhere, Damon appeared and Staked Lexi right through the heart.

Emily gasped loudly in shock as she saw her blonde friend fall into Damon's arms as she turned grey. Stefan quickly grabbed Emily and Elena and pulled the two sisters behind Mystic Grill's wall. Once the sheriff and everyone involved left the scene, Stefan finally let the two girls go. Emily couldn't believe what just happened, she had no words to explain how she was feeling. Emily looked up when she heard Elena shout out to Stefan, who was walking away.

"He killed her," Stefan seethed. "He killed Zach; he killed Tanner; he turned Vicki; I have to kill him!" he yelled.

"No, you can't do that," Elena told Stefan.

"Why are you trying to save him?" Stefan angrily questioned. "Elena, he's never going to change! Don't you see that!? He's never gonna change!" He ranted.

"I'm not trying to save him, I'm trying to save you!" Elena explained. "You have no idea what this will do to you, please Stefan," she begged.

"Everywhere I go, pain and death follows; Damon follows me," Stefan stated before he shook his head, "no more."

Elena quickly grabbed Stefan's hand when he tried to walk away and tried again, "please, Stefan. Please jus-just talk to me. Let me be here for you. Talk to me."

Stefan shook his head, "no. You were right to stay away from me." He glanced over at the saddened Emily before walking away from the two sisters.

Elena sighed heavily before walking over to her sister, who was still leaning against the wall when they saw Damon stake Lexi. Elena didn't say anything but pulled her sister towards her car and made their way to Gilbert house.

Once they pulled in front of the Gilbert house, Emily made her way to the stairs, but before she could walk up the stairs, Elena quickly turned her around and pulled her into a much needed hug. "I'm so sorry," Elena whispered to her sister, knowing that Emily had gotten close to the older vampire. After a few silent minutes, Emily pulled away from her sister and gave her a tiny smile before she began trudging up to her bedroom.

Emily slowly closed her door once she was in her bedroom and slid down the door. She gasped for breath as tears began to pool down her face. Emily couldn't believe that Lexi was dead. She may have only knew Lexi for a few hours, but she became someone that she could trust and that would forever be her friend. But Emily wouldn't get that opportunity since Damon took that away. Emily couldn't wrap her head around what happened tonight, all she could see was Lexi dying right in front of her. She didn't know what to do or how to feel, so Emily slowly moved to her bed and wrapped herself in her blanket and slowly drifted off to sleep, hoping to forget the horrible night that took place.


	13. Chapter 13

Emily, Elena, and Caroline were walking towards Mystic Falls High School when she turned to her best friend in wonder. "Have you talked to Bonnie?" Emily questioned her blonde best friend.

"No, I'm mad at her," Caroline stated. "She needs to make the first move."

"Be the bigger person," Elena told Caroline.

"Impossible in her presence," Caroline mumbled.

Emily rolled her eyes. Caroline could be so stubborn sometimes. She always has to make things more complicated than they should be. "Stop being petty, Caroline Forbes," Emily scolded the blonde.

Elena looked over at Caroline confused, "why are you pissed at her anyway?"

"She's a thief, that's why." Caroline began explaining, "I gave her my necklace, and she refuses to give it back. It's a matter of principle."

"I am so not getting in the middle of this," Emily chuckled.

Elena nodded her head in agreement, "I'm officially out of it."

Caroline smiled, "good." Caroline looked over at Elena, "your turn. Where's Stefan? Have you talked to him?"

Elena glanced over at her sister before mumbling, "he's avoiding me."

Caroline looked over at Emily, "have you talked to him?"

Emily shrugged, "all I get is his voicemail."

Caroline looked back to Elena confused, "why?"

Elena looked over at Emily in worry before she mumbled to Caroline, "it's complicated." before Elena could continue, the bell for class rang. Elena sighed thankfully, so she didn't have to continued to be questioned by Caroline. Elena grabbed onto Emily's arm before telling Caroline, "we'll see you later," and the two sisters quickly made their way from the blonde.

"That was close," Emily mumbled to her sister. Elena nodded in agreement before the two girls made their way into history class. While Elena sat in the front, Emily sat in the back. Suddenly the bell rang and that was in Bonnie came zooming into the classroom and took a seat across from Emily.

While the new teacher was busy writing on the chalkboard, Emily quickly looked over at Bonnie and mouthed, "are you okay?" but all Emily got was a small shrug before Bonnie looked to the front of the class. Emily sighed, deciding that she would find out what was wrong with Bonnie later and turned back to the front of the class when the teacher began talking.

"Alaric Saltzman," the teacher read from the chalkboard. "It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue." The teacher began to explain, "Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now, the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce it 'Ala-ric' but it's A-lar-ric,' okay?" The teacher paused, "so, you can call me Ric. i'm your new history teacher." _He seems nice, not a jackass like Mr. Tanner was,_ Emily thought. Maybe she would actually enjoy history class now.

* * *

Emily had finally convinced Bonnie to tell her and Elena why she was acting so weirdly this morning. So the three girls were seated outside while Bonnie tried to explain what freaked her out. "And then, I ended up at the remains of the old Fell's church before I woke up back in the woods."

"And you always see your ancestor, Emily?" Elena questioned.

Bonnie didn't say anything for a long moment before asking seriously, "do you believe in ghosts?"

Emily glanced over at Elena before responding, "nothing can surprise me anymore."

"I think I'm being haunted," Bonnie stated.

Elena shook her head, "I don't get it. Why Emily?"

Grams said she was a powerful witch back in the Civil War days, and that this medallion was hers." Bonnie picked up the amber necklace around her neck, "a witch's talisman."

"So it started once you started wearing the necklace?" Emily questioned. Wanting to get all the information, so she can at least try to help Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded, "I think she's using it to communicate with me."

"Okay, what does Grams say about it?" Elena asked.

Bonnie shook her head, "I can't call her. She's gonna tell me to embrace it. I don't to embrace it, I want it to stop."

Emily grabbed Bonnie's hand with a small smile, "maybe you should embrace it, or at least talk to Grams. I mean, she only wants to protect you." Bonnie sighed but nodded, knowing the older Gilbert might be right.

* * *

Emily and Elena were in Bonnie's car when the young witch began to explain what Damon did when he came up to her. Emily didn't like that Damon came up to Bonnie and basically threatened her about her ancestor. Another person Emily had to protect from the oldest Salvatore. She didn't trust him and she as hell hated the man with a passion, especially since what he did to Lexi.

"He's bad news, guys. He really scared me," Bonnie exclaimed.

"Trust me, I know," Emily mumbled. "He's dangerous. You need to stay away from him."

"I'm trying!" Bonnie yelped, "he just keeps showing up."

Emily shook her head, "I don't like the idea of Damon threatening you. You're going to stay with us tonight." Emily noticed Bonnie's sad face and quickly added, "we can make it a slumber party like we used to!"

Bonnie didn't say anything before she suddenly pulled over on the side of the road and quickly jump out of the car. Elena looked up at her sister, who was in the passenger seat, shocked. Emily didn't know what to say either. What the hell was Bonnie doing?

Emily watched Bonnie carefully and saw her rip the necklace off and throw it towards the grass field. Bonnie quickly jumped back in the car when Elena asked from the backseat, "are you okay?"

"Now I am," Bonnie stated. "All my problems were because of that thing." Bonnie sighed with relief, "I can't believe I didn't do that sooner."

Emily looked over at her friend in worry, "didn't Grams tell you to keep it with you always?"

"Grams isn't the one being haunted by a hundred and fifty-year-old ghost, is she?" Bonnie asked theoretically.

"Okay, then," Elena chuckled before Bonnie started up her white car and made their way to the Gilbert house.

Even though Bonnie didn't have the necklace anymore, Emily was worried about what Damon would do. Thinking of a plan, Emily pulled out her cell phone from her red purse and texted Stefan to meet her out the Gilbert house.

* * *

Once they made it to the Gilbert house, Bonnie and Emily started looking for movies to watch while Elena was placing blankets on the couch. Suddenly the front door rang and Emily quickly said, "we'll be right back," before grabbing Elena's hand and went to open the door. "Thank you for coming," Emily told Stefan before walking out to the porch with her sister.

"What's wrong?" Stefan questioned Emily with a tint of worry.

Emily folded her arms over her chest and stated seriously, "Damon threatened Bonnie."

"What would Damon want with Bonnie?" Stefan questioned confused.

"She has this necklace," Elena began from beside her sister. "Caroline got it from Damon, and she gave it to Bonnie, and now Damon wants it back. He's tormenting her."

"Over a necklace?" Stefan asked once again confused over what his brother wanted with Bonnie.

Emily shook her head, "it's not just a normal necklace. It belongs to Bonnie's ancestor, from back in the Civil War days."

Elena looked at Stefan shocked, "when you and Damon lived here."

"Her name was Emily," Stefan began, "she was Katherine's handmaiden, and a witch."

"So you know Bonnie is a witch?" Emily questioned Stefan shocked.

Stefan nodded, "the first night that you invited me over for dinner, I made the connection."

Elena sighed, "and now Damon knows, and for some reason he wants that necklace."

"What does it look like?" Stefan asked in wonder.

Emily thought for a moment and tried to explain the old necklace, "it's an antique iron setting with a -"

But before Emily could continue, Stefan interrupted the older Gilbert, "with an amber crystal." noticing Emily's confused facial expression, he explained, "I know it. It belonged to Katherine. Emily gave it to her which means…" Stefan trailed off.

When Stefan didn't continue, Elena questioned confused, "what?"

Stefan shook his head, "I don't know, but I'm gonna find out." Stefan turned around to walk off the porch when he called out, "let me talk to Damon."

"Do you think Damon will tell you?" Emily questioned.

Stefan sighed, "I'll get it out of him."

* * *

Emily had called Caroline to join her, Bonnie, and Elena to sleep over. Caroline needed to makeup with Bonnie anyway, so this way, Emily could help if she needed to. Emily and Caroline were quietly taking the food Caroline had bought from the Grill but the blonde felt eyes on her and saw Elena looking at her with a meaningful expression.

Caroline sighed and turned towards Bonnie who was looking down at the kitchen counter. "I'm sorry. There. I said it. If you want the ugly ass necklace, keep it. It's yours."

"Oh my God," Emily mumbled. Caroline sure knew how to apologize to someone. She definitely has no filter when she opens her mouth. But at least she apologized. At least it's a step, a small one, but still progress.

Bonnie avoided Caroline's eyes with a guilty expression, "will you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?"

"You threw it away?" Caroline huffed in annoyance.

"I know it sounds crazy, but the necklace was giving me nightmares," Bonnie explained to the blonde. "I had to get rid of it."

"You could have just given it back to me," Caroline yelped.

Emily rolled her eyes at her blonde best friend. "You were just going to get it to Damon."

Caroline shook her head, "screw Damon." Caroline suddenly changed the conversation, "are we doing manicures or what? Who has their kit?"

"Mines in my bag," Bonnie commented.

Caroline nodded before walking towards the dining room table and looking through Bonnie's bag. While Caroline did that, she also called out to Elena, "so… how long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last? Is it a permanent thing?"

Elena shrugged, "I don't know, Caroline."

Caroline huffed, "why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?"

"Caroline!" Emily scolded the blonde.

"What?" Bonnie asked confused.

Caroline held out the amber crystal necklace in front of the three girls and looked at Bonnie in question. But the three girls all had similar facial expressions. Elena and Bonnie were shocked to see the necklace while Emily was worried about the Bennett witch. What the hell was going on? She had seen the necklace being thrown into the grass field. What did her ancestor want with Bonnie?

"I'm not lying to you, Caroline. I swear," Bonnie stressed.

Elena glanced over at her sister before turning to Caroline, "it's true. I watched her throw it into a field!"

Caroline huffed and pointed towards the necklace on the counter, "then explain it."

Bonnie looked over at Emily and Elena scaredly, "Emily."

Caroline looked over at the oldest Gilbert, "what did you do?"

Emily rolled her eyes, "not me. Bonnie's ancestor."

"The ghost," Bonnie clarified.

"Oh, the ghost has a name now?" Caroline mocked.

"Caroline, please," Elena mumbled before turning back to Bonnie, wanting her to continue.

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone," Bonnie told the two Gilbert sisters.

"What is going on?" Caroline yelled. "Why am I not apart of this conversation?" Caroline huffed while staring at Bonnie and Elena, "you guys do this to me all the time."

"Oh come on, Care," Emily groaned.

Caroline shook her head at Emily, "I thought we were best friends, you're supposed to tell me everything!"

Emily sighed and glanced over at Bonnie before exclaiming, "it wasn't my story to tell, Care. maybe if you would listen to her, you would be in the loop."

Bonnie nodded in agreement, "I can't talk to you. You don't listen."

Caroline shook her head at Bonnie, "that's not true."

Bonnie stared at Caroline for a moment before stating, "I'm a witch."

"And don't we all know it?" Caroline huffed, not believing that Bonnie is a witch.

"See?" Bonnie yelped. "That's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to tell you something. You don't even hear it." Bonnie exclaimed before storming out of the kitchen.

Caroline glanced between the twins confused, "I listen. When do I not listen?"

Emily rolled her eyes at her blonde best friend. Caroline doesn't even think half the time. She is suppose to listen even if she thinks what Bonnie is saying sounds crazy, that's what best friends do. It's in the job description. Emily turned towards Caroline and tried again, "you need hear her out. Even if you think what she has to say is stupid or weird, you stick by her. She's your best friend so please just listen to what she has to say."

Caroline sighed and rolled her eyes, "fine," before leaving the kitchen and going towards the direction Bonnie left, which happened to be the living room.

"How do you do that?" Elena questioned her sister in surprise.

"Do what?" Emily rose an eyebrow at Elena.

"Get people to listen to you," Elena explained.

Emily shrugged with a smirk, "I guess I just got that Emily Gilbert charm."

Elena rolled her eyes at her twin sister but before she could say anything, Caroline suddenly yelled from the other room, "Elena! Emily! You guys can come in now. We're done."

The two twins walked into the room with two bright smiles on their faces. Emily sat between Bonnie and Caroline and asked, "are we all friends again?"

Caroline rolled her eyes with a chuckle and wrapped her arms around Emily's shoulder, "yes, we are." Caroline sighed, "there is just too much drama in this room." Caroline looked at the three girls, "so, what do you guys wanna do?" when the three girls shrugged, Caroline suddenly gasped and stood up, "i have an idea. Why don't we have a seance?"

While Elena and Emily both groaned at that, Bonnie quickly shook her head, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on," Caroline begged. "Let's summon some spirits," Caroline cheered. "This Emily chick has some serious explaining to do."

For some reason, that Emily didn't understand, the four girls moved to Elena's room to contact Bonnie's ancestor. Emily felt that this way a bad idea, this is just another way for Damon to get his way and Emily didn't like it. But Emily knew she couldn't say anything about Damon to her two best friends, so she decided to get on with the seance.

Caroline placed four white candles in the middle of Elena's bedroom floor and quickly turned off all the lights. The four girls sat in a small circle and held each other's hands. They sat there for a moment before Bonnie asked confused, "what are we doing?"

"I don't know," Elena mumbled.

"Shh. be quiet and concentrate," Caroline scolded. "Close your eyes," Caroline commanded. After a moment Caroline continued with a calm voice, "now take a deep breath." Once everyone did, Caroline called out, "Bonnie. Call to her."

"Emily… you there?" Bonnie spoke plainly.

Caroline peaked one of her eyes open and when she saw nothing was happening, she opened her other eye and looked over at Bonnie annoyed, "really? 'Emily, you there?' that's all you got?" Caroline begged, "come on."

"Fine, jeez," Bonnie mumbled before the four girls closed their eyes again. Bonnie took a deep breath and began, "Emily. I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen."

As soon as Bonnie finished speaking, the flames from the candles flared stronger than they should be, causing the girls to let go of each other's hands and jump back in shock.

"Did that just -" Elena began.

"Yeah, it just happened," Caroline continued for Elena.

It was quiet for a moment, before the room suddenly got colder. Caroline gasped from the coldness and Bonnie tried to explain, "it's just the air conditioning." But as soon as the last word slipped from Bonnie's lips, the flame went even higher.

"Ask her to show you a sign. Ask her," Caroline commanded. When Bonnie didn't say anything, Caroline sighed and began, "Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign." The four girls stared hard at the high flames, but nothing else happened.

"See? It's not working," Bonnie exclaimed while staring at the flames deeply, waiting for a sign. And Bonnie got that sign, because suddenly Elena's bedroom window slammed open, scaring the girls to death. Bonnie quickly tore the necklace from her neck and threw it towards the candles in fright, "I can't, I'm done." But as soon as she threw the necklace to the ground, the candles went out. "Get the light. Please, get the light!" Bonnie yelled.

"I got it," Emily exclaimed and quickly made her way to the wall the best she could in the dark. She felt around the wall and finally found the light switch and flipped it on.

Bonnie glanced down at the blown out candles and looked up in confusion, "you guys, the necklace, it's gone."

Once the shock wore off, the four girls began looking all through Elena's bedroom, trying to find the antique necklace. The girls looked through every spot in Elena's room before Elena huffed, "okay, fun's over, Caroline. You made your point, and I get it. Now give it back."

"What?" Caroline yelped. "Well, I didn't take it."

Emily rolled her eyes. She wanted to believe Caroline, she really did but who else would have taken the necklace. She didn't believe in any of this witch stuff, she thought it was joke. Emily was about to speak but she saw a shadow pass by Elena's bedroom door. Emily quickly walked to the doorway and looked around the hallway but couldn't see anyone.

"What? What is it?" Caroline asked Emily.

Emily shook her head but didn't say anything to the blonde. Emily left the doorway and began looking through the hallway, "Jer? Jenna? You guys home?" It looked like no one was home, so who did Emily see?

Suddenly Emily heard Bonnie yell out, "you guys open the door! Help me!" Emily quickly ran back to Elena's room and saw Elena and Caroline beating on the bathroom door. Emily jogged towards the door and tried to rattle the door handle, but nothing would work. "Lena! Go try the other door!" Emily commanded to her sister. Elena nodded and quickly did what her sister said.

"Come on! Bonnie! Try to open the door!" Emily yelled out to Bonnie. All you could hear was each four girls yelling either at Bonnie or Bonnie yelling to help her out of the bathroom. But suddenly, the lights began to flicker and Bonnie yelled out in pain. The three other girls stopped yelling, to listen for anything but then Bonnie stopped yelling and the bathroom door slowly opened up.

When the bathroom door opened all the way, Bonnie held her head in her hands. Elena carefully walked into the bathroom and questioned, "what happened? Are you okay?"

It was silent for a moment before Bonnie lifted up her hand slowly and stated emotionlessly, "I'm fine."

Caroline shook her head and scoffed, "unbelievable. You were totally faking it."

"She couldn't have faked that, Care," Emily tried.

"No! You scared the hell out of me," Caroline yelled before walking out of the bathroom.

"Bonnie?" Elena questioned carefully.

Bonnie stared at Elena, "I'm fine. Everything's fine." Bonnie squeezed through the two Gilbert girls and quickly made her way out of Elena's bedroom.

"I can't believe I fell for it," Caroline mumbled.

Emily looked at Bonnie weirdly, she wasn't acting like herself. Emily watched Bonnie try to rush down the stairs before Emily called out to her carefully, "are you sure you're okay, Bon Bon?"

"I must go," Bonnie plainly told Emily and continued her way to the stairs.

"She's leaving. I'm leaving," Caroline exclaimed, following after Bonnie.

"You guys can't leave," Elena called out, looking over at her sister for help.

"I can. I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night," Caroline huffed.

Bonnie looked over to the two Gilbert girls, "thank you for having me. I'll take it from here."

Emily looked at Bonnie confused. What did she mean? That didn't sound like Bonnie at all. Emily asked carefully, "where are you going?"

Bonnie walked slowly down the stairs and stated, "back to where it all began."

"Bonnie! Bonnie!" Elena yelled out to try to stop the witch but she never did stop. Elena gasped, "oh my God! Emily!"

The Bennett witch suddenly stopped at the end of the stairs and turned to the group of girls at the top of the stairs, "I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed."

Emily couldn't let the witch leave in her best friend's body. Damon would find out and hurt Bonnie to get what he wants. "Wait!" Emily yelled. But the Bennett witch didn't stop, she quickly rushed out of the house and slammed the door behind her.

Emily quickly ran down the stairs and tried to open the door but it wouldn't even budge. Emily guessed that the witch had spelled the door, so they wouldn't try to stop her. "What's happening?" Caroline asked once she got to the front door.

"I don't know," Emily mumbled. "The door is stuck," Emily lied. Suddenly the front door opened quickly and there was a shadow out in front. The three girls jumped in fright, but it was only Jeremy.

"What the hell?" Jeremy questioned confused before walking upstairs.

"I'm outta here," Caroline rushed before quickly leaving the Gilbert house.

Emily was going to try to stop her blonde best friend, but knew she would be safe. She was worried about if Bonnie would be alright. Emily looked over at her sister, who had the same worried expression. Emily quickly pulled out her cell phone from her back pocket and quickly dialed a familiar number.

"What's wrong?" Stefan answered after the second ring.

"It's Bonnie," Emily quickly spoke.

"What happened?" Stefan questioned.

Emily sighed, "her ancestor was possessing her." Emily paused, "she said something before she left."

"What did she say?" Stefan questioned again.

Emily thought for a moment, "she said 'I won't let him have it. It must be destroyed.'"

"Do you know where she would have gone?" Stefan asked.

Emily thought back to the conversation Bonnie had told her about her ancestor before Emily gasped in realization, "Fell's church. That's where she took Bonnie in her dreams. Elena and I are on our way."

"No no no," Stefan quickly spoke. "You both need stay home, where you'll safe. I'm gonna go find her," Stefan didn't even wait for a reply before hanging up the phone.

Emily wasn't just going sit around and wait for Stefan to bring Bonnie home. If she could help in anyway, she was going to do it. Bonnie's her best friend, it's her job to protect her. Emily quickly grabbed her car keys and called out to Elena, "come on." Before the duo quickly jumped into the car and made their way to Fell's church.

Emily drove as quickly as she could before she finally pulled up to the Fell's church. The two sisters quickly jumped out of the car and ran as fast as they could. When they finally got closer they saw Bonnie surrounded by fire. Emily gasped and yelled, "Bonnie!"

But before Emily could get any closer, Stefan quickly grabbed the oldest Gilbert around her waist and held her in place and did the same with Elena. Not wanting them to get hurt by the fire or by Damon.

Emily watched in shock from behind Stefan's shoulder. The Bennett witch threw the important amber crystal into the sky and it blew up into tiny pieces. Once the sparks were all gone, the fire around Bonnie disappeared. Emily knew that wasn't good thing for Bonnie. Damon suddenly rushed towards Bonnie, gripped onto her tightly, and took a huge bite from the side of her neck.

The two girls gasped in shock. Emily was in emotional pain watching her best friend getting bit by the angry vampire and she couldn't do anything except watch. Stefan quickly rushed towards Damon and pushed him away from Bonnie. Stefan bent down towards the Bennett witch and checked her pulse. Stefan looked up at the two worried Gilbert sisters and stated, "she's alive, but barely." Stefan quickly bit his wrist, "I can save her."

Elena held on her sister, afraid she would fall from how scared she was feeling. Elena gasped when she saw Bonnie's wound close up, "her neck, it's healing." Emily looked closely and sure enough, Bonnie's wound was slowly closing. _Another perk of being a vampire,_ Emily thought.

While Stefan went to talk to Damon, Emily and Elena helped Bonnie up from the woody ground and moved her towards Emily's car. Bonnie held onto the oldest Gilbert, "I don't understand, Emily. What happened to me?" Bonnie glanced between Emily and Elena before mumbling, "he attacked me, and his face was like…" Bonnie trailed off, not knowing how to explain what she just experienced.

Elena grabbed Bonnie's hand carefully, "how do you feel? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Bonnie gripped her neck, "it's just this blood. I don't…" Bonnie trailed off when she saw Stefan behind Emily.

Emily turned around and saw the youngest Salvatore slowly walking towards them. Emily looked over to Bonnie when she grabbed onto Emily like her life depended on it. Stefan realized this, so he quickly spoke, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Bonnie looked at Emily scared, "what is going on?"

Emily looked at Bonnie with an apologetic smile. She never wanted Bonnie involved in this life, but since everyone knows that she is a witch, never isn't much Emily can do to keep her from this life. Emily gripped Bonnie's hands, "I'll explain everything to you. We'll go to our house, and I'll explain every last detail." Emily saw that Bonnie was still staring at Stefan like he would hurt her so Emily quickly spoke up, "Stefan's a good guy. He would never hurt you." Emily gave Stefan a small smile before pulling Bonnie to her car. Knowing that Stefan and her sister needed a moment alone.

Emily slowly walked Bonnie towards her car and opened the passenger door for her. Once Bonnie got in, Emily grabbed Bonnie's hands, "everything will be okay, I promise." When Bonnie nodded slowly and stated seriously, "I will protect you."

Emily moved towards the driver's seat and not even a few moments later, Elena jumped into the car and slammed the door. Emily looked at her sister through the rear view mirror and saw that her sister had tears in her eyes. Emily sighed, she looked out front and saw Stefan staring at the car sadly. Emily gave the younger Salvatore a sad smile before leaving the Fell's church and made her way home.

Once Emily finally arrived at the Gilbert house, she made her way to her bedroom with Elena and Bonnie in tow. The three girls settled onto Emily's bed before she tried to explain everything that has happened with Elena's help. It was hard to explain everything, but a few hours later, Bonnie had gotten all there was to know. About vampires, about what happened to Vicki, about the Halloween party while Elena explained everything that happened with her and Stefan. By the end of the night, Bonnie and Elena were both crying. Emily's heart broke at the sight, so she pulled the two girls down and laid between them and held the two girls closely while they cried. Emily wanted to take away their pain, but she knew that wasn't possible. Emily couldn't protect her loved ones from everything. But she would try her hardest and no one was going to stop her.


	14. Chapter 14

Emily grabbed her black leather jacket and her matching purse that laid on the back of the couch and was about to walk out the door with Jenna when her sister came walking down the stairs with a weird look on her face. Emily rose an eyebrow at her sister in question.

Elena walked down the stairs and walked in front of the two women, "Jeremy's got his sketch pad out," Elena exclaimed with a small smile.

Emily looked at her sister with a bright smile, "are you serious?" Jeremy hasn't had his sketch pad since the car accident. This was a sign that he was getting back how he was before the accident, when he was happy.

Elena smiled at her sister, "dead serious." Elena shook her head, "but don't say a word. The minute we encourage him, he'll put it away."

Jenna pointed at Elena, "psychology major. Check that!" Jenna grabbed her purse from beside her and asked Elena, "you and Stefan? Update?"

Elena sighed and shrugged her jacket on, "he knows how I feel and where I stand and I know where he stands but it doesn't matter." Elena looked over at her sister with a sad expression, "he's leaving, moving away." Emily gave her sister a small smile. She felt bad that Stefan was just going up and leave town when Elena really liked him, Emily knew the feels were mutual but Emily knew Stefan didn't want Elena to get hurt.

Jenna looked at Elena softly, "where is he going?"

Elena opened the front door and held it open for Jenna and Emily before answering, "I stop asking questions. The answers got scary."

Jenna looked back at her two nieces on the porch with a sigh, "yours leaves, mine returns."

Emily groaned, "please tell me you're joking."

"Logan?" Elena questioned.

Jenna shook her head at her oldest niece and walking made her way down the steps before explaining, "he's back." Emily and Elena groaned at the same time with a disgusted facial expression. Jenna quickly spoke up, "I didn't let him pass the front door."

"I hope you slammed it in his face," Elena commented.

Jenna shrugged, "ah, medium slam."

Emily shook her head in disappointment, "he doesn't deserve you, Jenna. No more scum in your life."

"Three strike rule, Jenna." Elena told her aunt, "you're not even aloud to watch the news."

Jenna nodded her head in agreement with her two nieces, "exactly. No more Logan "Scum" Fell."

Emily smiled proudly at her aunt and wrapped her arms with Jenna's, "that's right. Time to find you a new man that actually deserves you." Jenna shook her head at the oldest Gilbert and chuckled.

* * *

Emily, Elena, and Bonnie were walking through the hallways of Mystic Falls High School when something caught their attention, more like two people. It was Matt and Caroline being super close with each other.

Elena looked at the duo confused and questioned the two girls at her side, "did I miss something?"

"They've been hanging out," Bonnie explained.

"Kind of weird, don't you think?" Elena questioned.

Emily shrugged, "I think he's good for Caroline. Someone that actually cares for her."

Bonnie nodded in agreement, "instead of a homicidal vampire like Damon."

Emily looked over at the Bennett witch in worry, "how have you been dealing with everything?" Emily was worried about the dark haired girl since the whole finding about vampires and of course being attacked.

"I'm freaked out," Bonnie stated. "Damon attacked me. I could be dead right now." Bonnie glanced over to Elena, "but I'm also grateful."

"Hmm?" Elena mumbled.

"To Stefan," Bonnie explained to the younger Gilbert twin. "He saved my life and…" Bonnie trailed off before asking carefully, "have you seen him?"

Elena pulled her locker open before throwing her scarf in and sighed, "not since he told me he was leaving." Elena mumbled, "for all I know, he's already gone."

Emily leaned against one of the grey lockers and gave her sister a pointed look, "come on, Lena. he's not just going to leave without saying bye. He's only doing this so you won't get hurt."

Elena huffed, "that's the problem, he thinks he's protecting me. Clean break and all that."

"So, what are you going to do?" Bonnie questioned Elena.

"What am I supposed to do?" Elena mumbled. "I already begged him not to go. If I ask again, I'm being selfish. It is what it is."

The three girls began walking through the hallways once again before Bonnie tried to console her best friend, "maybe it's for the best."

Elena came to sudden stop and looked at Bonnie confused, "what? Why?"

Bonnie shrugged softly, "I mean, what kind of future could you have had with him, even if he stayed?"

Before Elena could respond a banner that was hung in the middle of the hallway. The three girls glanced down at the banner, and it read, 'The Promise of your Future'. Elena looked over at Bonnie and mumbled, "did you just?"

Bonnie quickly shook her head, "no, I swear."

"Oh, God," Elena huffed. She lifted up the blue banner and quickly walked away. Emily sighed and looked over at Bonnie with a sad expression before the two girls quickly followed after the confused and sadden Elena Gilbert.

* * *

Once the final bell rang for the end of the day, Emily and Elena made their way to the oldest Gilbert's car. But before they could make it to the parking lot, Emily spotted a familiar someone she hasn't seen a few days. Emily nudged her sister's shoulder and pointed with her head to the younger Salvatore who was sitting on one of the many red tables around the school.

When the two girls got closer, Stefan suddenly stood up and spoke softly, "hi. We need to talk." The two nodded their heads and listened quietly while Stefan explained what he had found out from the sheriff this morning.

"So, you have no idea who it could be?" Elena questioned after a moment.

Stefan shook his head, "none." Stefan glanced at the two girls and continued, "it must be somebody new because leaving a body like that, they're either sloppy or they're trying to send a message."

"Are you positive it's not Damon?" Emily questioned. You never know what Damon will do, he's unpredictable.

"Well, I'm never sure about Damon," Stefan told Emily before continuing, "but he's been trying to keep a low profile lately, so it just doesn't make any sense to me."

Emily stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Did you have a plan?" Emily asked.

"Damon's tracking them right now," Stefan told Emily. He then stood up and turned to Elena, "look, I promised you the truth so I wanted to tell you." Stefan glanced between the two girls with a soft expression, "I want you to be careful, both of you."

Elena stood up also and nodded her head. She spoke up after a moment softly, "when I saw you… I thought you were coming to say goodbye."

Stefan glanced at two girls that he cared so much about, but didn't want to get hurt because of him and his brother. He looked away from the two girls and mumbled, "not yet."

* * *

Emily and Elena were carelessly walking around the Career Night that Mystic Falls High School was hosting. Emily already knew which direction she wanted to go in for her future. She wanted to follow her father's footsteps and be a doctor. Ever since she was a child, being a doctor has always been her dream. Emily was always more like her father than her mother, maybe that's why she wanted to be a doctor or she wanted to make her parents proud of her.

Suddenly Elena pulled Emily into a certain direction and Emily saw they were heading straight towards the alone Matt Donovan. "Still wanna be an astronaut?" Elena asked her ex boyfriend with a small smile.

Matt chuckled, "I can't believe you remember that."

Emily smirked, "how could we not. Little Matty with his tinfoil on his head."

Matt groaned in embarrassment, "I was eight," Matt mumbled with a tint of pink on his cheeks.

Elena questioned Matt carefully, "how are you doing?"

Matt didn't answer for a few minutes before looking away, "I've had it easier." Matt stared at his ex girlfriend and asked softly, "you?" When Elena looked at him confused, Matt explained, "I heard some things." Elena didn't say anything, so Matt continued, "so it's true that you and Stefan…" Matt trailed off.

Elena avoided eye contact and huffed, "yeah, it is."

Noticing the awkward air that suddenly took place in the room, Emily smirked over at Matt, "I heard something about you, Matty." Emily paused for dramatic effect and mumbled two words, "Caroline Forbes."

Matt groaned, "please don't gang up on me like Tyler does."

Emily smirked, "why do you think we're best friends? We like to gang up on you, Matty."

Before Matt could respond, someone had walked into the doorway. The trio glanced over to the door, and saw Stefan standing there staring at the old friends. Emily looked over at Matt and gave him a small smile, "we'll see you later, astronaut boy."

Emily grabbed her sister's arm before the two Gilbert sisters followed after Stefan who made his way to the a quiet spot in the hallway that was busy with people talking and walking around. Elena leaned against the wall and mumbled, "I guess you're not here to plan the path for your future." Elena paused before stating, "you're looking out for us."

"Hope that's okay," Stefan stated while looking directly at Elena.

It was silent for a long awkward moment so Emily decided to actually do something instead of just standing there with the distant couple. Emily moved towards one of the booths and it so happened to be a booth about being a doctor. Emily had a small smile move on her face, thinking about her father. Elena and Stefan moved towards the booth after a moment and Stefan stated, "you know, I wanted to be a doctor before everything happened, but, uh, then I couldn't, cause…" Stefan trailed off. Emily felt bad for Stefan, that he couldn't live out his dream as a vampire because he was turned.

"The blood," Elena finished for the vampire.

Stefan nodded, "yeah." He grabbed one of the pamphlets and stated, "I've dabbled in a bunch of other things, though."

"Didn't love anything enough to stick with it?" Elena questioned.

Stefan shook his head, "No, I loved it all. I just… I had to move on before anybody could notice that I wasn't getting any older."

"How long before that would happen?" Emily questioned, curious about how long she would actually be friends with younger Salvatore brother, if he did decide to stay in Mystic Falls.

"Few years, usually," Stefan answered. "Sometimes shorter."

Elena finally looked up at Stefan for the first time, "and you always left?"

"I didn't have a choice," Stefan answered simply.

Noticing the tension with the broken couple, Emily quickly spoke, "I'm going to go look for Caroline. I'll see you guys later," Emily smiled before walking out of the room. Emily knew the couple needed a few minutes alone, she hoped they would work out. Stefan needed to realize even he thinks he protecting Elena, that we are already in the vampire world, we will always be in some type of danger now.

Emily began looking for a favorite blonde but didn't get the chance to look everywhere because not even three minutes later, Emily's aunt came rushing towards her. Emily rose an eyebrow at her aunt in confusion but Jenna didn't say anything. She quickly grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her into a room, which happened to be the one she just came from.

"Hide me," Jenna mumbled once she found her other niece.

Emily finally freed her arm from her aunt and looked at her confused, "why? What's going on?"

"The scum Fell has landed," Jenna explained in a whisper.

Emily groaned, "seriously? What does Logan want now?"

Stefan looked at Emily in shock, "wait, Logan Fell?"

Jenna sighed but nodded her head at Stefan. As soon as Jenna nodded her head, Stefan quickly fled out of the room in a hurry. Jenna looked at her two nieces confused as to why Stefan rushed out. But neither of the girls knew what to say, so the three left the room and went to the hallway where they found Stefan standing.

"Stefan, what's going on?" Elena questioned Stefan.

But before Stefan could reply, Logan Fell suddenly came up from behind Stefan and exclaimed when he saw the familiar strawberry blonde, "Jenna, are you dodging me?"

"It's a form of self preservation," Jenna stated with a straight face.

Stefan quickly turned to the Gilbert twins and stated casually but you could see the strain on his face. "Emily, why don't you take Elena and Jenna somewhere else?"

Emily saw Stefan's serious face, and understood right away. Emily turned towards her aunt with a fake bright smile, "they have this amazing section on psychology, let's see if you like any of the careers."

Emily began leading her two female family members to the opposite side of the school, and far away from Logan Fell. Emily suddenly stopped in realization. She quickly turned to Jenna and asked seriously, "what did Logan say when he came by last night?"

Jenna huffed, "fake flattery. Stupid, dimpled grin. Puppy dog eyes."

Realizing what her sister did, Elena quickly turned to Jenna, "we're serious, Jenna. How did he act? What did he say?"

Jenna looked at the two girls weirdly, "he was the usual Logan, was charming, a little more manic than usual." Jenna paused for a moment before continuing, "he kept trying to convince me to let him in." Jenna saw the two girls' eyes grow a size, "what?" Jenna asked confused.

Emily looked at her aunt serious, "I need you to stay away from Logan Fell. if he comes towards you, I want you to turn around and go the other way, okay? And no matter what, do not invite him inside our house."

Jenna looked at Emily confused, but trusted her judgement and nodded her head in understanding. Not even a moment later, someone spoke up from the three girls. "Hey, Emily, Elena." Mr. Saltzman spoke before turning to older woman with a small smile, "Jenna."

"Hi, Mr. Saltzman," Elena spoke to the history teacher politely.

Mr. Saltzman only had eyes for Jenna. He spoke with the same smile still on his face, "yeah, I was hoping to see you tonight."

"Career night is the new bowling," Jenna smiled at the cute history teacher.

Emily smirked when Mr. Saltzman laughed at Jenna's horrible joke. Emily grabbed Elena's arm and pulled her away from the two adults but not before raising her eyebrows at her aunt with a knowing smirk. Emily was definitely going to tease her aunt, but right now, she more important things to worry about.

When the two girls were far away from their aunt, Elena pulled Emily to a complete stop and questioned with a tint of anger, "did you know Logan was a vampire?"

Emily looked at her sister like she was crazy, "of course not. I just put two and two together like you did. I haven't been talking to Stefan since he was supposed to leave town."

Elena sighed and nodded before pulling her older sister out the side door, hoping to find Stefan and sure enough, he was standing outside on his phone. The two girls slowly made their way towards the younger Salvatore. Once Stefan hung up his cell phone, Elena growled, "anything you'd like to share?"

Stefan then began explaining everything he knew about the new vampire in town, who happened to be Logan Scum Fell. Emily sighed, when she got the truth, she was really hoping that Logan wasn't the vampire killing random people, but of course her luck isn't that good. Emily quickly walked back inside the school with Elena and Stefan trailing behind her. Emily wanted to know where Jenna was, or at least where Logan was. She needed to protect Jenna from the new vampire. Emily suddenly crossed paths with a familiar face. Emily grabbed Matt's arm and questioned, "have you seen Logan Fell?"

Matt nodded, "yeah. He just gave Caroline a ride home," Matt stated before continuing his walk down the hallway.

Emily looked over at Stefan with wide, scared eyes. Stefan squeezed Emily's hand softly and commanded the two girls, "stay here," before quickly walking through the hallway.

Elena looked at Stefan weirdly, not understanding the small jester he gave her twin sister but decided to let it go. Emily couldn't believe that Logan had the nerve to take Caroline Forbes. Emily was beyond worried about her blonde best friend. She didn't want Caroline to be dragged into this even more than she already was.

Emily couldn't stay still, so she and Elena moved to an empty room where she paced back and forth. After about fifteen minutes, Stefan quickly walked into the room. Once Emily saw Stefan's face and asked nervously, "Caroline?"

Stefan began walking with the two girls down the hallway before answering, "she's okay. I took her home. She was shaken up. But all she knows is Logan attacked her. Nothing else."

Emily sighed thankfully, "I'm going to go see her." Emily glanced over at her sister, "let me know when you get home." she then glanced over at Stefan, "be safe, both of you," before walking towards the parking lot.

* * *

It took Emily no longer than twenty minutes to make it to the Forbes house from Mystic Falls High School. Emily grabbed her black purse from the passenger seat before walking up to the door and knocking. A few moments later, a sleepy Caroline opened the door and saw her best friend. "What are you doing here?" Caroline asked shocked.

Emily gave the blonde a small smile, "I heard what happened with Logan, wanted to make sure you were okay."

Caroline opened the door widely so Emily could walk into the house before moving towards the living room. Once the two girls were seated, Caroline sighed, "I'm fine. Just a headache."

Emily nodded, "I wanted to come talk to my best friend. Since school started, it feels like I never see you anymore." Emily knew that was true, but it wasn't because of school. It was because of the whole vampire problems that have taken over Emily's life.

"I know right!" Caroline yelped with a chuckle. "I miss my best friend."

Emily smiled over at her best friend but then she smirked widely, "so what's going on with you and Matt?"

Caroline looked up at Emily with wide eyes and rosy cheeks, "w-what are you talking about? We're friends."

Emily rolled her eyes playfully, "oh come, Care. I see the way you look at him. You like him." Emily knew Caroline like the back of her hand. She always knew when Caroline liked someone, it was twinkle she got in her eyes.

Caroline sighed, knowing she couldn't hide anything from the oldest Gilbert. "Fine, I like him." Caroline looked down at her fingers that sat in her lap, "it doesn't though. He's still hung up on Elena."

Emily grabbed Caroline's hand so that her attention was only on her, "Elena is over Matt, you don't need to worry about her. Plus, Matt looks at you differently than he did with Elena. You bring a certain light to his life." Caroline looked up at Emily with skeptical expression, so Emily quickly added, "I've known Matt all my life, I know he likes you. Trust me."

Caroline smiled gratefully at her best friend. She jumped up from the couch with a wide smile, "how about movies like we used to do?" Once Emily nodded, Caroline began looking for a movie on the coffee table and found her favorite. Caroline showed Emily the cover, and of course it was The Notebook. Emily groaned inwardly but didn't say anything, she knew Caroline needed to feel better so she stuck it out.

Half way through the movie, Emily glanced over at Caroline and saw that she was sound asleep. Emily chuckled, stood up and grabbed the white blanket that was laying on the back of the couch. Emily threw it carefully over the blonde before writing a quick note for Caroline, to tell her to call me tomorrow.

Emily grabbed her black purse before quietly making her way out of the Forbes house. She was happy to spend sometime with the blonde and also just to have a normal night without having to deal with vampires or witches. But of course, as soon as Emily walked off the porch, her cell phone began to ring. Emily quickly grabbed her phone from her purse and looked at the screen and saw it was her twin sister. As soon as Emily answered her phone, all she heard was Elena crying. "Woah, woah, woah. Slow down, Lena. what's wrong?" Emily paused at the end of the steps, waiting to hear from Elena.

Elena took a deep breath before speaking quickly, "I look just like her!"

Emily scrunched up her face in confusion, "who?"

"Katherine!" Elena yelped, "she looks exactly like me!"

"Elena, I need you to calm down," Emily told her sister before quickly walking to her car. "Where are you?"

"I'm outside the Salvatore boarding house," Elena whimpered.

Emily quickly started her car and drove down the road, "I need you to go to the end of the driveway, I'm on my way. You shouldn't be driving."

"Okay," Elena whispered before hanging up the phone. Emily sighed, there goes her night of no vampires and witches. Emily didn't understand why Elena was freaking out, maybe this Katherine girl had the same eyes? She would have to ask Elena about. Her sister wouldn't just freak out over nothing.

About ten minutes later, Emily could see the shadow of her twin sister, sitting on the side of the road. Emily quickly pulled next to her, but before Emily could get out and help her sister, Elena quickly jumped into the car. Emily shrugged and began driving away. It was silent for a moment before Emily glanced over at her sister and saw her crying silently. Emily spoke carefully, "now, what happened?"

Elena took a deep breath and tried to explain without crying hysterically again, "Stefan had this black and white picture. It was Katherine, she looked just like me."

Emily glanced over at her sister, "what do you mean? Same hair? Eye color? Smile?"

Elena shook her head frantically, "no! It was like looking in a mirror. I look just like her. There was no difference!"

Emily looked over at her sister shock. What the hell was Stefan thinking? Did he think he could replace Katherine with Elena? There had to a mistake, there's no one she looks just like Elena. Emily was so occupied with her thoughts, that she didn't see a figure standing in the middle of the road.

"Emily!" Elena yelled.

Emily looked at the figure in shock. She quickly tried to move out of the way, but she wasn't quick enough. Emily ended up hitting the person that was in the middle of the road, causing her car to flip out of control. It felt like hours before the car stopped rolling, but in reality it was only a few seconds. Emily gasped with the car finally stopped rolling. She quickly glanced over at her sister who looked to be passed out. "Lena? Lena!" Emily yelled in worry, but she never did reply. Emily tried to take off her seatbelt, but it wouldn't budge. Emily looked around the car but couldn't find anything to help her, so she looked out the broken window. Emily's eyes widened when she saw the figure began to stand up. There was no way a person would be able to that. That was when Emily realized this was no person, this was a vampire.

The figure started to stalk towards the tipped over car. Emily tried to pull her seatbelt off again, but of course, nothing happened. Emily's breath started to come out uneven, she didn't want to die in a car. Especially after she survived one car figure was one foot away from the car, being the figure took off with vampire speed. At least, Emily knew she was right that the figure was a vampire. She sighed in relief, but not even a second later, a figure bent down her level. Emily screamed in fright, thinking this way going to be final moments.

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down, it's Damon," the older Salvatore spoke softly.

Emily calmed down once she realized it was Damon Salvatore and not the new vampire, coming to kill her. Emily sighed gratefully, "you scared me."

Damon chuckled, "obviously." he looked closer at the older Gilbert and stated, "you look stuck."

Even though she was in a car upside down, Emily still rolled her eyes at the older Salvatore. "Obviously," Emily spoke in the same tone as Damon did. But then she remembered Elena, and quickly spoke, "get Elena first. She's not awake. Please make sure she is still alive," Emily begged.

Damon looked at Emily for a moment before quickly speeding towards Elena's door and slowly pried her out of her seatbelt and sat the younger Gilbert sister carefully beside the wrecked car. Damon made his way back around towards Emily and spoke, "now let's get you out here."

Emily shook her head, "is Elena okay?"

Damon looked up at Emily seriously, "she's fine. I checked. She's breathing." Once Emily nodded in acceptance, Damon commanded, "I need you to put your hands on the roof the car." when Damon saw that she listened, he quickly pulled on the seatbelt until it snapped in half and he quickly grabbed Emily and pulled her from the car.

Damon held up the oldest Gilbert by her waist and questioned, "can you walk?"

Emily nodded and tried to move towards Elena, but she quickly fell. Damon noticed that she was fading, he grabbed her before she could get a concussion from the hard ground. Emily was so worried about Elena, that she didn't even realize she was in any pain. Damon grabbed both passed out Gilberts and rushed away from the scene of the car accident.


	15. Chapter 15

Emily groaned when she woke up. Instead of being able to roll around in her nice warm bed, she met with a cold window. Emily quickly sat up and ignored the pain in her neck. She looked around and realized she was in a moving car. Emily glanced over at the driver's seat and saw Damon Salvatore. Emily sighed, she really hoped last night was a dream, but she wasn't that lucky. Emily quickly remembered Elena, so she glanced in the back seat and sighed, glad her sister was still with her.

Having heard the oldest Gilbert, Damon glanced over to her and smirked, "good morning, sunshine."

Emily ignored the older Salvatore and reached to the backseat and felt for Elena's pulse, and thankfully it was still there. Emily needed to make sure for herself that her sister was okay since she hadn't seen Elena awake since before the crash. Emily turned back around and looked out the window in confusion, "are we not in Mystic Falls?" Emily asked, not recognizing her surroundings.

"Nope," Damon simply answered.

Before Emily could question him even further, Elena groaned from the backseat. Emily turned in her seat, and watched her sister carefully. Elena looked around confused, just like her sister was. "Where are we?"

"Georgia," Damon answered Elena's question and Emily's next question she was going to ask.

Elena looked at her sister in shock and turned back to Damon, "no, no. no, we're not. Seriously, Damon. Where are we?"

Damon glanced over to Emily with a playful eye roll before stating to Elena, "seriously, we're in Georgia." Damon looked back at Elena, "how ya feeling?"

"I-I" Elena trailed off not knowing what to say. She was beyond confused and her body was hurting all over the place. Emily gave her sister a warm smile, "you're okay, Lena."

Elena looked at her sister confused and scared, "but your car…" Elena trailed off in thought before continuing to mumble to her sister, "there was a man… you hit a man." Elena's eyes widen, "but then he got up…" Elena trailed off.

Emily turned to Damon in wonder, "do you know who it was?"

Damon shook his head, "no, I've been wondering the same thing."

It was silent for a moment before Elena yelped, "where is my phone?" Damon didn't say anything so Elena began to start to freak out, "okay. We really need to go back. Nobody knows where we are. Pull over." Elena pleaded, "I mean it, Damon. Pull over! Stop the car!"

Damon pulled the car to a stop on the side of the road and groaned, "why can't you be as fun as your sister?" Emily smirked, not the first time Emily heard that she was the more fun sister out of the two girls. Ever since they were young, Emily was the more outgoing one.

Once the car was stopped, Emily quickly jumped out of the blue car and helped Elena out of the backseat. As soon as Elena's feet touched the ground, she bent over in pain. Emily held onto her sister, encase she would pass out. Suddenly Damon came over quickly and crouched down in front of Elena, "hey," he spoke softly.

Elena looked at Damon confused but didn't think anything of it and stated, "I'm fine. We have to go back."

"Oh, come on," Damon huffed, "look, we already come this far."

"Why are you doing this?" Elena questioned Damon. "We can't be in Georgia. Emily's car is wrecked. We have to go home." Elena looked over at her sister for help and continued, "this is kidnapping."

Damon turned to Emily, "tell your sister to calm down." but all the oldest Gilbert did was hold her hands up in innocence.

Elena shook her head repeatedly, "you're not funny. You can't do this. We aren't going to Georgia."

Emily sighed and moved closer to her sister, "Lena, we are already in Georgia, just relax."

Damon nodded his head and looked at Elena with a smirk, "without your magical necklace, I might add. I can very easily make you agreeable."

Emily glared over to Damon for even thinking about doing that to Elena. Every time she thought she could be friends with Damon, he says or does something stupid like that. Emily turned to her sister seriously, "why don't you have your necklace? You know that keeps you save."

Elena shrugged, "I was upset."

Emily sighed and quickly took off her necklace that protected her and handed it over to Elena. "Wear mine." Emily saw that Elena was going argue, she quickly shook her head, "no. I need you to be save. Don't worry about me." after a few moments of staring at her sister, Elena finally agreed and placed Emily's necklace around her neck.

Not even a moment later, a familiar sound began playing. Emily glanced over at Stefan confused and noticed it was coming from Damon. Elena noticed that too and stated, "that's my phone."

Damon pulled out the phone from his front pocket, and sure enough, it was Elena's cell phone. Damon looked at the screen and pointed it towards Elena, "mmm. It's your boyfriend." Elena looked away from the ringing phone, Damon shrugged, "I'll take it." Damon answered the phone with a smile, "Elena's phone."

It was quiet for a moment before Damon glanced over at the two girls while talking on the phone, "Elena? She's right here. And, yes, she's fine." Damon listened to Stefan before shoving the cell phone towards Elena, "he wants to talk to you." But all Elena did was shake her head and looked away from the phone. Damon smirked before putting the phone back to his ear, "yeah, I don't… I don't think she wants to talk to you right now." it was silent for a moment before Damon told his brother, "you have a good day. Mm-hmm. Bye now," before hanging up the phone and placing it back into his pocket.

Not even one second later, Emily's phone began playing from her jacket pocket. Emily looked at Damon confused, who only just lifted one eyebrow up. Emily rolled her eyes and pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and say her green eyed best friend pop up on the screen. "Hey, Stef," Emily answered easily.

"Are you with Elena?" Stefan questioned in worry.

Emily glanced over at her sister, who was staring right back her while biting her nails in nervousness. "Yeah, I'm with her. She's okay. I gave her my necklace, she's safe."

"Emily!" Stefan scolded the older Gilbert. "What about you? You're in danger now without your necklace."

Emily shrugged even though Stefan couldn't see, "as long as Elena's safe, I'll be okay."

Stefan sighed, not happy that she could be compelled by Damon or get hurt. "Just call me later, okay?" Stefan mumbled, "be safe," before hanging up the phone.

Emily pocketed her phone back in her jacket and saw Damon smirking at her, "my brother is majorly protective of you."

Emily rolled her eyes, "he's worried about Elena, plus we're friends. That's what friends do, they worry. You wouldn't know, would you?" Emily smirked. Jabbing at the fact that Damon doesn't have friends.

Elena quickly jumped in before the two could start to argue with each other. "Look, no one knows where we are," Elena told Damon, "can we please just go back?"

"We're almost there," Damon told Elena.

Emily rose an eyebrow at Damon, "where?" She wanted to know where the oldest Salvatore was taking her and her sister.

"A little place outside of Atlanta," Damon explained before turning to Elena, who was less than convinced. "Oh, come on, Elena. You don't wanna go back right now. Do you?" Damon paused, "what's the rush? Time out. Trust me, your problems are still going to be there when you get home." Damon glanced between both girls and pleaded, "step away from your lives for five minutes. Five minutes!"

Emily thought for a moment, what's the worse thing that could happen? Well, Damon could force her to do something, but she didn't care. Elena would be save. Plus they needed a small break from all the vampire drama, even though they would be hanging with one. Emily turned to Elena with a small shrug, "it could be fun. Come on, Lena." Emily smirked over at Damon, "five minutes."

After finally convincing Elena to get back in the car and not go back home yet, Damon drove the two sisters through the countryside of Atlanta, Georgia. Suddenly, a thought came to Emily, "hey, where is my car?"

"I pulled it off to the side of the road," Damon shrugged, "I don't think anyone will bother it." Emily was going to get an earful once Jenna finds out that she totaled her car.

"What about that man in the road?" Elena asked from the backseat. She asked carefully, "was he a…?" Elena trailed off, not wanting to say the word.

"I watched him pop his bones back into place, I think he was," Emily told her sister.

Damon nodded, "from what I could tell, yeah."

"You didn't know him?" Elena questioned again.

"If I've never met him, I wouldn't know him," Damon paused, "I mean, it's not like we all hang out together at the Vamp Bar & Grill."

Emily smirked over at the vampire, "if there was one, then you would finally have friends." Damon rolled his eyes at Emily but let out a small chuckle. They definitely had the same sense of humor.

* * *

A little while later, Damon pulled the blue car to a complete stop. Emily looked around for something to tell where they are. She looked across the street and groaned at Damon, "seriously? We left Mystic Falls to come to a bar?"

The three got out of the small car before Elena complained, "Damon, we're not old enough. They're not gonna let us in."

"Sure they will," Damon smirked. Emily rolled her eyes, knowing Damon knew someone inside that would allow us enter the bar. Emily wrapped her arms around Elena's and pulled her sister inside the small bar.

As soon as they walked into the bar, a women called out, "no. No, it can't be. Damon." She stared at the vampire before sliding over the bar and walked in front of Damon, "my honeypie," she smiled before pulling Damon into a long kiss. Emily covered her mouth when she started laughing at Elena's gawking opened mouth.

After the small make out session, the two sisters and one vampire moved to the bar while Bree, the owner of the bar and Damon's old friend, moved back before the bar and grabbed a bottle of bourbon and yelled out to the whole bar, "listen up everybody! Here's to the man that broke my heart, crushed my soul, destroyed my life, and ruined any and all chances of happiness!" Bree poured six shots of bourbon and moved three shot glasses towards the sisters and vampire and left two for the people sitting at the bar. "Drink up!" Bree commanded. Damon and Bree both took their shot at the same time while Emily stared at her. She shrugged before drinking hers. Emily looked over at her sister who shook her head and Damon drunk her shot as well.

Bree turned to the two sisters, "so which one of you belong to this one?" Bree asked while pointing at the smirking Damon.

Emily held her hands up, "definitely not me."

Bree looked over at Elena with a smirk, "so, how'd he rope you in?"

But of course, Elena was horrible at lying, 'cause she started jumble over her words. "I'm not roped in, actually I dating his…"

But Elena got to finish her sentence, because Bree jumped in, "honey, if you're not roped, you're whipped." Bree began pouring for shots, "either way, just enjoy the ride."

Emily smirked, she definitely was starting to like this women. Emily looked at Bree in wonder, "how did you two meet?"

"College," Bree simply answered.

Emily looked over at Damon with one eyebrow lifted, "you and college doesn't mix."

Damon rolled his eyes, "I never said I went to college, but I've been on a college campus."

"About twenty years ago," Bree began, "when I was a sweet, young freshman, I met this beautiful man, and I fell in love." Bree glanced over at Damon, "and then he told me about his little secret, made me love him more." Bree looked back the two girls and continued, "because, you see, I had a little secret of my own that I was dying to share with somebody."

Damon leaned over towards the Gilbert sisters and whispered, "she's a witch."

Emily looked back at Bree shocked, "really?" the only ever witch she knew was the two Bennett witches.

Bree nodded and smiled over at Damon, "changed my world, you know."

Damon smirked, "I rocked your world."

Bree chuckled before turning to Elena, "he is good in the sack, isn't he?" Bree didn't wait for a response before continuing, "but mostly he's just a walkaway Joe." Bree turned towards Damon and asked, "so, what is it that you want?"

Noticing that Damon wanted to talk to Bree alone, Emily pulled her sister from the bar and walked out to Damon's car. "We should call Jenna," Emily told her sister before pulling her phone from her jacket pocket. Emily leaned against Damon's car beside Elena and placed the call to Jenna on speaker phone.

After two rings, Jenna answered her phone. Before Jenna could open her mouth, Emily quickly spoke, "Jenna, I'm sorry me and Elena did call you."

"Where are you? Why didn't you and your sister didn't call me?" Jenna questioned quickly.

Emily glanced over at Elena before coming up with a quick lie, "Caroline wanted to hang out last night and we completely forgot to call. Then we woke up late this morning and I had to worry to school." it wasn't a complete lie, but it was still a lie. Emily hated having to do this to Jenna, but it's for the best.

Jenna sighed, "is Elena okay?"

Elena decided to speak up, "you know, Stefan and stuff." Emily gave her sister a small smile and a thumbs up. She knew Elena didn't want to lie either.

After convincing Jenna that they were okay and at school, the two girls made their way into Bree's bar. When Emily got closer, she saw there was two burgers sitting in front of her and Elena's seat. Emily sighed happily that she finally had food. She doesn't even remember the last she ate.

The three ate in silence for a moment before Elena spoke up, "let's just say that I'm descended from Katherine." Elena paused, "does that make me part vampire?"

Damon shook his head, "vampires can't procreate." Damon stuffed a fry in his mouth and smirked, "but we love to try." Damon shook his head seriously, "no, if you were related, it would mean Katherine had a child before she was turned."

"Did Stefan think he could use me to replace her? Elena huffed. Stefan couldn't be that shallow and horrible, it's not like he's Damon. That just didn't sound like Stefan.

"Kinda creepy if you ask me," Damon shrugged. Emily rolled her eyes, Damon always tries to cause a drift between her sister and her best friend.

Emily glanced at her sister and saw stacking up her pickles on the side of her plate. Emily rolled her eyes and grabbed the pickles and ate them while smiling at her sister while Elena had a disgusted expression. Damon looked at Elena weirdly, "what's wrong with you? You don't like pickles?"

"Right!" Emily yelped and gave Damon a high five causing Elena to roll her eyes at the two bonding over her distaste of pickles.

Elena looked at Damon confused after thinking. "How can you even eat? If technically you're supposed to be…" Elena trailed off, not wanting to say it in front of a full bar.

Damon looked around the bar before whispering, "dead." He chuckled, "it's not a bad word. As long as I keep a healthy diet of blood in my system, my body functions pretty normally."

"This nice act," Elena paused, "is any of it real?" Elena stared at the vampire in wonder.

But before Damon could say anything, Bree walked over with a beer bottle and placed it in front of Damon, "here you go, honey."

"Thank you," Damon mumbled before taking a sip.

Emily smirked over at Bree, "we will have one too."

"What?" Elena questioned shocked.

Emily rolled her eyes, "come on, Lena. you need to relax." Emily smirked over at Damon, who also had a shocked face, "five minutes, remember?"

Bree smiled and placed a beer bottle in front of each sister, "there you go."

Emily smiled politely at the witch and clinked her bottle with her sister and took a sip. Elena rolled her eyes but took a sip also. Emily chuckled when she saw Elena's disgusted face, but she happy that her sister was letting go for a few hours. They both needed to relax after the horrible days that had been having lately.

* * *

Emily, Elena, and Damon were joined by a few people at the front of the bar where Bree poured everyone a shot and looked at everyone's face with excitement, "ready… go!"

Everyone downed their shot and the first one to be done was the two Gilbert sisters. "Yes!" Emily yelped and high fived her sister. Emily knew her sister was getting on the drunk side, but she deserved to have a little fun, so Emily didn't stop her and she joined in on the drinking.

Elena pointed at Damon, "that's three!" Elena faked pouted at Damon, "do you need a bib?"

"Sorry I can't unhinge my jaw like a snake to consume alcohol," Damon mumbled up his excuse.

Emily rolled her eyes and slung an arm over Elena's shoulder, "you're just jealous, 'cause you can't beat us." Emily looked over her sister and saw her smiling away, Emily chuckled and turned back to Bree, "another round for us!"

"Honey, you should be on the floor!" A women beside Elena spoke.

Elena shook her head repeatedly, "I am not even drunk. My tolerance level is, like, way up here," Elena jumped up in the arm and lifted her arm highly.

"All right, here you go," Bree said while pouring another round of shots.

Emily and Elena both clinker their shot glasses together, causing them to spill a bit of bourbon on their hands before downing the shot. Once the shot glasses were on the table, Emily grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her from the bar stool. Emily began twirling her sister around, dancing like there was no tomorrow. Emily missed this. This was how Elena was before the car accident, she was carefree and loved to have fun.

Something caught Elena's eye because she gasped and turned to her sister in excitement, "let's play pool!" she didn't even wait for Emily to respond before pulling her older sister to one of the pool tables.

The two sisters drunkenly played pool, it took way longer than it needed to let up since neither of the girls could exactly stand on both feet without stumbling around. But the two girls were having fun, so that all that mattered. Elena grew serious when she leaned down to take the shot and when she made it, she jumped up in joy. Elena ran to her sister and wrapped her arms around Emily's neck in excitement. Emily chuckled but hugged her drunk sister back. Suddenly, Emily's phone began to ring from a close table where her leather jacket laid. Emily skipped over to her jacket and pulled out her phone. She looked at her screen and her eyes widened. Emily turned to Elena and placed her finger on her lips before answering the phone, "Hello?" Emily answered.

"Emily?" Jenna spoke on the other end of the phone.

"Jenna! Hold on, it's loud in here." Emily smiled and pulled the phone away from her face and turned to Elena, "I'll be right back," once Elena nodded and continued to have fun at the pool table, Emily made her way out of the bar.

"Emily, where are you?" Jenna questioned in worry. "Is Elena with you? Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah!" Emily yelped, "everything's fine. Elena and I are great!"

"No, it's not fine," Jenna scolded her oldest niece. "I got a call…"

But Emily decided get the chance to hear the rest of Jenna's rant, because as soon as she stepped out of the bar, she tripped over her feet and dropped her phone. Emily huffed and carefully leaned down and picked up her phone. She placed it to her ear and spoke, "hello?" Hoping that Jenna was still on the phone. Emily went to speak again but before she could, someone covered her mouth. Emily's eyes widened in shock, she quickly sobered up.

Emily couldn't remember how she got up there, but here she was, on top of a tall tank beside the bar. Emily looked down when she heard multiple footsteps and saw Damon with Elena trailing behind the vampire. "Damon, no!" Emily yelped. But it was too late, the person who placed Emily on top of the tank suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hit Damon with a wooden plank.

Emily looked around where she was, and saw a set of stairs. She quickly climbed down them and ran towards the shocked Elena. Emily grabbed her sister's face in her hands and commanded, "go to Damon's car and stay there until I come get you." When Elena didn't move, Emily yelled, "run now, Elena!" Elena quickly nodded before listening to her sister and ran to Damon's blue car.

Emily ran back towards Damon and the vampire and saw that the vampire was pulling gasoline over the hurt Damon. "No!" Emily yelled out. Suddenly the vampire turned to Emily in anger, causing Emily to jump back in fright.

"Who are you?" Damon groaned on the ground, wanting to get the angry vampire's attention on him rather than on the human girl.

"That's perfect," the vampire seethed, "you have no idea."

Emily quickly jumped in before the vampire could light Damon on fire. "Wait, wait, wait! What did he do?"

The vampire turned back to Emily, "he killed my girlfriend." He turned back to Damon and continued to pour gasoline all over Damon's body and growled, "what did she do to you, huh? What did she do to you!?"

"Nothing," Damon whispered from the hard ground.

Emily looked at the man confused, "I don't understand."

"My girlfriend went to visit Stefan, and Damon killed her," the vampire explained. "Got it?" The vampire picked up a bat and started to beat over Damon with it.

Emily gasped her shock. She knew exactly who his girlfriend was. "Was Lexi your girlfriend?" Emily questioned, wanting to make sure. Once the vampire nodded, Emily quickly spoke again, "she was my friend! She told me you were human."

The vampire nodded sadly, "I was."

"Lexi turned you?" Emily asked, even though she probably already knew the answer. But she noticed the lighter inside the man's hand and needed to by Damon sometime.

The vampire turned back to Emily, "if you want to be with someone forever, you have to live forever."

The vampire kicked down hard against the face, so Emily spoke up again, "she told me, 'when it's real, you can't walk away.'"

"Well, that's a choice you're not gonna have to make," the vampire growled out in pain.

Once the vampire turned back around, Emily spoke quickly, "you meant the world to her, don't do this. Don't stoop to his level!"

The vampire lit a match and yelled, "I'm doing you a favor!"

Even though Emily wasn't Damon's biggest fan, she wasn't just going to let him die for something that she was still mad about. He was Stefan's brother and she could see them becoming friends so she thought quickly. Bringing up Lexi, would be the best way. "Lexi was a good, which means you are too. She loved you more than anything, you could see it when she talked about love. She wouldn't want you to do this," Emily pleaded.

The vampire stared at Emily for a moment before picking up Damon by the wet shirt and threw him towards the building across from the bar. Emily sighed in relief, "thank you."

"It wasn't for you," the vampire mumbled before vamp speeding away. Emily knew it was because of Lexi.

Emily quickly jogged towards the groaning Damon. She carefully pulled him up from the ground. "You okay?" Emily asked Damon.

It took a couple of minutes for Damon to get his strength back, but finally Damon stood up on his own. "Go to the car, I have a witch to deal with," Damon growled before stomping back to Bree's bar.

Emily knew that Bree would be dead by the time Damon came back to the car. But Emily couldn't find it in herself to care. The witch put Elena in danger, and that doesn't pass over easily for Emily. She slowly made her way to Damon's blue car and saw Elena was seated in the backseat with her head against the window, passed out. Emily chuckled, she knew her sister had fun for once. Emily was glad that Elena didn't have to deal with Lexi's boyfriend, she deserved a normal day.

* * *

The trio had been driving for hours, and finally Emily saw the Mystic Falls sign. They were about thirty minutes from the Gilbert house and twenty minutes from the Salvatore boarding house. Elena was still passed out in the backseat, Emily wasn't going to wake her up just yet. Emily looked over at Damon, "so, what was the real reason for kidnapping my sister and I?"

Damon playfully groaned, "I thought I made it clear that it wasn't kidnapping." Damon shrugged, "you're fun and your sister isn't the worse company in the world."

Emily rose an eyebrow at the vampire, not believing that was the reason for taking them out of the state. "Seriously?"

Damon smirked, "I knew it would piss Stefan off." Damon paused, "and you and your sister was hurt in the middle of the road, so why not."

Emily rolled her eyes, "of course Stefan would be pissed off. You took his girlfriend out of state and to a bar, I might add." All Damon did was smirk, like he knew something the oldest Gilbert didn't. Emily shrugged it off before smirking at Damon, "I saved your life, you know."

Damon groaned, "I know."

Emily smirked, "little ole human saved big bad vampire's ass."

Damon rolled his eyes, "yeah, yeah, yeah. You got lucky."

Emily rolled her eyes, "yeah, right. Just thank me and shut up." Damon smirked over at the oldest Gilbert and shook his head. Surprisingly the two got along, even if Emily does hate him sometimes.

The trio finally pulled up at the Salvatore boarding house. Emily quickly jumped out of the car to stretch. She felt like she been stuck in the car for days. Emily leaned in the backseat and saw Elena begin to move around. Emily shook her sister's shoulder, causing Elena to wake up fully. After a few minutes, Elena was finally out of the car. Emily began to walk towards her sister's car that she left, but Elena spoke up, "wait."

Emily turned back to her sister with an eyebrow raise in question. Elena was quiet for a few moments, before making him his mind. "I need to talk to Stefan."

Emily nodded in understanding before following her sister inside the Salvatore boarding house. Elena slowly made her way up the stairs towards Stefan's room, but didn't hear her sister. Elena looked down at Emily was standing at the end of the stairs. "You should talk to him alone," Emily told Elena. Who nodded and continued her towards Stefan's room.

Emily was beyond tired, she was ready to go home and actually sleep in her own bed for once. She doesn't even remember the last time we slept good since last night she slept in Damon's car after the accident. Emily didn't know how long Elena was going to take, so she laid on one of the many couches in the living room of the Salvatore boarding house.

Emily must have fallen asleep, because not even twenty minutes later, Elena was shaking her awake. Emily groaned, but slowly got off the couch anyway. "Let's go," Elena mumbled.

Emily noticed her twin's eyes looked sad so all she did was nod her head. Elena opened the large door of the boarding house and was about to walk out with Emily, but Stefan spoke from behind them. "Emily, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Emily looked at her sister weirdly, but all Elena did was nod her head and continue her journey to her car. Emily turned towards Stefan who looked nervous. "What's wrong, Stef?"

Stefan walked closer towards the oldest Gilbert and began, "you are my friend, so I think I should be the one to tell you." Emily looked at Stefan worried but only nodded. Stefan sighed before saying two words that caused Emily to gasp, "you're adopted."

Emily shook her head quickly, "there's no way."

Stefan squeezed Emily's arm in reassurance, "like I told Elena, you both would have to be adopted for Elena to look like Katherine since her last name was Pierce."

Emily shook her head, she couldn't wrap her head around all this. "How do you know this?"

Stefan explained, "your birth records. It says Emily Gilbert, Mystic Falls General. But there's no record of your mother ever being admitted. There's no record of her ever being pregnant."

Emily sighed loudly. She couldn't believe that she and Elena were adopted. She always thought Miranda and Grayson Gilbert were her parents. Nothing makes sense anymore. What the hell was the truth about her life? Emily needed answers and the only person she could think of was sitting in the Gilbert house. Emily looked up Stefan and spoke, "thank you for telling me, Stef," before quickly making her way to the door.

Stefan quickly grabbed her arm and turned her around, "hey, are you okay?" He asked in worry.

All Emily could do was nod her head. Because she didn't feel okay, she felt like she had been lied to since the day she was born. Realizing she wasn't going to say anything, Stefan quickly pulled the oldest Gilbert into a tight hug, "hey, if you need to talk, don't hesitate to come to me. You're my best friend, I'll be here for you."

Once Emily pulled away, she gave Stefan a small thankful smile before walking out of the Salvatore boarding house and straight towards Elena who was sitting inside her car. Emily sighed once she got in, but didn't say anything the whole way towards the Gilbert house. She didn't know what to say to Elena to console her since she didn't even know she was adopted either.

When Elena pulled up at the Gilbert house, Emily sighed but made her way up the porch stairs tiredly. As soon as Emily opened the door, Jenna spoke, "I don't set a lot of rules. I trust you to tell me the truth." Jenna stood up and walked towards the twins. "Where were you guys? Why would you lie to me about it?" Jenna stared hard at Emily, "I thought we were closer than that."

Emily looked over at Elena and pointed towards the stairs with her head. Telling her sister to head upstairs. She would deal with Jenna alone. Emily knew Elena wasn't as strong as she was, so she wouldn't be able to talk to Jenna without her emotions. Once Elena was upstairs, Emily turned back to Jenna with her arms crossed, "you do not want to talk to me about lies."

"Don't do that. Don't turn this back on me. I didn't do anything," Jenna explained, not knowing that she did anything.

Emily rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for games, so she asked straight out, "are we adopted?" All Jenna did was look at Emily with her mouth opened like a fish. "Why didn't you tell us? At least me? I thought we were closer than that."

Emily moved to walk up the stairs but Jenna spoke quietly, "Emily, I didn't… they asked me not to." Emily didn't say anything and continued her way up the stairs towards her bedroom. She just wanted to sleep. She didn't want to hear Jenna's excuses. She and Elena deserved to know they were adopted. Emily about to open her bedroom door, and remembered she haven't even talked to Elena after finding out they were adopted from Stefan, so Emily knocked quietly on Elena's door before opening. Emily saw Elena laying down on her bed and staring at the ceiling.

Emily sighed and laid down next to her sister before turning to her side. She looked at her sister and spoke softly, "how are you doing?"

Elena sighed and grabbed her older sister's hand, "I don't know. I never thought it was possible for us to be adopted."

Emily nodded in agreement, "I know. I don't know what to think either. I mean, you would think they would have told us." Emily shook her head, "it's just too much to think about right now." Emily moved closer to her sister, so they would be laying right next to each other. "I want you to know, that everything will be okay. As long as I'm here, you will be okay." Elena gave her sister a small smile, which caused Emily to smile back. Even though they are adopted, they will be okay somehow. Nothing changed, Miranda and Grayson would always be their parents no matter what.


	16. Chapter 16

Emily was pacing up and down her sister's bedroom floor while Elena and Stefan laid next to each other the younger twin's bed. Emily was nervous because they had to talk about the car accident that only took place two days ago. They knew it was a vampire that Emily had hit with her car, but they didn't know who and what he wanted.

"Stefan, who was that man in the road?" Elena questioned Stefan while glancing over at her sister.

Stefan shook his head, "I don't know." Stefan looked over at the pacing Gilbert and called out to her, causing Emily to turn to him. "Do you remember anything else about him?" Stefan asked Emily, since she was the one who awake during the whole car accident.

Emily thought for a moment before sighing, "it was too dark. All I could see was a dark figure coming straight towards the car and then he left once Damon came."

Stefan stared at the oldest Gilbert for a moment before standing up, "I brought some vervain," Stefan told the two sisters. "For you guys and Jenna." Stefan grabbed a small box that he had sat down once he arrived in Elena's bedroom. Stefan opened the wooden box and pulled out a thick bracelet, "and, um, I made this bracelet for Jeremy, few extra one for friends." Emily went and sat on the bed beside her sister so she could have closer look. Stefan handed the older Gilbert a small vile of liquid. "You can put it jewelry, or you can even put it in food or drink, but as long as it's in you or on you, a vampire cannot control you," Stefan explained.

Emily realized the small bottle in her hand was a bottle of liquid vervain. It a lot to remember about protecting yourself or others from a vampire. Elena must had the same idea, because she picked up a small plant and stated, "wow. So much to remember."

"I know," Stefan mumbled. "But there's another vampire in town." Stefan glanced over at Emily when he spoke, "so until we find out who it is and what he wants, we have to be careful."

Elena and Emily both nodded their head in agreement. Emily would do whatever she had to do to protect her sister from the new vampire. Suddenly, Emily heard her brother calling for her from downstairs. She listened carefully and realized Jeremy needed money for the pizza they ordered. Emily rolled her eyes, of course Jeremy wouldn't have any money. "I'll be right back," Emily mumbled to the couple before hurrying to her room and grabbed her wallet.

Emily rushed down the stairs and saw the pizza guy placing the pizza down on a small side table close by the door. Emily quickly opened her wallet and grabbed a twenty dollar bill and a five dollar bill. Emily handed over the money with a smile, "keep the change."

The pizza guy smiled at Emily and mumbled, "thanks." the pizza guy walked slowly backwards while continuing to stare at the girl and spoke, "and you have yourself a good night."

Emily looked at the pizza guy weirdly, but didn't think anything of it before closing the front door. Emily grabbed the pizza from the side table and moved towards to the dining room table, but not before yelling towards her sister and best friend, "pizza's here!"

* * *

The next morning, Emily had looked through the wooden box Stefan had left for the two girls, that was filled with vervain items. Emily wanted something to protect her best friend, Caroline Forbes, from vampires. Knowing that the blonde was very stylish, Emily grabbed the jewelry that Caroline would really like. It happened to be a silver heart shaped locket with vervain in the center.

Emily and Elena were walking towards Mystic Falls High School with the blonde right by their side. Caroline was looking down at her necklace with a smile, "it's so pretty. Thank you." Caroline looked over at her best friend, Emily, "God, it'll go with, like, everything." Caroline's face scrunched in confusion, "what's the occasion?"

Emily looked over at Caroline with fake hurt, "can I not give my best friend a gift?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, "of course you can." The three girls sat down at red table out of the school. Caroline smirked over at her best friend, "lesbian friend necklace? 'Cause we're freaky like that?" Caroline asked with sarcasm.

Emily smirked back at the blonde and joked, "you know it, Care."

Elena rolled her eyes at her sister but then she turned to Caroline seriously, "your friendship is important to us."

Caroline knew that Emily and her liked to give each other things since they were so close. But with Elena, she never did do that. So Caroline looked over at Elena weirdly, "why are you being so mushy?"

Elena thought for a moment, "because, you've been avoiding me, and I wanted you to know that whatever is going on with you and Matt, it's okay." Elena explained to Caroline.

Caroline glanced over at Emily for second, she was glad that her best friend didn't tell her own twin sister about what she said about liking Matt. Caroline turned back to Elena and spoke carefully, "I was gonna talk to you about that. I was, but there's just not much to say." Caroline shrugged, "you know, we've hung out a couple times. That's it, but… I feel like we've peeked as friends." Once Caroline saw Elena nod her head, she quickly shook her head, "this is weird. I shouldn't be talking to you about this. It's weird." Caroline looked over at the amused Emily, "it's weird, right?"

Emily chuckled, "it's a little weird."

Elena slapped her sister's arm lightly with a scowl before looking at Caroline with a small smile, "if it's what you and Matt want, then it's not about me."

Caroline looked at Elena with furrowed brows, "but it's all about you. Matt's not over you, and we all know it."

Elena shrugged her shoulders, "I'm with Stefan now. Matt understands that. He knows he has to move on." Emily knew that Caroline was right.

Everyone knew that Matt will forever be in love with Elena, but everyone also knows that Elena has moved on. Emily saw the facial expression on her best friend's face, Caroline didn't believe a word Elena was saying. Once Caroline looked over at Emily, she gave Caroline a small smile which Caroline returned. Caroline just needed confidence that Elena wouldn't be any competition for Matt's attention.

* * *

Emily sat a small table in Mystic Grill with her sister, Elena and their friend, Bonnie. Who was shocked when Emily explained to her what she found out yesterday. That she and Elena were adopted. Bonnie shook her head, "I can't believe you guys are adopted. I never saw that coming."

"Tell me about it," Emily mumbled. She couldn't believe it either. Never in her life had she ever thought she and Elena would have been adopted.

Elena nodded her head in agreement, "and it gets weirder." Elena glanced over at her sister before continuing, "we looked at our birth certificate. It lists Miranda and Grayson Gilbert as our birthparents." Elena huffed, "none of it makes sense."

Bonnie glanced at the two girls, before settling her eyes on the oldest Gilbert twin. "Which is why you should ask Jenna." Knowing that Emily was closer to Jenna than Elena was.

Emily groaned. She felt like she couldn't trust Jenna at the moment. She always believed Jenna would always tell her the truth. But now she knew Jenna didn't tell her something major about her life, she didn't know if she could trust Jenna. Before Emily could make up an excuse, Bonnie quickly spoke. "When has the Emily Gilbert stood down from a fight?" Bonnie rose an eyebrow at the older girl, "you always get answers, no matter what, so what's stopping you?"

"Never," Emily mumbled. When Bonnie smiled triumphantly, Emily rolled her eyes, knowing the Bennett witch was right. She never backed down, especially when she needed these answers. "Fine. I'll talk to her. You win, Bonnie Bennett," Emily sighed playfully. Emily was just being stubborn. She didn't want to talk to Jenna after she lied for her whole life. But talking Jenna could solve her and Elena's questions, so she would do it.

Suddenly Elena stood up from the wooden table and told Bonnie, "we'll see you later. My outfit for the dance is severely lacking accessories."

Emily stood up as well and smiled to her twin sister, "I got you covered. I know the perfect thing for your outfit."

Bonnie chuckled at the two sisters when Elena rolled her eyes at Emily. The older twin was more of the stylish one. "Okay, I'll pay the bill," Bonnie told the two girls.

"Thanks Bon Bon," Emily smiled at her friend before quickly following after Elena who was already heading out of the door of Mystic Grill.

Once Emily caught up with her sister, they both headed towards Elena's car. Since Emily's car was in the shop, the two sisters had to share Elena's car. Emily commanded her sister to go this small little shop about ten minutes from Mystic Grill. Emily and Caroline would always come to this small shop that selled vintage clothing, they had beautiful jewelry from back in the day.

The two sisters looked around the store before Elena groaned and said, "I can't find anything for my outfit."

Emily rolled her eyes, "stop being so serious, Lena. relax, have some fun." Emily pulled her sister's arm and pulled her towards the collection of vintage scarves. Emily grabbed a colorful pink and blue scarf and threw it around Elena's neck and twisted and turned while dancing around Elena.

The younger sister rolled her eyes but chuckled anyway. Elena looked around and found another colorful scarf that was orange and green and did the same with her sister. The two best friends and twin sister's danced together to the forties music that was playing softly in the background. It had been a long time since the two Gilbert sisters had been shopping together. Emily remembered it was right before the party last year when the sisters went shopping with their mother, Miranda Gilbert. That was the last time that the two went shopping together.

After a few minutes of dancing and laughing with each other while playing with the different accessories in the store, the owner shushed the two girls. While Elena quickly turned red and turned her back to the owner, Emily just chuckled at her sister and apologized to the older women.

Emily laid her arm across her sister's shoulder with a smile, "see, you still know how to have fun. I thought that Elena was gone." Emily was truly happy to see her sister have fun and not care if anyone was watching. It felt normal for the two girls. It was like when they were together, they could do anything.

Elena chuckled before growing serious, "please help me with my outfit."

Emily sighed and nodded, "alright. So what does your outfit look like so far?"

Elena thought for a moment before explaining, "a blue button down shirt, dark jeans, and white sneakers."

Emily nodded before turning back to the collection of scarves that they were just playing around with. Emily found a salmon pink scarf with a black outline. Emily smiled in appreciation and handed her twin the scarf before moving towards the hair accessories with Elena following quietly behind. Emily looked over at Elena's long brown hair for a moment before turning back to the accessories and finding a thick white headband. She quickly handed it over to Elena before moving a few spots over where she found the jewelry. She knew her sister was covered with a necklace, since they couldn't take off their necklaces for safety. So she settled on earrings. Emily looked carefully before smiling when she found the perfect pair. It was a pair of huge white pearl earrings. Emily turned to hand the earrings to her sister and saw Elena looking at the items confused. When you look at the three items, they don't look like they match, but Emily knew what she was doing. Emily was about to tell her sister that she was done, but suddenly her eyes widened and quickly jogged towards the belts. Emily knew exactly what Elena needed. She had seen the belt before when she and Caroline came, and knew it would complete Elena's outfit. It was a thick dark red belt.

Emily turned to her sister with a bright smile who still looked at Emily confused. Emily chuckled, "it'll go together in the end, Lena."

Elena rolled her eyes, "fine. I guess you know what you're talking about."

Emily smirked at her sister, "you bet your ass I know what I'm talking about." Emily hooked her arms with her sister before the two girls headed towards the cashier to pay for Elena's accessories for the dance tonight.

Emily and Elena both walked out of the store with a smile on their faces. It was the first time Emily saw her sister smile so brightly while just shopping. "That was fun," Elena admitted to her twin sister.

Emily squeezed Elena's arm and was about to reply but before she could, she cell phone rang. While Elena looked at her sister worriedly, Emily just shrugged and pulled out her phone from her black purse. The two girls continued their way to Elena's car when Emily answered the phone without looking at the caller I.D. "Hello," Emily answered.

"Hello, Emily," the male voice spoke on the other side of the phone. Emily froze where she stood which caused Elena to become more worried and moved closer to her sister so she could hear the phone call. It didn't take a genius for Emily to realize this wasn't a friendly person.

"Who's this?" Emily questioned carefully while she placed the call on speaker phone so Elena could hear.

"You hit me with your car," the man spoke through the phone. Elena looked at her sister in shock, not knowing what to do. The voice spoke again when Emily didn't say anything, "I see you're driving with your lovely sister now." Emily and Elena quickly looked around the dark streets, realizing whoever Emily had hit was watching them right now. Emily glanced around before she finally spotted someone coming straight towards them when the voice spoke again, "you both got away from me. You won't next time."

"Get in the car now," Emily commanded her sister before jumping in the car as well and quickly driving away from the vampire that wanted something from her and Elena. She didn't understand what the vampire wanted. It was like he wanted to scare them to death while stalking them.

The two sisters didn't say anything on their way to the Gilbert house. They both were thinking about the male vampire. Both worried about what they were going to do and what the Salvatore's were going to do to stop the vampire that seemed to take enjoyment in torturing the two sisters.

Little after thirty minutes of being home, Emily made her way up to her sister's room and saw Elena laying her outfit on her large bed. Emily smiled from the doorway and questioned softly, "so, what do you think?"

Elena jumped in fright but calmed down when she saw it was only her sister. Elena looked back her outfit and smiled over her older sister, "it looks great, just like you said it would."

Emily smiled while moving towards Elena's bed. She helped her sister place her outfit carefully into her closet for tomorrow night. Emily pushed Elena towards her bed and laid down with her sister. Just like they did when either of them had a problem. But this time, it was both of their problems. Emily looked at her younger sister carefully, "are you okay?" Emily questioned worriedly.

Elena sighed but nodded. "I'm scared," Elena confessed to her sister.

Emily looked her sister softly and pulled her closer to her so Elena was lying on her shoulder. "We will be okay, I promise. I never break my promises, do I?" Elena shook her head with a small smile. Emily smiled back at her sister, "then don't worry. We will go see Stef in the morning and we will come up with a plan." Emily looked at Elena seriously, "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

Elena nodded her head. She believed that Emily was telling the truth. Emily would always protect her loved ones. She didn't care if the vampire was coming after her or her sister but she would do everything in her power to protect Elena.


	17. Chapter 17

Just as Emily promised her sister, early the next morning she had texted Stefan and told him that she and Elena needed to tell him something important. Once the two girls made it to the Salvatore boarding house, they explained to Stefan what happened last night with the vampire.

"Why me?" Elena questioned scaredly before glancing over to her sister and spoke, "why us? What does he want? A-and why call first if he's going to kill us?" Elena questioned her boyfriend confused.

Emily sat next to her sister on one of the couches in the living room of the Salvatore boarding house when Stefan sat across from the two girls and stared at the scared Elena. "That's because we're predators, Elena." Stefan explained, "we hunt. We stalk. It's often as exciting as the kill." Stefan pulled out a silver device and handed it to Elena. "I want you to take this."

Emily moved closer to her sister so she could see what Stefan handed her. When she looked closely she noticed it was Jeremy's pocket watch. Emily looked up at Stefan confused, "this is Jeremy's. How did you get it?"

"I took it from Damon, who took it from Logan, who must have taken it from you," Stefan explained to the confused Gilbert sisters.

The two girls nodded their heads before Elena slowly pulled the front cover of the pocket watch open. Elena looked at the watch confused, "what happened to it?"

Stefan looked down at the device in Elena's hands and explained, "well, it's not just a watch. It's a… it's a sort of compass, but it points to vampires." Stefan clicked a small button on the watch and a few seconds later, the watch or compass began to make ticking noises before the small needle pointed directly at Stefan.

Emily looked at Stefan confused when she realized this device was her father's. If he had this device and kept it safe, it must have meant that he either knew the exist of vampires or it was a large consistence. "Why did our father have this?" Emily questioned the vampire.

Stefan looked over at Emily with a small smile before beginning, "Gilberts were one of the founding families, and back in 1864, they were among those who sought to eradicate the vampires. The compass was used to find us."

"Did you know them?" Elena questioned softly.

Stefan nodded, "yes." Stefan stared at Elena for a moment before glancing down at the device and closed his hand around Elena's. "I want you to keep this." Stefan glanced over at Emily and continued, "one of you need to have this at all times. That way, you'll know if you're in danger, either of you."

Emily gave Stefan a small smile, "we'll be okay. I promise."

Stefan reached over and squeezed Emily's hand and nodded and spoke quietly, "I know you will," before turning back to Elena, "I'll protect you, both of you. This vampire won't hurt you."

Emily really hoped that everything would be okay. She knows she can't really promise that they would be okay, but Stefan, she felt like everything would work out in the end, no matter what the issue was.

* * *

Emily and Elena walked into the Gilbert house after leaving the Salvatore boarding house, Elena threw her black jacket across the couch while Emily placed her small blue purse next to Elena's jacket. The twins were going to head upstairs to get ready for the dance when Jenna spoke from the other side of the room.

"Spoke to the insurance company," Jenna told her oldest niece, Emily. "Car's totaled. You can keep sharing with Elena for now."

Emily nodded her head. She was going to ignore Jenna, when she remembered what Bonnie told her. She decided to give Jenna a chance, she couldn't be mad at her forever. Emily turned around and looked at her aunt. When she did, Emily couldn't hold in her smirk, "looks like someone is going to the dance."

Jenna smiled softly, "Alaric asked me to help chaperone."

Jenna leaned against the back of the couch while staring at her two nieces. While Emily decided to give Jenna a chance, Elena was still mad at her aunt. Elena turned to Jenna quickly and mumbled upset, "why didn't you tell us, Jenna?"

Jenna stared at the younger girl for a moment before speaking quietly, "your mom was gonna do it eventually. I never thought I'd have to."

"If my mom were here right now and I asked, she'd tell me the truth," Elena told Jenna. Emily sighed, she knew that was low blow for Jenna. But apparently that is what Jenna needed to tell the two sisters the truth.

Jenna looked between the two girls with eyes full of unshed tears and sighed, "your dad was about to leave the office one night when this girl showed up." Jenna began to explain, "she was sixteen, a runaway, and about to give birth. He delivered her babies, and he gave her a place to stay, but a few days later, she disappeared." Jenna smiled softly, "and there you two were. Your parents were trying so hard to have a baby. I-it just wasn't happening. All Miranda ever wanted was to be a mom."

Emily looked over at her aunt confused, remembering when she and Elena looked at their birth information. "Why did it say Miranda and Grayson Gilbert on our birth certificates?"

"Your dad was a doctor, Emily," Jenna told the two girls while staring at the oldest sister. "He took care of it. They didn't want to lose you or Elena, so they kept it quiet, told as few people as possible, but if anyone ever wanted proof, they had documentation."

Elena finally spoke up to her aunt, "what else do you know about her? The girl?" Elena asked carefully.

Jenna thought for a moment, "just her name. Isobel."

Emily really wanted to know more information about her birth mother, but Jenna only had was a name. It was start, it was something that she knew where she actually came from. It was a lot to take in even if it wasn't that much information. Emily wanted to know more about her birth mother, but knew she had to focus on tonight and stalking vampire.

* * *

Since Emily's bedroom was the bigger room, the two sisters decided they would get ready in her room, together, like old times for the dance. Before their parents passed away, the two sisters would get ready together before any big event in the small town.

Emily had just slipped on her black heels when she saw her sister messing with her hair in Emily's long mirror. Emily had a small smile on her face when she walked up beside Elena. "Need some help?" Emily asked her sister.

Elena nodded her head in embarrassment. Emily chuckled and pulled her sister into their shared bathroom. Emily placed her sister in front of the large mirror and carefully pulled the white headband for Elena's hair. She fixed it so Elena's hair had a 50's vibe. Emily grabbed the hair dryer that was sitting next to the sink, and carefully ran it all the way through Elena's long hair. After a few moments, Emily looked at Elena's hair through the mirror and smiled gratefully. "There. What do you think?"

Elena looked into the mirror and ran her slim fingers through her hair and smiled, "I love it." Elena turned to her older sister, "thanks, Emmie."

Emily smiled happily back at her sister before pulling Elena back towards her bedroom. Emily grabbed the scarf Elena and she bought last night from her dresser. Emily turned around to hand the scarf to her sister when she heard a strange noise. Emily looked at Elena confused, but handed the scarf to Elena before walking out of her bedroom to the hallway. "Jenna? Jeremy?" Emily called out. But no one answered. Emily shrugged, thinking she might have heard someone beside herself and Elena, but it looked like no one was there.

"Emily," Elena mumbled and turned to her sister with compass in her hand scared. Emily quickly jogged towards Elena, and saw the needle of the compass was spinning out of control. Emily quickly dialed Stefan's number when she picked up her phone from her bed and grabbed Elena's hand that still held the compass and quickly walked out of her room.

After about three rings, someone finally answered the phone. But it was the person Emily thought pick up. "Stefan's phone. How may I help you?" Damon answered.

Emily looked down at her phone confused, but seeing as this was important and placed the phone back to her ear while pulling the scared Elena down the stairs. "Damon? Where's Stefan?"

"He's on his way to your house. Forget his phone," Damon explained to the oldest Gilbert.

Emily sighed thankfully and paused once she reached the living room. She mouthed to her sister, "Stefan." Emily turned back to her phone and told Damon, "the compass was spinning out of control. It must be Stefan."

"You're welcome," Damon sang through the phone, causing Emily to chuckle and quickly said, "bye now, Damon," before hanging up her phone.

Emily turned towards Elena was about to explain that it only Stefan, but when she turned around, she saw someone fall from the ceiling. It was the vampire that was after the Gilbert siblings. The vampire jumped towards Elena and pushed her roughly against the wall. The vampire was about to take a bite from Elena's neck, when Stefan came rushing from the kitchen and yelled, "Elena!" Stefan moved quickly and threw the vampire towards the other side of the hallway. Emily quickly ran towards her sister's side and carefully helped Elena from the ground. Elena leched onto her sister's neck, scared that she would disappear. Emily gasped quietly, she couldn't believe she left her younger sister almost get attacked by a vampire. They were lucky Stefan came in when they did. But Emily knew she couldn't blame herself, the guy was a vampire, she was no match.

Stefan quickly rushed towards the two girls once the vampire had fled the Gilbert house. Stefan grabbed Elena from Emily's arms and pulled her into a tight hug, "are you okay? Are you okay?" Stefan questioned worriedly.

But Elena didn't reply, all she could do was stare at the front door. Scared that the vampire would return for her. Emily gave her sister's shoulder a tight squeeze and pulled out her phone. Emily quickly dialed Stefan's phone number, hoping Damon would answer the phone again. And sure enough, he answered his little brother's phone. All Emily had to do was tell Damon that they had a problem, before the older Salvatore hung up the phone promising he was on his way.

Not even ten minutes later, Elena and Stefan were sitting on one couch while Emily stood behind her sister and Damon was pacing through the living room after Emily had explained what happened.

"How did he get in?" Damon questioned.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Jeremy invited him in. he was the pizza delivery guy from last night." Emily couldn't believe the person that was terrorizing her sister posed as the pizza guy.

"Well, he gets points for that." Damon looked over at Elena, "did he say what he wanted?"

"No. he was too busy trying to kill me," Elena glared at the older Salvatore brother. Emily smirked, of course Elena never lost her spunk after almost being bitten.

Stefan looked over at Damon, "and you have no idea who this is?"

Damon shook his head, "no." Damon saw the unconvinced facial expression is brother was sporting. He groaned, "don't look at me like that. I told you we had company."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest and looked between the two brothers. "Do you think there's more than one?" Emily asked. She wanted to know if her family was in even more danger. If there are more, they definitely would be in danger.

Damon shrugged, "we don't know."

Stefan looked at his brother seriously, "Damon, he was invited in."

Damon nodded, realizing that the two girls weren't save in the Gilbert house with vampire alive. He would come by anytime he wanted and hurt anyone who lived in the house. "Then we go get him tonight." Damon turned to Elena and glanced up at Emily, "you up for it?"

Elena looked up at her sister who was leaning behind the couch. The younger Gilbert didn't know what to do. So she looked up at her sister for guidance. Emily looked into her sister's eyes for a moment before looking up at Damon seriously, "what do we have to do?" Emily would do whatever it took to protect her family.

Damon looked over at Elena, "let your boyfriend take you to the dance." Damon smirked over at the oldest Gilbert, "the beautiful Emily Gilbert will be my date. We'll see who shows up." Emily rolled her eyes, she didn't want to be seen as Damon's date, but knew this was something she had to do.

Stefan stared hard at his brother and shook his head quickly, "that's a bad idea."

"Till we get him, this house isn't safe. For anyone who lives in it," Damon told his brother while glancing at the two Gilbert sisters. "It's worth a shot."

"I'll do it," Elena spoke up. Surprising her sister and boyfriend that she would agree to get the vampire. Elena looked up at her sister with a worried expression. Emily knew it needed to be done, so she nodded her head in agreement. Whatever it takes, she'll do it.

Stefan looked at the two girls in nervousness. He didn't want either of the girls to get hurt by the vampire. He cared too much about them to let that happen. Elena grabbed her boyfriend's hand and spoke softly, "I'll be with the three of you. I'll be safe." after a few moments, Stefan nodded at Elena before looking at the oldest Gilbert. He was worried about the girl that had became one of his best friends. Emily noticed that Stefan was worried, so she quickly shook her head, "don't worry. We will be okay, I promise." Stefan stared at Emily for a moment longer before nodding his head in agreement. He wouldn't let anything happen to the two girls.

* * *

Emily knew this decade dance wasn't going to be like all the other ones she planned for. No, tonight was the night they were going to find the vampire that was after her and her sister. She knew everyone in the school was possibly in the danger with the vampire around all the students filled with blood, she was filling to do whatever it took to keep her loved ones and everyone around her safe.

Emily and Elena walked into Mystic Falls High School that was decorated in bright colors following the 50's theme, each sister had a Salvatore brother walking closely beside them. Each of the four looked around the dance, looking for the vampire but no one could spot him.

"We won't find him if we're all standing around. Spread out, people," Damon commanded before walking through the party.

Emily linked her arm with Elena's and was about to walk away, but she noticed Stefan's worried facial expression. "We'll be okay. You won't be far," Emily tried to console Stefan. Once he nodded, Emily pulled her sister away from the younger Salvatore and looked around the party looking for the vampire while walking towards one of the many fruit bowls holding a deep red punch that reminded Emily of blood.

The two girls faced each other and looked behind each others backs, looking to see if they could find the vampire that was after them. But the two girls didn't get a long look before Bonnie and Caroline walked up to the two sisters.

"Having fun?" Elena questioned the two girls with a small nervous smile.

"No, but this took about two hours," Caroline smiled while pointing to her outfit that consist of a long brown dress with leaves and flowers all over with a light yellow jacket, and curled blonde hair. "So, I'm at least staying half of that."

Emily chuckled, "well, I think my best friend looks gorgeous," Emily told Caroline with a bright smile.

Caroline smiled back at the older Gilbert just as bright. Caroline grabbed Emily's hand and spun her around while the other two girls giggled at the two best friends. "My best friend is looking gorgeous also."

The four girls smiled before Bonnie lost her smile after seeing a certain someone after Emily's shoulder. "What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie questioned with disgust her voice.

Emily turned to see what Bonnie was staring at, and saw Damon and Stefan Salvatore. Emily knew that Bonnie was talking about the older Salvatore brother. Emily turned back to the girls with a shrug, "he wanted to come, so he's my date."

"So what is this, like, a foursome now, the Gilbert sisters and Salvatore brothers?" Caroline questioned her best friend with an annoyed expression.

Emily rolled her eyes, "you know it's not even like that, Care. I don't like him like that." She knew that Caroline didn't like the idea of Emily going out with Damon, even though she liked Matt. it was just how Caroline Forbes was.

Elena nodded her head in agreement with her sister, "if I'm going to be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon." Elena chuckled, "it's not like I can kill him."

Bonnie continued to stare hard at the older Salvatore that didn't know when to leave her alone, "there's a thought."

"Mmm. I'll help," Caroline told Bonnie when she smiled over at her friend. The two girls bumped their small plastic cups together that was filled with the red punch. Emily glanced over at her sister with a small smirk, causing Elena to look down to hide her smile. At least the four girls had something in common, their dislike for Damon Salvatore.

* * *

A little while later, Elena went to go join her boyfriend, Stefan Salvatore, while Emily stayed with her favorite blonde and the Bennett witch. But suddenly, Damon Salvatore swaggered over to the three girls with a smirk. "Hi, Bonnie. Wanna dance?" Damon asked the witch he was after.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "I'm out of here," before pushing her way past Damon.

But before Bonnie could leave, Damon quickly stood in front of her, "please give me another chance," Damon stated with a serious expression.

Bonnie just stared hard at Damon before pushing past him and moved towards the crowd of dancing teenagers. Caroline walked closer to Damon and glared at the Salvatore brother, "back off, Damon."

Once the two girls were gone, Emily smirked at Damon, "wow. I'm impressed. You managed to piss them both off in less than three minutes."

Elena and Stefan walked up the two older siblings with a confused expression, "where did they go?"

"I don't know," Damon shrugged while staring at Elena. Emily chuckled lowly, no one would believe that he had nothing to do with it.

"What did you say to them?" Stefan smiled at his brother, not believing Damon.

Damon looked at Stefan, "I was perfectly polite." Damon then turned to Elena and smiled, "Elena...would you like to dance?"

"I would love to," Elena spoke while looking at Damon with a wide smile. Damon looked over at his brother with a smirk, but that didn't last long before Elena turned to Stefan with a bright smile, "may I have this dance?"

"Ouch," Emily smirked over at the older Salvatore, "that's gotta hurt."

Damon rolled his eyes at the older Gilbert sister before smirking, "does my date want to dance with me?"

Emily moved closer to Damon and stared into his baby blues eyes, before patting his chest with a smirk, "I don't think so. We have a vampire to find before he does anything."

Emily walked away from the smirking vampire and walked slowly around the dance, staring at each of the faces carefully, looking for the vampire that was after her family. Emily huffed, she couldn't find the vampire anywhere. But of course being the captain of Mystic Falls cheerleading squad, many people wanted to talk to her, so that is what she did. She mingled with several of the students that wanted her attention. She didn't mind talking to the different students, it's just she had more bigger problems to deal with than her cheer squad complimenting her on her fifties dress or comments on the decorations that were around the school for dance, that Emily and Caroline spent their time on. All Emily wanted to focus on was the vampire that was somewhere in the school. She didn't want her family, who was all in the building, to get hurt or even any of the students that didn't even know what was going on.

Finally after about 30 minutes, Emily finally escaped all of the chatter that was coming her way and saw her twin sister and best friend smiling at her in amusement, having watched her move from person to person talking about different things. "You're lucky you're not cheer captain," Emily told her sister once she got closer to the couple.

Elena chuckled but nodded her head, "have fun with that, Emmie."

Emily rolled her eyes and smiled before growing serious, "have you seen him? I've looked everywhere."

Elena sighed, "me neither."

Emily nodded her head before turning her head towards the crowd and continued her search for the vampire. But she did find a vampire, Damon Salvatore. He was dancing with tall blonde girl in a poofy red skirt. Emily smirked, seeing that Damon finally got someone to dance with him.

"You really can't take him anywhere, can you?" Elena questioned her boyfriend while watching the older Salvatore dancing, having seen the same thing as her sister.

"Uh, no," Stefan chuckled.

Emily laughed with the couple, before turning her head back to dancing crowd. But something caused Emily to freeze in her spot. She saw one person that was standing, more like staring in their direction. It was the vampire, he even had the same black hoodie on. "Stefan," Emily called out strongly.

Stefan quickly glanced over at the older Gilbert and looked in the direction she was looking in, and saw a black hoodie. He realized it was the vampire so he commanded the two sisters, "go find, Damon," before rushing through the crowd, right towards the vampire.

Emily quickly grabbed her sister's hand and made her way through the dancefloor, looking for the older Salvatore. She looked everywhere and couldn't find Damon anywhere. Emily paused and looked at all the faces, trying to find the blue eyed vampire. But suddenly, her cell phone rang from her black purse. Emily didn't bother to look at the name before putting the phone to her ear.

"Hello, Emily," the voice spoke on the phone. Emily froze in her spot, holding onto Elena's hand tightly, realizing it was the vampire. "Here's what you and your sister is going to do," the vampire began, "there's an exit door behind you." Emily quickly turned around and saw a door that was opened half way. "You have five seconds," the vampire stated.

"I'm not playing your games anymore," Emily growled into the phone.

"Or your brother dies," the vampire spoke into the phone. Knowing the two girls wouldn't come willing.

Emily quickly looked around the room, looking for her little brother. She saw her brother standing by the punch bowl, handing out drinks. Emily didn't release a thankful sigh, because right behind her brother, was the vampire standing directly behind Jeremy. "I can snap his neck so fast I bet there's not even a witness. Now, start walking," the vampire commanded.

"Leave him out of this," Emily growled before pulling towards the opened door slowly and carefully while keeping her eye on the vampire and her brother.

"Keep walking," the vampire commanded once he saw the two sisters moving towards the door he wanted them to walk through before following quickly after the two girls.

Once the vampire passed Jeremy, Emily quickly hung up her cell phone and grabbed Elena's hand tightly and jogged through the door. "Run, Elena," Emily commanded her worried sister and ran a little slower behind her sister, wanting to keep an eye on the vampire that was walking towards the two girls. Elena suddenly stopped when she reached a locked door. Emily quickly grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her through a different doorway that was opened. But of course, the set of doors inside of the cafeteria was locked also. There was no other way out since the vampire walked through the door and blocked the exit. Before the two sisters could move, the vampire quickly vamp sped in front of them. Elena tried to run so he pulled the younger girl by the back of her hair. Emily quickly ran towards the vampire, wanting him to leave her sister alone and focus on her. The vampire grew angry when the oldest sister tried to break his hold on Elena. The vampire quickly threw Elena across the room before growling at Emily and threw her across one of the tables, causing Emily to crash onto the floor along with the paper and pencils that were on the table.

The vampire turned around and stalked towards Elena, picked her up, and slammed her against the one of the walls. Emily groaned from the ground and glanced around, trying to find the vampire. When she looked across the room, she the vampire had Elena in a tight grip on the wall. Emily quickly looked around for something to help her sister before she found a stack of sharpened wooden pencils next to her. She grabbed a couple of the pencils in her hand and quietly walked towards the vampire. Emily walked quickly when she saw the vampire was about to take a bite out of her sister. Emily stabbed two of the pencils towards the vampires side, causing the vampire to turn to oldest Gilbert and growled before trying to bite her as well. But Emily counted on that, because as soon as the vampire moved closer, she stabbed the rest of the pencils towards the vampire's chest. The vampire dropped to the ground in pain, so Emily quickly pulled Elena from the ground and commanded her sister, "run, Elena! Find Stefan!"

Elena nodded quickly and tried to run from the room but the vampire quickly recovered and grabbed Elena's neck. Emily heard Elena yell in fright and when she looked towards her sister, the vampire was about to take another bite. Emily quickly looked around once again for help. She bumped into a mop bucket, she grabbed the wooden mop and tried to break the stick as fast as she could. Emily jogged towards the vampire and her sister and stabbed the vampire as hard as she could with the wooden stick in the side of the vampire.

The vampire was growing tired of the older sister getting in the way, so he quickly turned towards her after throwing the stick from his side. He grabbed her neck and went to take a bite, but before he could, Stefan quickly threw him across the room.

"Hey, dickhead," Damon spoke up from across the room. "Nobody wants to kill you. We just want to talk," Damon told the vampire with his arms up in innocence with the broken mop in his hand.

The vampire smiled at Damon before rushing back towards the two sisters. Elena was closer, so he ran towards her and went to bite her once again. But Stefan quickly intervened by stabbing him in the stomach with the wooden mop that Damon threw at him. The vampire groaned and fell to his knees in pain.

Emily wrapped her arms around her sister tightly, not wanting Elena to be any closer towards the vampire. Stefan moved towards Elena's side and gave her a small smile, while Damon moved towards Emily's side and stared at the groaning vampire.

"Now you feel like talkin?" Stefan questioned the vampire while moving away from the two sisters and walking around him slowly.

"Screw you," the vampire growled in anger and pain.

Stefan didn't like that answer, so he dug the wooden mop deeper into the vampire stomach, "wrong answer. Why are you doing this?" Stefan asked the question that had been on everyone's mind from the beginning.

"Because it's fun," the vampire looked up at Stefan with a smile even though he was in extreme pain.

Stefan dug the wooden mop deeper and questioned again, "what do you want with them?"

The vampire looked over at the older sister, Emily, with a smirk, "her blood smells heavenly," causing Emily to shiver in disgust. The vampire turned towards Elena and stated, "and looks like Katherine."

The four other people in the room looked at the vampire in shock. "You knew Katherine?" Damon questioned the vampire.

"Oh. you thought you were the only ones," the vampire laughed at the two brothers before gasping in pain. "You don't even remember me."

Damon leaned closer towards the vampire, "tell me how to get in the tomb." Emily was confused, was Katherine in the tomb?

"No," the vampire mumbled.

Stefan didn't like the answer, so he dug the mop deeper into the vampire's stomach. The vampire groaned in pain, "the grimiore," the vampire moaned out.

"Where is it?" Damon questioned in the vampire.

All the vampire did was stare hard at Damon. Stefan was losing patience with the vampire, so he pulled out the mop and slammed it back into the vampire's stomach. "Check the journal. The journal. Jonathan's journal. Jonathan Gilbert's," the vampire quickly told the brothers.

Emily looked over at her sister in shock. What the hell did their family have anything to do with the tomb?

"Who else is working with you?" Stefan questioned in the vampire after a moment.

When the vampire didn't say anything, Damon tried, "who else is there?"

"No," the vampire quickly shook his head, "you're gonna have to kill me."

Damon looked over at Stefan with an eye roll and nodded towards the groaning vampire. Stefan pulled out the wooden mop from the vampire's stomach and held the wooden stick in his hand. Emily realized what Stefan was about to do, so she quickly pushed Elena's face towards her shoulder so her sister didn't have to watch. Emily closer her eyes tightly once she saw the lights in the vampire's eyes disappear forever once Stefan stabbed him in the heart.

Once the vampire was dead, Emily let Elena's head go. Elena looked towards the body on the floor, that looked similar to Vicki's when she died. Elena gasped while glancing at the different faces in the room, "what do we… How are we gonna find the others now?"

Damon shook his head, "he had to die."

"But…" Elena trailed off scaredly.

"Elena, he's been invited in," Stefan told his girlfriend softly.

Suddenly there was a noise outside the double doors. The four looked up at the blue doors and saw a shadow pass by. Stefan nodded towards the doors, "go. I got this," Stefan told Damon before the older brother nodded and quickly ran through the doors.

Emily sighed once Damon left the room. She pulled Elena into a tight hug so Elena's eyes would move away from the dead vampire. Emily knew that her sister was scared out of her mind. So the only thing she could do was to hold her close.

* * *

Elena sat in the living room quietly after the eventful nice, while Emily and Stefan were the kitchen making tea. Well, Stefan was, Emily was just watching Stefan make the tea. Stefan looked over at the older Gilbert twin and questioned softly, "how are you doing?"

Emily shrugged, "Elena's okay. So I'm fine."

Stefan didn't say anything for a moment, focusing on making the tea. But when he finished, he turned towards Emily in worry, "but are you okay?"

"As long as Elena's safe, I will always be okay," Emily told Stefan.

Stefan handed one of the three cups that was filled with warm tea before leaning across the counter from Emily and spoke softly, "I can protect Elena. Just worry about yourself."

Emily shook her head, "it's my job to protect Elena, that's never going to change."

Stefan nodded before smiling, "how about I help protect Elena and I also protect you as well."

Emily gave Stefan a small smile before nodding her head, "I'd like that." Once Emily finished her sentence, she moved towards Elena and sat next to her, "are you okay?" Emily questioned her sister softly.

Stefan handed Elena her cup of tea before Elena answered, "is it weird if I say yes?" Elena questioned both her sister and boyfriend.

"Is it true?" Stefan questioned right back.

"I should feel more upset or scared or something, but I...feel king of exhilarated," Elena explained what she was feeling.

Stefan chuckled and sat across from the two girls, "it's the adrenaline. You'll crash soon enough."

"Yeah, I guess." Elena smiled and glanced over at her sister in excitement, "we fought back tonight. It felt good."

Emily smiled back at her sister, "hell yeah we did. You did good, baby sister."

Elena rolled her eyes and pushed her sister's shoulder before turning back to Stefan who had a serious expression. "I wish you didn't have to fight at all," Stefan told his girlfriend while glancing over at Emily for a moment.

"We needed to do it," Emily explained to Stefan, "we could have hurt a lot people tonight at the dance." Emily glanced over at her sister with a small smile, "we saved each other. It needed to be done."

Stefan nodded. After a moment of peaceful silence, Stefan turned towards Emily with a worried facial expression, "I need to tell you something, and I don't know how you're gonna feel about it."

Emily glanced over at Elena, who was equally confused. "What is it?" Emily questioned Stefan.

"I told Damon that I'd help him get into that tomb to get Katherine back," Stefan explained before quickly shaking his head at the two girls that were looking at him confused. "But it was a lie. I let him believe that he could trust me."

Emily continued to stare at her best friend confused, "why were you worried to tell me that?"

"Because you two have bonded a couple of times lately," Stefan explained.

Emily rolled her eyes and huffed, "I get along with him, we have the same humor, but I still don't trust him like I trust you." Emily quickly shook her head, "and I can't forget what he did to Lexi. There's no forgiving that, no matter what. She was my friend."

Stefan reached towards the oldest Gilbert and squeezed her hand, knowing that it was hard to talk about Lexi. It was still hard for him. Stefan glanced between the two girls, "I can't let him do it."

Emily nodded in understanding, "I'll do whatever I can to help you. I trust you." Emily glanced over at her twin sister, "we both will help you."

If helping Stefan stop Damon from opening up the tomb and getting Katherine out, protected Elena, then she was going to do it. They definitely didn't need another vampire in Mystic Falls. And if Katherine was anything like Damon, it would mean destruction for the small town. She wouldn't let that happen, everyone would be in danger. Emily's loved ones always come first, no matter what.


	18. Chapter 18

Just as Emily promised Stefan that she would help stop Damon, early the next morning, she and Elena were looking through old boxes from the Gilbert family history. They were looking for the journal that was mentioned at the fifties dance, Jonathan Gilbert's journal. Emily didn't know much about the man, only that he was alive during the Salvatore brother's human lives and he knew of vampires.

"Do you think Damon really believes us?" Elena questioned after a moment of looking through one of the many boxes that was sat on the dining room table. Elena looked over at Stefan, who was sitting and watching the two sisters, "that we're trying to help him?"

Stefan thought for a moment before shaking his head slowly, "I don't think Damon knows what to believe. Trust isn't something that comes naturally for him." Stefan explained to his girlfriend and best friend.

Elena shook her head once and turned to an album that she began to flick through. "You know… I really think that Damon believes that everything he's done, every move that he's made, he's done for love. It's twisted, but kind of sad."

"There are other ways to get what you want," Stefan commented. "You don't have to kill people. Damon has no regard for human life," Stefan began to explain more into his brother as a vampire, "he enjoys inflicting pain on others. For 145 years, every single time that I have let my guard down and let Damon back into my life, he's done something to make me regret that." Stefan shook his head, "I'm not going to make that mistakes again."

Emily looked up from the photo album she had been looking through and looked over at Stefan in wonder, "what do you think will happen once Damon gets Katherine back and out of the tomb?"

"I think no matter what Damon promises, a lot of people are going to die," Stefan answered truthfully.

That is what Emily was afraid of. She didn't want Damon to get is way for only everyone to be put in danger. She wasn't going to put her family and the whole town in danger for one vampire, who happened to look like her twin sister. Emily sighed and continued to flip through one of the very old photo albums when suddenly Emily saw a picture between two pages. Emily held the photo closer to her face to get a better look.

"That's Jonathan Gilbert," Stefan spoke up from behind Emily. She looked over her shoulder and saw her sister and best friend standing behind her looking at the old photo. Emily looked back at the photo carefully and saw man with a face full of hair with a dark hat and suit.

Elena leaned over her sister's shoulder and leaned down in the box and grabbed a wooden box that was seated at the bottom of the larger boxes. "What's this?" Elena questioned before carefully opening the box.

Emily looked down at the small wooden box and looked at the device confused. She never seen anything like it before. It was metal and black with brown cloth laces going around the sides and there was a small pouch. Emily looked up at Stefan, wondering if he knew what the device was, but when she looked up at the younger Salvatore, is eyes were wide.

But before Emily could voice her concern for her best friend, her younger brother came walking into the dining room and asked, "what are you guys doing?"

Emily carefully shut the old wooden box before smiling up at her brother, "we were just looking at our family's history." Emily wondered if Jeremy knew about the journal, "have you seen this old journal from back in the day? Dad mentioned to me before," Emily questioned before making an excuse once she saw her brother's confused facial expression.

"Jonathan Gilbert's journal?" Jeremy questioned.

Emily looked at her brother in wonder, "have you seen it lately?"

Jeremy nodded, "I did a history project on it."

"Did you remember where you put it?" Emily asked Jeremy, hoping that he still had it or this would be more difficult.

"I gave it to Mr. Saltzman," Jeremy explained, "he wanted to see it."

Emily sighed quietly, there goes the more difficulty of the plan in stopping Damon. Emily knew the task wasn't going to be easy, but now Emily had to worry about her history teacher who was into her aunt Jenna. Emily looked behind her and saw Elena and Stefan both glancing over at her. How were they going to stop Damon from getting Katherine when they didn't even have the key in their possession?

* * *

Emily and Elena both walked through the door of the Gilbert house after spending time with Caroline and Bonnie. They wanted to have a break from the whole tomb issue while Stefan worked on getting the journal from their history teacher. Emily always enjoyed her time when she got to hang around Caroline and Bonnie, she felt like everything was okay when she did. Like no vampires or witches existed for a little while. Every now and then she needed a break from all the vampire world for a little bit, and that is what Caroline and Bonnie brought when they all hung out with each other.

As soon as Emily quietly closed the front door, Elena moved to walk up stairs. But Emily heard something from the kitchen, so she grabbed her sister's arm and carefully pulled her towards the kitchen, where she heard two voices speaking. When Emily walked towards the kitchen entrance, she was surprised to see Jenna and Damon talking to each other like old friends.

"Hello, girls," Damon called out with his back turned towards the two sisters and the buzzed aunt Jenna.

Jenna turned around in confusion and saw two nieces staring at her with the same confusion. As soon as she laid eyes on the two girls, Jenna jumped off of the kitchen counter and moved towards the middle of the two sisters. Jenna squeezed each of the girls' sides, "hey! Where have you guys been?" Before either of the girls could respond, Jenna continued, "we're cooking dinner!"

"Is Stefan with you?" Damon questioned while glancing between the two sisters.

Elena glanced over at her sister in nervousness. Emily knew Elena was never good at lying, so she quickly jumped in, "he should be here soon."

Damon gave the oldest Gilbert a small smile before looking back down at the chopping board that was covered with vegetables. Emily moved towards her sister, who leaning against the counter with a scowl on her face while watching Damon. Emily really hoped Stefan was coming soon, she didn't like to be in the same room with Damon with her family. She knew that Damon is unpredictable, you never know what he'll do and he's in a house full of people with blood pumping through their veins.

* * *

It has been about over thirty minutes since Emily saw that Damon Salvatore was cooking in her kitchen. She and Elena were going to set the table since Damon walked out of the room. Neither sister wanted to be alone with Damon, so they decided to stay together until Stefan would finally arrive.

Emily handed her sister half on the plates in her hands, before taking the rest of the plates towards the dining room table. While Emily made it to the dining room table, she realized after a few seconds that Elena did not. Emily glanced behind her and saw that Damon had bumped into Elena.

"Whoa. Mmm," Damon mumbled in fake surprise when he bumped into Elena, who wasn't playing attention.

Elena smiled over at Damon with an annoyed facial expression before handing over the rest of the plates to her sister and turned back to Damon. "Don't do that," Elena commanded Damon with a strong voice.

"Do what?" Damon questioned the younger Gilbert sister with fake confusion.

Emily rolled her eyes and continued to set the plates around the large dining room table. She knew Damon was just trying to get under Elena's skin. And surprisingly, it was working.

"You know what," Elena stated to Damon. "That move was deliberate."

Even though Damon could be very annoying and she didn't trust him very well, she couldn't help but watch in amusement while Damon messed with her sister. She continued to watch, just to sure Damon wouldn't do anything dangerous to her little sister.

Damon walked over to the stove, where he had food cooking and spoke with his back turned to the two sisters. "Well, yeah, I was deliberately trying to get to the sink," Damon told Elena.

Elena scoffed before moving to stand beside her sister, who was leaning against the kitchen counter across from Damon.

"Speaking of Stefan, where is he?" Damon questioned after a moment of silence while the two sisters glanced over at each other in nervousness. Emily was strong and she would always be protective of her sister, but she still didn't like to be alone with the older Salvatore brother. Damon barely paused before turning to look at the Gilbert sisters with a small smirk, "he's missing family night, which I am enjoying immensely."

Neither of the sisters responded to Damon, because they didn't know what to tell him. All Emily knew that Stefan was busy trying to get the journal from her history teacher and she knew she couldn't up and tell Damon that. So she decided to focus on letting the table, Emily moved towards the kitchen drawers and looked for the right amount of silverware while Elena dealt with Damon.

"Is it real?" Damon questioned after a few moments.

"Is what real?" Elena asked confused while turning to look at Damon.

"This renewed sense of brotherhood," Damon explained. It was quiet for a few seconds before Damon turned directly to Elena and asked seriously, "can I trust him?"

Elena stared Damon straight in the eyes and answered, "yes, you can trust him," before walking away from Damon towards the dining room table.

Before Emily could even blink, Damon was standing right in front of Elena. Emily tensed up once she saw Damon was standing so close to her sister with a serious face. "Can I trust him?" Damon asked again.

"I'm wearing vervain, Damon. It's not going to work," Elena told the vampire seriously.

Damon looked at Elena with furrowed brows, "I'm not compelling you. I just want you to answer me. Honestly."

Elena stared at Damon for a long moment before mumbling, "of course you can."

Elena quickly moved away from Damon and walked towards the kitchen and stood directly next to her older sister, not wanting to be that close with Damon. Emily grazed her hand with Elena's, letting her know that everything will be okay. Emily knew that Elena was being brave to answer Damon with the biggest lie she ever told, but it had to be done.

While Damon was out of the room, Emily turned to her sister in worry, "are you okay?" Emily asked Elena.

Elena didn't answer right away so Emily knew the answer before her sister even opened her mouth. "No," Elena whispered quietly, worried that Damon would hear me.

Emily gave her sister a small smile and grabbed her hand softly, "you did a good job." Emily thought for a moment, she wanted to get Elena out of the room before goes and tells Damon their whole plan. "How about you give Stefan a call?" Emily suggested to her sister.

Elena nodded and squeezed Emily's hand, "be careful," Elena told her sister before quickly walking away from the kitchen.

Emily sighed lowly once Elena was out of the room. As bad as she didn't want Elena involved, she knew that their was no stopping from Elena being in danger by Damon or Katherine or any other vampire that comes into Mystic Falls. But she would stop at nothing to protect her twin sister and she was going to make that clear.

Emily was grabbing multiple pairs of silverware when she heard Damon speak behind her. "There was a time when I trusted him more than anyone," Damon told the oldest Gilbert.

Emily turned around and leaned against the kitchen counter, she looked at Damon with a confused facial expression, "how do you lose trust for your own family?"

Damon shrugged lightly, "lies and betrayal happens."

Emily twitched her head to the side, "is that what happened?" Emily questioned, "do you think Stefan betrayed you with Katherine?"

Damon didn't answer, he only turned his back to the oldest Gilbert. Silence always speaks the loudest words, Emily knew that she already had the answer by Damon turning his back to her. It quiet for a moment, before Damon turned to Emily seriously, "I just want her back. Surely you can understand that."

Emily nodded, "I can." Emily shrugged, "you love her. You'll do whatever you have to for the one you love."

Emily turned back towards the silverware she was looking for when Damon moved closer to her and spoke threateningly, "then you understand what I will do if anyone gets in my way."

Emily turned back around and glared hard into Damon's blue eyes. She didn't like the fact that the older Salvatore brother basically threatened her, so she moved even closer to Damon before stating hard, "then you understand that I will end you if you hurt anyone that I care about."

* * *

Emily had gone to get Elena from upstairs after a little while later after her conversation with Damon. She didn't want Damon to think they were hiding anything, so she and Elena were seated at the dining room table with a couple of boxes that belonged to their parents, Miranda and Grayson Gilbert.

"He is ridiculously hot!" Jenna told her two nieces when she walked towards the two girls with a glass full of red wine.

Emily rolled her eyes playfully at her aunt with a smirk, "are you drunk, aunt Jenna?"

Jenna looked at her oldest niece with wide eyes and yelped, "of course not!"

Emily and Elena both laughed at their obviously drunk aunt. Emily looked up from the box she was looking at and saw Jenna was still staring at Damon dreamily. Emily smirked, knowing Damon was probably listening with his vampire hearing. "He's an ass," Emily told her aunt while Elena chuckled at her sister.

Jenna rolled her eyes before focusing her attention at the two young girls. "What are you doing with all this stuff?" Jenna asked confused while glancing into the family boxes.

Emily shrugged, "I thought we might find something about our birth parents in some of dad's old boxes."

Jenna nodded before questioning quietly, "have you told Jeremy?"

The three girls glanced over to the youngest Gilbert, who was playing a game on the TV with Damon. Emily sighed, "we will," before correcting herself, "I think I should tell him when the times right. Maybe it'll be easier coming from me." Elena nodded her head in agreement, even though she wanted to be the one to tell their brother. But everyone knew that Emily and Jeremy were very close, so it would only make sense for her to tell him the big news.

After a moment of silence while the girls continued to look through the boxes, the front doorbell suddenly rang through the house. "That's Stefan," Elena stated before quickly grabbing Emily's hand and walking towards the front door.

Elena quickly opened the front door, where Stefan was standing. The younger Salvatore brother looked at the two sisters before looking over their shoulder with a hard stare. Emily glanced behind her and saw the older Salvatore brother staring at Stefan, "well?" Damon questioned with impatience.

Stefan twitched his head to the side before walking away from the front door. The two sisters and Damon quickly walked over Stefan towards the side of the white porch. "Who took it?" Damon questioned again with the same amount of impatience.

"I don't know," Stefan mumbled.

"You know what, it's that teacher," Damon exclaimed. "There's something really off with him."

"Leave Mr. Saltzman out of this, Damon," Emily growled out. She didn't want her history teacher to be messed up into all of this when he was interested in her aunt Jenna.

Stefan shook his head, "no,he doesn't know anything. Somebody got to it right before me," Stefan explained.

"Who else knew it was there?" Damon questioned his brother in confusion.

Stefan didn't answer, but he did look through the window of the Gilbert house that showed Jeremy playing his game. Damon realized what Stefan was basically saying, and quickly walked back towards the front door of the house.

"Damon! Jeremy isn't involved in this!" Emily yelled out to Damon once she realised what he was going to do. She wasn't going to let her baby brother get wrapped into this. Emily quickly tried to catch up to Damon who was almost to the front door.

"Why, what's the big deal?" Damon questioned, not really wanting an answer before slowly opening the front door and walking through the entrance.

"Damon!" Emily whispered yelled at the older Salvatore brother, but it was for nothing, because Damon was already walking straight towards Jeremy. Emily sighed, she knew that she couldn't stop Damon now. But at least Stefan is here now, he would stop Damon before he hurt anyone in the house.

"So…" Damon began once he walked into the living room before sitting on the arm of the couch and continued, "I heard you found a really cool journal from back in the day. Who else did you show it to?"

"Huh?" Jeremy questioned in confusion before focusing on his game.

"Don't ask questions," Damon commanded, "just spill."

Jeremy chuckled before looking over at Damon, "you're kidding me, right?"

Emily remembered that Jeremy had shown the journal to their history teacher so she asked in wonder, "did you tell anyone else about the journal besides Mr. Saltzman?"

Jeremy looked at his older sister confused, "why is everyone obsessed with that thing?"

Emily glanced over at Stefan in worry before turning back to her brother, "who else knows, Jer?"

Jeremy thought for a moment before shrugging, "just that girl, Anna."

"The hot, weird one?" Damon questioned not even a second later.

Jeremy turned to Damon and nodded, "yeah."

"Wait, who is Anna?" Stefan jumped in.

"That's what I want to find out," Damon told his brother.

Suddenly, a familiar phone began to make noises. Emily glanced over at her sister who was looking down at her phone in conflict. Elena looked up at her sister, who nodded her head, letting her know what she can answer it and she can handle it from here. Elena nodded her head back before quickly jogging upstairs.

"How do you know her?" Damon questioned Jeremy again.

Jeremy shrugged, "I just know her. She wants me to meet her at the Grill tonight."

"Perfect," Damon commented and glanced up at Stefan. Damon grabbed Jeremy's arm from the couch, "I'll drive. Come on."

"O-okay," Jeremy mumbled before quickly following Damon out of the door.

Emily didn't like the idea of Damon alone with her brother so she tried to follow behind them, but Stefan quickly grabbed her arm. Emily looked up at Stefan in confusion, "why are you stopping me? He could hurt Jeremy."

Stefan shook his head lightly, "he won't hurt him. He needs our help and if he did hurt Jeremy, he knows we won't help him."

Emily sighed, but nodded. She knew that it was true, no matter how bad that sounds. This will be his only chance in getting Katherine back, he wouldn't ruin that. Emily then remembered why Stefan was gone the whole day, "did you find anything out?" Emily questioned.

Stefan nodded before pulling out a stack of papers from his jacket pocket. Emily was confused so she grabbed the papers and looked at the first few words. Emily eyes grew wide once she realized what this was. "Is this Jonathan Gilbert's journal?"

"It's a copy of it," Stefan answered before grabbing the stack of papers from Emily's hands.

Emily nodded her head before grabbing Stefan's hand and pulling him upstairs, towards Elena's bedroom. Elena needed to hear what Stefan had found and they needed to act quick before Damon found anything.

"Where's Damon?" Elena questioned when she only saw her sister and boyfriend walk through her bedroom door.

"He left to track down Jeremy's friend Anna, see if there was anything there," Stefan told Elena.

"Aren't you going to go with him?" Elena questioned Stefan confused before glancing over at her sister in worry, "if he gets to the journal before we do, then…"

"Doesn't matter," Stefan interrupted Elena from continuing her thought before pulling out the familiar stack of papers.

Elena looked down at papers in wonder, "what is that?"

"It's a copy of the journal," Emily told her sister, having just been told about the stack of papers.

Elena glanced over at her sister before turning to Stefan in confusion, "how did you get it?"

"Well, Mr. Saltzman made a copy and was kind enough to loan it to me," Stefan simply stated.

Emily rose an eyebrow at her best friend, "so, he just handed it over?" Emily questioned, not really believing Stefan.

"Not exactly," Stefan mumbled, "but I got it."

Emily shook her head and chuckled, "damn, Stef is a bad boy," Emily joked.

Stefan gave the oldest Gilbert sister a small smile and shook his head. Stefan moved towards Elena's bed with the stack of papers before separating them into three piles and handed one for each of the sisters. Emily grabbed her set of papers and moved towards the head of Elena's bed while Elena and Stefan sat beside the large window in Elena's bedroom. It was quiet for a moment while the three teenagers tried to find something that would help find out more information about the tomb.

After a moment, Elena spoke up, "here's a reference that he wrote about Emily," Elena paused before looking at a certain paragraph, "the Fell family believed it should be I, not them, who protected the witch's spell book. But I feared she would haunt me from the hereafter. They mocked my fear, but it was Giuseppe Salvatore who-" Elena paused before glancing over at Stefan, "is that your father?"

Stefan nodded, "yeah," before grabbing the stack of papers out of Elena's hand and focused back on the words and read out loud, "it was Giuseppe Salvatore who removed my fear. He told me he would protect the secret of the spell book. He said he would carry it to his grave."

Emily looked over at Stefan when he finished reading and saw that he had sadden face before he exclaimed softly, "I know where it is." While Elena was shocked that Stefan quickly knew where it was, Emily realised just as Stefan did. That their answers were buried with Stefan's father. Emily felt bad that Stefan would have to dig up his father but it was better they did now before Damon did and ruined the town.

* * *

Elena had her arm linked with Emily's while they quietly followed Stefan through the only large cemetery that Mystic Falls had. After a few minutes, Stefan suddenly stopped. Emily quickly shined the bright flashlight that she had brought towards the headstone and read 'Giuseppe Salvatore.'

"Why isn't your father buried in your family's tomb?" Elena questioned after reading the headstone.

"It wasn't built until well after he died," Stefan explained before beginning to line up four fire torches around the headstone.

"Are you sure the grimoire's in there with him?" Elena questioned Stefan again.

"As sure as I can be," Stefan sighed.

"Great," Elena mumbled in nervousness.

"Elena," Stefan spoke while staring at his girlfriend, "I can do this on my own."

Emily shook her head, she wasn't going to let her best friend dig up his own father on his own. This wasn't something you could do by yourself. Emily grabbed one of the shovels from Stefan's hand, "I promised that we would help and we haven't finished the job yet, so we're not stopping now."

Stefan nodded, "I know, and I appreciate that, but-"

Emily quickly interrupted Stefan and walked closer to her best friend, "this is the town I was born in. this is the town where my sister was born and where I met my best friends. I'm not going to let Damon ruin everything for Katherine. I promised you that I would help you, and I don't break my promises."

Stefan nodded gratefully over at the oldest Gilbert sister before handing Elena one of the shovels and glanced over at the grave he was going to have to dig up. Emily softly touched Stefan's arm, "I'm really sorry you have to do this."

All Stefan could do was nod his head before he sighed and began digging up the grave that belonged to his father. Emily and Elena helped the best they could with helping but most of the time, it looked like Stefan had it under control. Emily felt like they were more there for moral support rather than helping with the digging. She didn't mind, she would always be there for Stefan. So that's what she did, she stood patiently next to Elena and watched carefully while Stefan dug up his father's grave.

It was silent besides the sound of metal of the shovel hitting against the dirt in the ground, but suddenly Emily heard a giggling sound. Emily glanced over at her sister confused, "what?"

Elena shrugged, "not many girls can say they've done this."

Emily rolled her head at her sister before smirking, "now you decide to get adventurous."

Before Elena could say anything, the three people in the cemetery heard the sound of metal hitting metal. The two girls quickly moved closer to the grave and watched Stefan move dirt away with his hands and saw the top of a wooden coffin. Stefan slowly opened up the coffin and saw the remains of a body with a old book sitting in the middle. Stefan carefully grabbed the book from his dead father's arms and quickly slammed the coffin shut.

Emily sighed softly when she saw the facial expression when he turned to the two girls. She knew that he was saddened by seeing the bones of his dead father. Anyone would be heartbroken by seeing their father's bones.

Stefan carefully climbed out of the hole and bent down towards the ground and carefully began to open up the book with small leather bind that held the book together. Stefan quickly began to flip through the pages, looking for the certain spell for the tomb.

But before Stefan could find it, a voice spoke behind the trio, "well, what do you know?" Emily quickly grabbed Elena's hand when they all stood up and moved Elena so she would be behind her with Stefan standing slightly in front of her. "This is an interesting turn of events," Damon snarled out.

Stefan shook his head, "I can't let you bring her back. I'm sorry."

"So am I," Damon paused, "for thinking for even a second that I could trust you."

"Oh," Stefan chuckled humorlessly. "You're not capable of trust. The fact that you're here means that you read the journal and you were planning on doing this yourself."

"Of course I was going to do it myself," Damon stated like it was obvious. "Because the only one I can count on is me! You made sure of that many years ago." Damon glanced over Emily's shoulder towards the younger Gilbert sister, "but you… You had me fooled."

Emily glanced back at her sister and saw that she was looking down ashamed. Emily knew that Elena felt bad about lying to Damon. Emily turned back to Damon and saw a hurt facial expression before it turned to anger when he looked at Stefan. "So what are you going to do now? Because if you try and destroy that, I'll rip her heart out."

Stefan shook his head, "you won't kill her."

Damon nodded his head before vamp speeding directly behind Elena and pulled her into a tight hold with his arm wrapped around her neck. "I can do one better," Damon commented before biting into his wrist and forcing his blood down Elena's throat. Emily gasped her shock and tried to walk towards Elena, but Stefan quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him, not wanting her to get hurt too.

"Give me the book, Stefan, or I'm snapping her neck," Damon commanded. "And Emily will have a vampire sister instead."

"Let her go first," Stefan pleaded.

Damon pulled his bloody wrist from Elena's mouth and yelled, "the book!"

"I'm not going to give this to you until she is standing next to me," Stefan told Damon.

"Problem is, I no longer trust that you'll give it back!" Damon yelled at his younger brother.

"You just did the one thing that ensures that I will," Stefan spoke softly.

Damon stared at the book that was in Stefan's hands before nodding his head slowly. He slowly let Elena's neck go from his tight grip. Once the book was fully on the ground, he realized Elena all the way. As soon as Elena was freed, she ran right into her twin sister's arms.

Emily held her crying sister like she would escape from her fingertips. Because, for a second, she really thought Damon was going to kill her only sister. And she wouldn't be able to do a damn thing about it, she felt like she let Elena down. She always promised she would protect her but she didn't. Emily would rather her being in danger than Elena, but she couldn't go back and change the past, so she just held her sister tightly and let Elena cry into her shoulder.

* * *

Emily leaned against the bathroom door with Stefan at her side while they both watched Elena rumble through the bathroom drawers. Elena paused and held her head between her fingers, "aspirin must be downstairs." Elena looked over at Stefan, "is my head supposed to hurt like this?"

"Oh, you'll be fine," Stefan told his girlfriend, "that was just a small amount of blood. It should pass out of your system by tomorrow."

Elena nodded her head before continuing her search for the aspirin in the many cabinets and drawers in the bathroom. Emily glanced over at Stefan who was watching Elena quietly, "are you okay?" Emily asked softly, knowing this whole day must have been difficult for the younger Salvatore brother.

Stefan shook his head and avoided looking into his best friends and girlfriends eyes, already knowing what he would see, two worried facial expressions. "Damon was right," Stefan mumbled quietly, "this is, uh… this is my fault."

* * *

 **Mystic Falls 1864**

 _Mystic Falls were in a state of mayhem, all you could hear was yelling and screaming in the middle of the woods of the small town. Two older men in dark suits and jackets quickly carried a tall brunette into a small cart that had metal bars covering the only tiny window. If you look closely, you would see the tall brunette was none other than Katherine Pierce._

 _Suddenly, running through the woods and straight towards the small cart was Damon Salvatore. "Damon! Damon! Stop, stop," Stefan Salvatore, Damon's younger brother called out, trying to stop his brother from getting into caught by the older men. "I'll help you. We'll get her back," Stefan told Damon._

 _Damon quickly pushed Stefan's arm off of him, "help me!?" Damon growled out, "don't you think that you've done enough? You promised you wouldn't tell him!"_

 _"I didn't think this would happen," Stefan tried to explain._

 _When the two brothers turned back around to the women they both cared about, she was being taken away while inside the small metal cart. "You did this," Damon seethed, "this is your fault," Damon yelled out towards his brother before running the opposite way through the woods. Leaving Stefan heartbroken of his older brother's words._

* * *

"I put my faith in my father, but Damon put his faith in me, and I destroyed that," Stefan explained to the two girls. "This is my fault."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Elena told her boyfriend while caressing his face softly.

Emily nodded her head in agreement from the other side of the wall while watching the loving couple. "You couldn't have known your father was going to do that. That wasn't your fault," Emily smiled at her best friend.

Elena was about to speak up, but before she could, she groaned from her head hurting. "I'll go get the aspirin," Stefan told his girlfriend before kissing the top of her head and walked out of Elena's bedroom.

"Come on, twin," Emily told her sister while grabbing a hold of Elena's arm and softly moved her towards the bed and constructed Elena to lay down. Emily laid down next to her Elena and asked softly, "how are you doing?"

Elena sighed and laid her head against one of the many soft pillows she made on her bed, "my head hurts," Elena mumbled, "and I was scared of dying tonight," she confessed to her older sister.

Emily grabbed onto Elena's hand tightly and stated seriously, "I would never let that happen to you, Lena." Emily smiled at her sister, "neither would Stefan."

Elena nodded her head, "thank you, Emmie," before closing her eyes in sleepiness. Emily pulled her sister closer to her side and closed her eyes. She wasn't going to be leaving Elena's side anytime soon. Emily didn't want to lose her twin sister. This was the first time since the car accident that she really thought she was going to lose Elena. If anyone wanted to harm Elena, they would have to go through her first. Little did she know, her worse thought might come true.


	19. Chapter 19

Emily groaned quietly when someone began to push onto her shoulder to wake her up. She carefully opened her eyes and saw Elena looking down at her with a worried facial expression. Emily was confused why Elena was waking her up, they usually woke up at the same time. Why was she still asleep while Elena was awake? Emily glanced around the dark room. But when she looked across the room, she froze in her spot. Sitting in a stiff chair across from the bed she was laying on was someone she didn't recognize. Emily came to the conclusion that she and Elena had been kidnapped since she didn't know the stranger and she didn't know the room she was in.

Emily carefully removed herself from the uncomfortable bed and grabbed onto Elena's hand. She took slow and cautious steps towards the locked door. Emily glanced back at the stranger but she saw he was still asleep, so she slowly reached for the deadbolt lock and steadily unlocked the long chain of the lock. She carefully sat the chain down before moving towards the last lock. It was the loudest sound she thought possible. As soon as she unlocked the door, a booming voice spoke from behind her.

"I wouldn't," the voice spoke loudly.

Emily gasped and quickly turned around to turn the person who kidnapped her and Elena. Emily was shocked when she saw it was Ben McKittrick, who she went to school with just a few years ago.

Ben smirked when he saw Emily's facial expression. "Well, isn't it Miss Emily Gilbert, Mystic Falls princess."

Emily glared at the older boy, "let us go. You don't want to do this," she didn't want Elena here anymore than she already was, so why not try to talk her way out of it?

Ben stared deeply into Emily's eyes and spoke slowly, "don't try to escape. Don't even move. Do you understand?"

Emily realized Ben was a vampire. And a new one at that, since he didn't notice the vervain hanging around her neck. Emily squeezed Elena's hand tightly before speaking in monotone, "I understand."

Ben scoffed before turning his back to the two sisters. As soon as Ben turned around, Emily quickly opened the door and tried to push Elena out of the room. But of course nothing is that easy, because someone was standing directly in front of the door. It was a young girl with dark hair, she pushed the two sisters back in the room and slammed the door shut.

"Seriously!?" the girl spoke to Ben in anger while holding each of the Gilbert sister's arms with a tight hold.

"I told her not to move!" Ben yelled out. "I did that eye thing that you taught me!"

"And you forgot the lesson about vervain!" the girl yelled while pushing the two sisters to a small door. "This one is dating a vampire," the girl spoke while pointing towards Elena, "and this one is best friend's with one," the girl spoke while pointing towards Emily.

The girl pushed the two girls against a closed door. "Who are you!? What do you want with us!?" Emily yelled to the girl she didn't know.

"Does it matter?" the girl spoke before pushing the two girls into a small room.

As soon as the door was closed, Emily began looking around. She realized that they were inside of a bathroom. Emily sighed, she glanced over at her sister who still looked frightened. Emily grabbed her sister and brought her in a tight hug, "we'll be okay."

Emily looked over Elena's shoulder and saw a figure lying in the small bath tub. Emily gasped, "Bonnie!" Emily grabbed Bonnie's head and when she didn't move, she came to the conclusion that her friend was knocked out.

"Elena, hold her head," Emily commanded her sister before quickly running towards the sink. She saw a rag lying on the side, so she quickly grabbed the rag and ran a little bit of cold water on it before jogging back to her sister and Bonnie. Emily carefully dabbed Bonnie's forehead with the rag, hoping it would wake her up. "Come on, Bonnie," Emily mumbled.

"Emily?" Bonnie spoke hoarsely while glancing up at the older Gilbert girl before glancing beside her and saw a worried Elena.

"Oh, you're okay!" Elena yelped happily.

"My head," Bonnie groaned out in pain.

"It's okay Bon Bon," Emily told her friend before she and Elena carefully helped Bonnie sit up in the cramped bath tub.

Bonnie suddenly gasped in remembrance, "oh my God! Ben is a -"

Elena quickly put her finger towards her lips, "shhh!" Elena whispered before pointing towards her ears and whispered, "they can hear." Elena jumped up and turned the sink water on.

"I'm so stupid!" Bonnie cried out with her eyes closed.

Emily leaned down towards Bonnie and carefully moved her fingers through Bonnie's brown hair, "hey, you didn't know," Emily consoled her friend.

"What's going on? Why are we here?" Bonnie questioned quickly.

Elena glanced over at her twin sister before answering Bonnie, "it must have something to do with the tomb and Emily's spell book."

"Spell book?" Bonnie questioned confused.

"It would used to open the tomb," Emily explained quietly.

"Why didn't I know about any of this?" Bonnie asked.

Emily sighed, "I didn't want you involved in this. I tried to keep you away from it so they wouldn't need you."

"Need me for what?" Bonnie questioned the older sister confused.

Emily bit her lip before explaining, "they need a witch to break the spell and let the vampires out."

"No way!" Bonnie yelped.

Emily grabbed Bonnie's hand tightly, "I know."

Suddenly Ben busted into the room and stared down at the three girls. Emily quickly stood in front of her sister and her friend protectively. Ben stomped over towards the sink and stopped the water flow before staring back at the three girls.

"You're wasting your time. I'm not going to help you," Bonnie spoke strongly.

Ben smirked at the three girls before pulling Emily and Elena up and held the two girls in a tight grip, "that's why these two are here. Motivation for you to behave," Ben explained to the Bennett witch. "You know, you shouldn't be so desperate. You made it too easy," Ben smirked.

Ben pushed the two sisters out of the small bathroom and exclaimed, "she wants to talk to you," before pushing the sisters into the main room and closely the bathroom door.

Emily huffed when she stood up straight. She helped Elena stand up and grabbed her arm. She looked up and saw the female vampire staring at her and Elena with a smirk. "Well, well. Elena Gilbert," the girl spoke while staring at the youngest Gilbert sister, "you really are Katherine's doppelganger. You must have the Salvatore brothers reeling." the girl then turned towards the older sister with a smirk, "and Emily Gilbert. Mystic Falls prize possession, everyone's favorite girl."

Emily rolled her eyes, she didn't want to hear about her life story so she glared at the girl, "who the hell are you?"

"I'm Anna," the girl paused, "your brother may have mentioned me." Anna smiled, "I mean, we're like, practically dating."

So this was the girl that Jeremy was talking about and the girl that Damon went to talk to at the Grill. She was a vampire, Emily had already figured out. Protecting her brother from vampires just became much more difficult.

"Bonnie's not gonna open the tomb," Elena spoke boldly next to her sister.

"Oh, I think she will," Anna spoke simply from the window.

Emily twitched her head to the side, trying to figure out this Anna girl. "Why would you want the tomb open?" Emily questioned. "Surely you don't want Katherine out," Emily commented.

Anna rolled her eyes, "trust me. No one I know wants to see that girl again. Except Damon, the lovestruck idiot."

"Then what is it?" Elena questioned. "Or who is it?"

"My mother is in there," Anna told the younger Gilbert. The vampire moved slowly in front of Elena, "Katherine couldn't help herself. She just had to toy around with both of the Salvatore brothers. And when she got caught, so did my mother. I watched Jonathan Gilbert take her away."

Elena shook her head and looked away, "I'm sorry." Emily sighed quietly, she did feel bad for the vampire, but she kidnapped her and Elena so she really couldn't feel sorry for her.

"You really mean that, don't you?" Anna asked Elena before chuckling, "yeah, I think we'll skip the dead mom bonding so you and your sister can start serving a purpose."

"Which is what?" Emily questioned the vampire.

Anna turned towards Emily and answered simply, "leverage." Anna grabbed a cell phone from the side table and held it in front of Elena, "this belong to you?" Elena tried to reach for her phone, but Anna quickly moved the phone from her reach, "ah, ah, ah."

Anna moved across the room towards the shaded windows and pushed a few buttons on Elena's phone before putting the device towards her ear. It was silent for a moment before Anna spoke with no emotion, "they are fine. For now. Tell me you have the grimoire and they'll stay fine."

Emily grabbed Elena's hand tightly when she noticed her sister's scared facial expression. She wasn't going to let Anna or Ben hurt her sister or friend that was still in the other room. And she knew with certain that Stefan wouldn't let them get hurt either.

"Which means your brother has it," Anna stated before staring at the two sisters, "and I have the witch." Emily realized Anna was trying to make a point both towards Stefan and her and Elena not to do anything stupid. "So one of you had better meet me in the very public town square in 30 minutes so we can safely discuss how fun it's gonna be to work together," Anna told Stefan before hanging up Elena's phone.

Anna quickly made her way towards the bathroom door without even glancing over at the Gilbert sister. She banged her right fist against the white bathroom door and stated, "I'm leaving." Ben quietly opened the door and dragged a very tired Bonnie Bennett from the bathroom. "Keep them buttoned down," Anna commanded. "Compulsion won't work. Just use violence."

"Right," Ben mumbled. "I got that."

Anna didn't give Ben a second look before quickly walking out of the small motel door. Ben pushed Bonnie towards one of the small beds and commanded, "sit. Behave." He took off his black jacket and turned towards Bonnie in wonder, "so you're the key to this?" Ben mumbled under his breath, "literally." He continued, "the one that opens the door." Ben sat across from the three girls in an uncomfortable chair and asked the Bennett witch, "tell me, how long have you been a witch?"

Elena quickly interrupted the conversation that Elena knew Bonnie didn't want to have. "Is there anything to drink here?" Elena questioned the vampire.

Ben suddenly stood up and walked over to Elena and questioned with a smile, "are you offering?"

Emily quickly stood in front of Elena and glared at the vampire, "back off, Ben."

Ben chuckled at the oldest sister before calling over his shoulder when he moved back to his seat, "there's water on the night stand."

Elena moved carefully from behind Emily and reached towards the small wooden night stand, she reached for the glass that held water. She brought it towards her lips for a small sip before Bonnie called out. "Can I have a sip," Bonnie questioned Elena.

Elena moved the glass from her lips and looked at Bonnie confused. But Bonnie continued to stare at Elena with a pointed look. After a few seconds, Elena finally realized why Bonnie wanted the glass, so Elena carefully handed the glass over towards Bonnie. The Bennett witch grabbed the glass of water and quickly threw the liquid on Ben. Emily realized what Bonnie was going to do, so she quickly grabbed Elena's hand and pulled her up, getting ready to run out of the room. Bonnie stared hard at Ben's body before he began shouting in pain when Bonnie lit his body on fire. As soon as he was lit on fire, Bonnie made a dash for the door and Emily quickly pushed Elena in front of her before the two tried to follow after Bonnie.

Ben grabbed Emily's waist and held her tightly against his chest while holding Elena's hand in a tight grip and yelled out, "come back in! Shut the door!"

Bonnie slowly squeezed through the small space in the door and mumbled, "don't hurt them."

"Don't make me!" Ben growled at the Bennett witch while holding tightly on the two sisters. Bonnie knew that if she left, her two friends would be in danger. She slowly closed the door behind her and leaned against it. "Lock it!" Ben growled out. Bonnie glared at the vampire in hatred before turning her back towards the three in the room and locked the deadbolt on the door.

As soon as Bonnie had locked the door, Ben pushed the Gilbert sisters towards one of the beds and started to pace up and down the tiny motel room. Emily helped Elena sit on the edge of the bed once Ben turned his back to the sisters. Emily glanced over at Bonnie in worry once she sat down on the other bed. But Emily didn't get to question her friend before Ben spoke up. "Witches don't have eternal life, right?" Ben questioned Bonnie. "So you guys can die."

"Yep," Bonnie nodded, "we can die."

Ben chuckled and turned his back towards the three girls. "Ah. that sucks," Ben smiled over at Bonnie.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the front door of the motel was smashed into tiny pieces. Emily quickly glanced over at the doorway and sighed thankfully when she saw it was Stefan Salvatore. All you could hear was Ben yelling in pain in a shaded corner from the brightness of the sun that was shinning through the doorway.

"Stefan!" Elena yelled while standing up from the small bed.

"Let's get outside!" Stefan commanded to the girls before stepping further into the room.

Emily quickly grabbed Elena and Bonnie's hand and pulled the two girls through the doorway and into the bright sun. Emily sighed thankfully as soon as she felt the sun on her skin, knowing that Ben couldn't touch them. They weren't totally safe since Anna was still walking in the daylight but Emily knew that they would deal with that when the time arose itself. Emily glanced over at her sister in worry but Elena gave her a small smile, letting her know she was okay. Emily nodded and moved her eyes over to Bonnie, who didn't wait for a question and pulled the two Gilbert sisters into a tight hug. Emily hugged Bonnie just as tight. She knew that the witch was still new to all the vampire stuff, it could get scary sometimes so she understood how afraid Bonnie was at the moment.

* * *

Emily was glad to leave the small motel behind her, but she knew that it wasn't the end. Anna still needed a witch to get her mother from the tomb, which means Bonnie would still be involved. Emily knew this was only the beginning, but she was going to whatever she could to protect her loved ones no matter what vampire comes in her way.

After leaving the motel, Stefan drove the three girls to Bonnie's Grams house. Emily was sitting in the dining room with Bonnie and her Grams while Stefan and Elena were out of the room. She felt protected and safe in the older Bennett witch's house, even if it was only for a little while.

"How did you know where we were?" Bonnie asked her Grams softly in wonder.

"Many things can fuel a witches power," Grams began, "worry. Anger. After Stefan told me they had taken you, I had a lot of both. Simple locator spell was easy after that."

"I'm sorry," Emily spoke up. "I never wanted Bonnie to get involve into this," she told Grams.

Grams gave the older Gilbert a small smile, "I know." Grams smirked at the two girls, "not as sorry as they're gonna be."

Emily chuckled slowly, she always loved being around Bonnie's Grams. She could always put a smile on your face or make your face red from laughter. And she always made you feel like you were apart of the family, which was why Emily always felt like she was her own Grams.

Suddenly, Elena and Stefan walked into the dining room and walked closer to the two Bennett witches and the oldest Gilbert. Elena stood beside her sister and asked, "so what do we do now?"

Stefan moved on the other side of Emily and stated, "well, for now, you need to stay here," Stefan looked said while looking at the four different faces.

"A prisoner, in my own home?" Grams asked while staring at Stefan with a small smirk, "I don't think so."

Stefan shook his head at the older woman, "I can't protect you if you leave the house."

"We'll protect ourselves," Grams told Stefan with no room for argument.

It quiet for a moment before Elena spoke seriously, "we need to let him have Katherine back."

Emily quickly turned her head towards her sister and looked at her like she was crazy. "You can't be serious right now, Lena." It's not that Emily cared about what Damon wanted, all Emily cared about was that her loved ones were protected and with him getting Katherine back, no one is safe.

"He's not going to stop until he gets her," Elena tried to explain her reason. "If we help him, maybe that ends it."

"No!" Bonnie yelped. "He doesn't deserve to get what he wants."

"What other choice do we have?" Bonnie questioned while glancing between her sister and her best friend.

Emily honestly didn't know what they should do, because if they let Damon free Katherine then they both would cause destruction in Mystic Falls and if they didn't let that happen, then Damon would cause destruction trying to get Katherine. Either way something bad was going to come out of it.

"Witches being pulled down by vampire problems," Grams spoke, "as much as we tried to do to stay out of it." Grams looked over at Stefan, "I'll open the tomb. You get your brother's girl and destroy the rest with fire. Then this will be all over."

"We still have to get Damon to agree," Stefan stated.

Elena shrugged, "he already agreed once."

"And then we betrayed him," Emily huffed.

Stefan nodded his head in agreement, "so now he's angry."

"He's hurt," Elena corrected her boyfriend. "There's a difference." Elena paused while glancing between Stefan and Emily. Elena mumbled, "I think I know what I have to do."

Emily realized what Elena needed to do and looked at her sister in worry. She didn't trust Damon enough to have Elena go over and talk to him alone. "Are you sure?" Emily questioned her sister, wanting to make sure Elena knew what she was doing.

Elena nodded her head confidently, "I have to do this. He'll agree to this."

Emily looked at her sister for a few moments and she noticed how serious Elena was so she nodded her head in agreement. Emily trusted that Elena could handle herself while trying to convince Damon to agree.

* * *

Once there were no more sun shining through the sky, Emily made her way through the woods and towards where Bonnie's dreams always took place, right below Fell's church. While Elena went to convince Damon, Emily arrived with Bonnie, Grams, and Stefan. Emily standing beside the two Bennett witches above the tomb when suddenly Stefan came up from the small hole in the ground where the tomb was located.

"Cleared the debris away," Stefan stated. "Set the torches up like you asked," Stefan told Grams before continuing, "we can get down now."

Stefan carried a shovel that he had with him and moved around the woods towards multiple cans of gasoline that was laid next to a large rock. "What is that?" Bonnie questioned Stefan while looking at the different cans he had.

Stefan stood up straight and looked over at Bonnie, "it's everything I need to destroy them."

Once Stefan handed Grams one of the flashlights in his head, she spoke up to the vampire, "are you sure that Damon will come back with her?"

But before Stefan could answer the oldest witch, Damon came whistling towards the four people with Elena following in tow. "Brother. Witches. Emily," Damon simply stated while continuing his fast pace down towards the tombs.

Emily sighed thankfully when she saw her sister unharmed. Emily pulled her sister in a hug before questioning, "are you okay?"

Elena nodded her head at her sister before looking over at Stefan, "I just want to get this over with." Emily nodded her head in agreement, she also wanted all this about the tomb and Katherine to be done with. Elena turned towards Bonnie, "are we ready?"

"I guess so," Bonnie mumbled before nodding her head.

* * *

Once they all made their way carefully down towards the tomb that was underneath the very old Fell's church, Emily stood against the far wall with her sister and the two Salvatore brothers. They watched the Bennett witches carefully. "Air," Grams spoke clearly while lighting one of the torches and moved on to the next torch and spoke, "Earth," she moved to the next one and spoke again while lighting enough torch, "air."

"Water," Bonnie called out while holding a plastic bottle of water and handed it to Grams who sprinkled the water around the torches.

"That's it?" Elena questioned confused, "just water from the tap?"

"As opposed to what?" Grams questioned back towards Elena while focusing on the water.

Elena shrugged, "I just figured maybe it would have to be blessed or mystical or something." Grams smirked over at Elena but didn't say anything else.

Damon suddenly opened the inside of his jacket and pulled out a small bag. Emily looked over at him confused, "what's that?"

Damon smirked over at the older Gilbert, "it's for Katherine. Gotta have something to get her going. Unless you're offering a vein to tap." Emily rolled her eyes at the older Salvatore brother and looked back to the witches. Damon chuckled lowly before glancing over at Stefan, "admit it. You can't wait to get rid of me."

Stefan chuckled, "I can't wait to get rid of you."

Bonnie looked up at the four and stated, "we're ready."

After a few moments, Bonnie and Grams began to speak in a different language. Emily realized it was the spell to open the tomb. "What are they saying?" Damon questioned after listening to the witches for a few minutes repeating the same words.

"Sounds Latin," Stefan told Damon.

"I don't think it's Latin," Elena mumbled.

After a few more seconds of the spell, suddenly the torches flared up higher than was natural. Elena grabbed onto Stefan's arm tightly and asked nervously, "what's happening?"

Stefan didn't know what to say, so he stayed silent and held Elena closely towards him. After a few more moments, there was a loud sound coming from inside the tomb. Everyone looked towards the entrance of the tomb and saw it was opening slowly.

"It worked!" Bonnie yelped in disbelief.

"Of course it work," Grams told her granddaughter.

Damon looked over at Stefan, "we have some fires to build."

Stefan nodded before looking down at Elena lovingly, "I'm gonna go get the gasoline."

Elena grabbed Stefan's hand and gave him a small smile, "I'll come with you."

When the couple turned towards Emily, she gave them a small smile, "go. Everything will be okay."

Once Stefan and Elena moved up the stairs of the tombs, Damon turned towards Emily and asked, "you ready?"

Emily rose an eyebrow at Damon, "for what?" She had a feeling that she knew what Damon wanted.

Damon turned towards the two witches, "you think I'm gonna go in there by myself so you can seal me in?"

Once Damon grabbed at Emily's arm, Grams growled out, "don't take her in. I'll bring the walls down."

"You'll bring the walls down if I don't," Damon growled back. "You think I trust you?" Damon questioned the older witch.

"As much as I trust you," Grams told Damon.

Emily rolled her eyes, "we don't have time for this. Let's just get this over with. He doesn't trust us, so I'll go."

Damon reached across the ground towards one of the torches and asked theoretically, "may I?" before Damon moved to the front of the tomb.

Emily looked over to the two witches and gave them a small smile, "I'll be okay." Emily looked over at Bonnie seriously, "make sure Elena does not follow me in here." Once Emily saw Bonnie nod her head, she walked through the entrance of the tomb and followed after Damon with a flashlight in her hand.

Emily carefully followed Damon through the surprisingly large tomb. After a few moments of walking in silence, Emily suddenly heard small quiet voices. "What is that?" Emily confusedly questioned.

"They can sense you," Damon mumbled out. "Now, where is she?" Damon questioned to himself before vamp speeding away, leaving Emily alone.

"Damon!" Emily yelled. She rolled her eyes and carefully walked through the tombs, looking for Damon. Emily was really wishing she would have went with Stefan and Elena. She was surrounded by very hungry vampires in a small area in the tomb. "Damon!" Emily called out, trying to find the Salvatore vampire.

Emily shined her flashlight along one of the walls and saw a vampire sitting against the wall. Emily gasped in shock. You could see how old the vampire was by the old clothing and the vampire's bones could be seen from how long they had been down in the tombs. It was the most creepiest thing Emily had ever seen, so she quickly tried to get away from the vampires, but every time she shined the flashlight around the tomb, she saw vampires everywhere. Not paying attention where she was going, Emily tripped over one of the vampires and almost landed face first into the hard ground. Emily quickly tried to find her flashlight, and when she did it was shined on a vampire who suddenly opened his eyes and all Emily could see was the hunger in his eyes. Emily yelled out in fright and quickly stood up from the ground and tried to turn away from the vampires, but she did, she came face to face with a healthy vampire, Anna.

Anna shined the small flashlight she had in her hand at the older Gilbert sister and smiled fakely, "you must have a taste for it." Anna moved closer towards Emily, "you scream and shriek and even bother to escape, but then you just come right back to it."

Emily backed away slowly, not wanting to be to close to the vampire that was still mad about her escaping with Elena and Bonnie. She suddenly tripped over two sets of feet but caught herself before she fell. Emily shined her flashlight on the vampire, and when she did, Anna yelped, "mother!"

Anna bent down next to her mother before turning towards Emily in anger, "your friend did this, you know."

"Giuseppe Salvatore did this," Emily corrected the vampire.

Anna stood up from the ground and moved closer towards Emily, "and Jonathan Gilbert." Anna paused before continuing, "I made a choice a long time ago that it would be Gilbert blood that brought her back to life." Anna shrugged carelessly, "I had Jeremy all ready to go but…"

Emily realized what Anna wanted from her, so she quickly turned around and tried to run out of the tomb but she had no chance against vampire speed. Anna sped in front of her and grabbed onto Emily's wrist and took a large bite causing Emily to yell out in pain. Once the blood started to flow from the wound, Anna pushed Emily towards the ground and pulled Emily's wrist up to her mother's mouth.

Emily tried to pull her wrist away from the hungry vampire and pleaded, "stop! You don't have to do this!"

Anna ignored the Gilbert girl and spoke to her mother softly, "I'm gonna get you out."

"Let her go!" A new voice suddenly yelled.

Emily swiftly was lifted from the ground and away from the vampires very hungry mouth. Emily quickly spun around and saw it was Stefan who saved her. She didn't have time to relax before Stefan commanded, "go! Go! I'm right behind you."

Emily didn't bother to wait another moment before she dashed around the tomb, trying to find away from the hungry vampires with a bleeding wrist. Finally, Emily saw a brightness ahead of her, and realized that it was the entrance of the tomb. She quickened up her speed before running right through the entrance. As soon as Emily walked through the entrance, Elena came rushing towards her and pulled Emily into a tight hug. Emily hugged her sister back, thankfully to be away from the hungry vampires.

"Emily," Bonnie spoke carefully. "Stefan…" Bonnie trailed off.

Emily looked back at the tomb confused, "he was right behind me." Emily stared at the tomb for a moment before Stefan arrived, but he didn't walk through the entrance. "Stefan, what are you doing?" Emily questioned in confusion.

"It's gonna be okay," Bonnie promised, "we'll fix it."

"What happened?" Emily quickly turned towards the two Bennett witches.

"I can't," Stefan mumbled from the edge of the tomb.

Emily looked at Stefan with wide eyes, "you can't what?"

Elena spoke sadly beside her sister, "he's stuck. The spell is still up."

Emily looked over at her sister in shock, "and you let him go in there!"

"We heard you scream, Emmie. This was the only way to protect you," Elena tried to explain to her sister.

Emily nodded her head, she knew it was the right thing to do but now Stefan was stuck inside of the tomb and she didn't know if the witches could even do the spell to get him out. Emily grabbed onto her sister's arm out of nervousness for her best friend.

"We won't be able to hold the seal for long," Grams told Stefan who nodded his head and moved back into the tomb.

The two Bennett witches began to chant the spell once again and after a few more moments, the torches began to flare up. Elena turned towards the entrance of the tomb and mumbled, "I think it's working."

Suddenly Anna came walking slowly out of the tomb with her mother. Emily pulled Elena behind her while staring hard at the two vampires. "I just wanted my mother back," Anna tried to explain. "Jeremy's fine. He's outside. I won't touch him." Anna continued her way out of the tomb and up onto solid ground.

Grams noticed the flames began to falter, so she yelled out, "Bonnie, keep going!" Grams turned towards the two sisters, "they better hurry."

"Stefan, they can't hold it much longer!" Elena yelled into the tomb.

Suddenly the flames went even lower. Emily glanced over at her sister, who had a scared facial expression. Emily grabbed Elena's hand before running into the tomb. She knew Elena was going to, but she wasn't going to let the same thing happen to Elena that happened to her. The two girls ran as fast as they could until they heard shouting and ran towards the voices. Once they stopped, they saw the two brothers arguing. Elena quickly shouted, "Damon! Please!"

Damon stared at Elena with a hard expression before stomping out of the small space and walked towards the entrance of the tomb with the two Gilbert sisters and Stefan following quickly behind. As soon as Stefan stepped out of the tomb, the large door closed behind him and flames went away from the torches.

After Emily took a deep breath, she remembered what Anna had said and quickly ran up the stairs of the underground tomb and made her way through the woods, looking for her brother. Emily quickly spotted a body lying on the wooded ground, she sprinted towards the body when she noticed it was her little brother. Emily heard footsteps, but didn't turn around since she already knew it was Stefan and Elena. Stefan leaned over Jeremy and listened for his heartbeat, once he did he looked at the two worried sisters, "he's okay."

Emily gasped when she heard Jeremy groan. She hugged her brother closely towards her chest. Emily was beyond worried about her brother that Anna had hurt him, but he was okay which Emily thankful for. Emily glanced over Jeremy's shoulder and saw Elena walk slowly towards Damon and hug him. Emily sighed lowly, she knew Elena felt bad about Katherine not being in the tomb, but it wasn't her fault. Maybe it was for best, for everyone.

* * *

While Elena went with Bonnie to take Grams home, Emily wanted to make sure her brother got home safely. She needed to know that he was okay and safe so he could forget about this horrible day.

Emily walked into Jeremy's room with a glass of water and a couple of Aspirin pills. She handed them carefully to Jeremy before asking, "how's your head?"

"Uh, it's alright," Jeremy mumbled. He looked up at his older sister, "I just wish I knew how I passed out. I didn't drink that much, I swear."

Emily gave Jeremy a soft smile, "I believe you." Emily looked at Jeremy in wonder, "do you remember anything?"

Jeremy shook his head, "the whole thing is pretty cloudy. I just… I know how this looks." Jeremy looked down at the glass in his hands, "I'm sorry."

Emily grabbed the glass from Jeremy's hand and sat it on his desk before squeezing Jeremy's hand lovingly, "it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong and I trust you."

Jeremy gave his older sister a small smile and nodded, "yeah, okay."

Emily gave Jeremy a smile and squeezed his hand, "I'm going to go head over Bonnie's where Elena is right now." Emily looked at her brother in worry, "are you sure you are okay? You don't need me to stay?"

Jeremy shook his head, "I'm just going to crash."

Emily looked at Jeremy for a long moment before nodding her head and walked towards the door. "Jenna's here if you need anything and if you need to talk, just call me." Emily smiled at her brother one last time and spoke, "I love you, Jer. Good night."

Jeremy gave Emily a real smile, "I love you too."

Once she made sure Jeremy was okay, Emily made her way downstairs and towards her car. She glad that at least one of her siblings would be okay tonight. Jeremy was the last person she wanted involved in the vampire world, but somehow he squeezed his way in the between it. Emily wanted to protect her little brother from everything vampires as best as she could. Jeremy didn't deserved to be involved in this life.

* * *

Once Emily had arrived at Grams' house, she made her way towards the kitchen where she heard voices. When she walked in, she saw Elena was on the phone who gave her a small smile before returning to her phone call. Emily realized it must had been Stefan. She walked further into the kitchen and saw Bonnie making tea. Emily moved towards Bonnie and questioned softly, "how are you doing?"

Bonnie gave the older Gilbert a small smile but sighed, "I'm tired but I will be okay."

Emily nodded her head, "do you need any help?"

Bonnie shook her head while holding up a teacup in hand but then she turned back to Emily with a small smile, "could you clean up in here?"

Emily chuckled at Bonnie, "of course. Just relax, I got this." Bonnie gave Emily a thankful look before moving out of the kitchen.

Emily was washing some of the dishes Bonnie had used to make a cup of tea, but suddenly she heard yelling. She quickly dried her hands off before moving towards the yelling with Elena quickly following behind her. Once Emily walked into the room, she saw Bonnie yelling for her Grams.

"Grams! Grams! Wake up!" Bonnie yelled before looking at the two girls helplessly, "she's not breathing!"

While Elena pulled out her phone to dial for help, Emily quickly jogged towards the bed where the older witch laid. Emily looked over at Grams carefully and noticed she wasn't breathing. Emily couldn't believe her eyes. All she could hear was Bonnie yelling out for Grams. Suddenly Bonnie jumped away from the bed before coming back with a grimoire. "I'm gonna fix it!" Bonnie exclaimed while wiping the tears from her eyes. "I can fix this!"

Emily looked over at friend sadly, she knew this feeling very well, being in denial. Emily grabbed Bonnie's hand softly, stopping her friends shaking hands from flipping through the old book. "Bonnie," Emily called out.

"No! No!" Bonnie yelled and tried to flip through the book again. "I can fix this! Grams, I can fix this!"

Elena walked over to her best friend and carefully pulled the grimoire from Bonnie's hands while Emily quickly pulled her friend into a tight hug. "Bonnie," Emily mumbled sadly with tears in her own eyes. Grams had always held a special part of Emily's heart. She was family for Emily since the Gilbert's didn't have many family members. But all she could do was hold her friend close to her like she had to do with her siblings. There was no words that would make Bonnie feel better, so she just held her friend closely to her while Bonnie cried her heart out. Emily glanced up at her sister who was watching with tearful eyes as well. Elena walked slowly and sat and next to Bonnie and grabbed onto her best friend's hand tightly. The two sisters knew that Bonnie just needed them to be there for her at the moment, that's the only thing they could do when something like this happens.


	20. Chapter 20

Emily sat on the wooden porch swing that her father built when she was six, wrapped in her leather jacket trying to keep warm from the cold weather that took over the early mornings in Mystic Falls. She held her cell phone to her ear, listening to the multiple sounds of the phone ringing. Emily sighed when the call went to voicemail. She waited for the beep before speaking, "Hey Bon Bon, just wanted to see how you are doing." Emily paused before continuing, "I know it feels really difficult right now, but everything will be okay. Elena and I miss you so much. If you need anything please give me a call, I'll do whatever I can to help." Emily glanced up when she heard footsteps coming walking up the porch and when she did, she saw her aunt Jenna. Emily gave her aunt a small smile before quickly speaking into her phone, "come home soon. We love you, bye."

"What are you doing out here?" Jenna asked her older niece. "It's cold," Jenna chuckled while holding her hot cup of coffee.

Emily lifted up her phone towards Jenna, "I was just checking on Bonnie." Emily paused before continuing, "with Bonnie's grandma's funeral, it just reminded me mom and dad's." Emily looked up at her aunt in wonder, "did you ever find anymore about our adoption?"

Jenna gave Emily a small smile before pointing towards the front door with her head, "come on inside."

Emily quickly followed after Jenna, wanting to get away from the windy weather that was sitting her pale face. While Jenna went to grab her laptop from her bag, Emily moved to the dining room table where she saw her twin sister. Elena looked up from a book she was reading and questioned the two newcomers in the dining room, "hey, what are you guys doing?"

Emily gave her sister a smile, "Jenna might have found some more information on our adoption." Emily noticed that Elena perked up at her answer so she moved to sit next to her sister so Jenna could show them both the information she found.

Jenna sat down next to Elena and opened her laptop before speaking towards her two nieces, "your dad kept everything from his medical practice - records, logs, old appointment books," Jenna picked up a heavy leather book and exclaimed, "I found a entry from the night you two were born." Jenna flicked through a few pages before stating, "Patient and a birth date. Isobel Peterson."

Elena looked over at the name of the page before looking back at Jenna in wonder, "do you think that's her real name?"

Jenna shook her head, "pregnant teenage runaway? Probably not." Jenna shrugged lightly, "first name, maybe." Jenna paused before continuing, "but where'd she get Peterson? Classmate? Roommate? So I binged it." Jenna turned back to her opened laptop and pulled up the search engine and began typing, "I searched for all the Petersons in this area born the same year as Isobel, found 3 - 2 men, one woman, Trudie, who lived in Grove Hill, Virginia."

Emily looked over at her aunt shocked, "that's really close to Mystic Falls." She couldn't believe that someone could have information about her birth mother and that lived so close.

Jenna nodded, "well, watch this." Jenna turned back to her laptop and typed once again. Jenna clicked on a link and what popped up, made Emily smile.

"That's her," Emily pointed at the young girl in the picture. She new as soon as she saw the girl. Isobel had the same green eyes as Emily and straight brown hair that Elena and Emily both shared. Emily smiled brightly over at Elena, "she was a cheerleader." The two sisters chuckled while staring at the photo. It was the first real thing that they saw of their mother, it was a special experience for both girls.

Jenna smiled over at the two girls when she saw that the sisters were smiling happily. "Trudie still lives there," Jenna exclaimed before handing Emily a post-it note, "this is her address."

Emily looked down at the address for a moment before nodding at her aunt. But Elena looked up at Jenna in confusion, "what about Isobel?"

Jenna stared at the younger sister for a moment before turning her eyes back to her laptop and sighed, "I couldn't find anything about her." Emily quickly noticed Elena's fallen face, so she quickly squeezed her sister's hand tightly. Jenna looked back at the two girls carefully, "listen. There's something else. Mr. Saltzman, Ric, his wife was from around here, and her name was also Isobel."

Elena looked up at Jenna shock before realizing what she said, "wait. 'Was' as in…"

Jenna shook her head, "she died."

Emily looked over at her sister in shock. She didn't know what to say to Elena, because she never in a million years would even think that her birth mother could be her history teacher's dead wife. It had to be a huge coincidence that his wife was also born in Mystic Falls. If this was true, then the she and Elena had the worse luck in parents.

* * *

"Alaric's wife might have been your mother?" Stefan questioned in confusion while glancing at the two Gilbert sisters. After receiving the information from Jenna, the two girls decided to talk about it with Stefan before they made any decisions.

Elena sighed while she placed her clothes in her drawer, "it can't be true, right?"

Emily shook her head from Elena's bed, "it has to be a huge coincidence, there's no way that she is our mother. It's too crazy," Emily tried to console her sister. For Elena's sake, she really hoped that Jenna was wrong. Emily didn't want Elena to deal with the possibility that their birth mother was also dead.

Elena held up the post-it note that Jenna had gave Emily. "I have the address for her friend Trudie," Elena told her boyfriend in a small, nervous voice.

"You wanna talk to her," Stefan stated, rather than asking since he already knew the answer.

Elena stared at Stefan before shaking her head, "I don't know. I…" Elena sighed and moved to sit next to Emily, "I don't know. If it's true and they are the same person, that means that our birth mother is dead, and I don't know if I could handle that."

Emily sighed and gave Elena's hand a tight squeeze, "if you want to do this, then I'll be there with you the whole time." Emily shrugged her shoulders lightly, "and if you don't then, oh well, we know who our true parents were." Elena gave her older sister a thankful smile and squeezed her hand back.

Stefan looked at the two girls after a moment, "did Jenna tell you anything about Alaric's wife? How she died?"

Emily glanced over at Elena, and noticed that she lost in thought, so Emily answered, "all Jenna told us that she was killed and the case was never solved." Stefan nodded his head and looked away from Emily's green eyes. Emily looked up at Stefan shocked, "you knew that already, didn't you?"

Stefan nodded his head and explained, "the night at the school when he attacked me, he told me some things about her death."

That peaked Elena's attention greatly, because the younger sister quickly stood up and moved closer to Stefan with her mind stirring at the possibility of Alaric's wife being their birth mother. "Well - " Elena began.

"No. no," Stefan quickly interrupted his girlfriend and grabbed her hands softly. "It's not possible. The coincidence is - it's too much." Stefan glanced over at Emily on the Elena's bed before continuing, "if you guys decide to go talk to Isobel's friend, I'll go with you guys. Okay?"

Elena shook her head at Stefan, "I don't know what I'm gonna do yet."

"Whatever you want to do, I'll be with you the whole time," Emily promised her sister once again. Once Elena nodded her head, Emily decided to give the couple some alone time, so she stood from Elena's soft bed and quietly existed her sister's bedroom.

* * *

Once Stefan had left the Gilbert house, Elena had found her green eyed sister in the her bedroom. Elena bit her lip while standing in the doorway of Emily's room before quietly moving towards Emily's bed and sat next to her sister. Emily rose an eyebrow at her nervous looking sister before Elena exclaimed quietly, "I want to go see Trudie."

Emily quickly sat up in her bed and turned towards her sister, "are you sure?"

Elena began to play with with her small fingers and mumbled out, "yeah. I mean, why stop now? I can't let my cowardly attitude get in the way."

Emily reached over and squeezed Elena's hand with a small smile, "you're not a coward, Lena. You deserve to be scared and nervous. This woman might have information about our birth mother, you have the right to be scared about what we find out." Emily paused before looking deeply into Elena's brown eyes, "but I'll be with you the whole time, and if you want to turn around and come back home, then I'll be with you then too."

Apparently that it just what Elena needed to hear, because next thing Emily knew, Elena was pulling her from the soft and warm bed. Emily didn't complain since she knew deep down that Elena wanted to know everything about where they came from, she just needed that extra push from her twin sister. Emily would always support Elena in what decision she made, so she quickly pulled on her black boots and followed after Elena to her sister's car.

Just as Emily thought, it didn't take long to get to the small town of Grove Hill that Trudie lived in. It took about twenty-five minutes for Elena to enter Grove Hill before she began to slow down to look for Trudie's house. Emily pointed across the road, "there. That's her house," Emily told her sister, recognizing the address from the post-it note. Elena pulled over to the side of the road and turned off her car before glancing over at her sister.

"We got this," Emily promised Elena before the two girls slowly got out of the car and made their way across the road to the small white house with a light blue door.

Emily walked up to the door beside Elena and noticed that Elena was extremely nervous, so she decided to take over and she carefully knocked on the door. While she waited for the women to open the door, Emily turned to her sister and gave her encouraging smile. Suddenly the front door swung open by a smiling blonde. "Trudie? Trudie Peterson?" Emily questioned the women.

The women nodded, "yes."

Emily smiled at Trudie, "hi, my name is Emily Gilbert," she pointed to the brunette next to her, "and this my sister, Elena." Emily bit her lip before continuing, "I was wondering if we could talk to you about Isobel Flemming."

Trudie glanced at the two girls and smiled, "well, I haven't heard that name in years. How do you know her?" Trudie questioned.

Emily glanced over at Elena before asking, "do you know if she had two babies that she gave up for adoption?"

Trudie stared at the two girls in shock, "my God. you guys are her daughters." The blonde woman chuckled brightly, "I was just gonna make some tea. Would you like some?"

Emily glanced over at Elena, wanting to know if her sister wanted to continue or turn back around. After a moment, Elena smiled at Trudie, "I'd like that."

Trudie pointed behind her and mumbled out, "uh, the kitchen's this way." Trudie backed away from the door, so Emily and Elena walked through the entrance of the blonde woman's house and made their way to the direction she pointed to.

Emily and Elena both made their way carefully through the house until they saw the dining room table. The two girls took off their jackets and sat down at the wooden table. Emily spoke up as soon as they sat down, "I hope you don't mind that we just showed up." Emily glanced over at Elena before continuing, "we've been looking into Isobel and we found you."

Trudie smiled and shook her head, "it's no problem. Just a surprise, though." Trudie sat across from the two girls, "I haven't thought about Isobel in years."

"When was the last time you saw her?" Elena asked, shocking her sister that she finally got out of her shell about knowing about their birth mother. Emily was glad that Elena was ready to learn about their birth mother, they both needed answers.

Trudie thought for a moment, "about 17 years ago, when she left to go have you guys. We kept in touch for a while, but, you know, people drift apart."

"Do you know where she went?" Emily asked Trudie.

"She was in Florida for a while," Trudie answered. "She was on her own. I know it wasn't easy."

It was silent for a moment before Elena questioned softly, "do you have any idea who our father is?" Emily perked up at this question, this was one of the big question that had been going through her head since the name Isobel was spoken of.

But sadly, Trudie shook her head, "I could never get her to fess up." Trudie paused before continuing, "anyway, she finally pulled it together, got into college on a scholarship."

"Where did she go?" Emily wondered. Any information she could get so she could understand what type of person her birth mother was, it was gratefully appreciated.

"Somewhere in North Carolina," Trudie thought for a moment before stating, "Duke, I think. Smart girl, smart school."

Before either of the girls could comment, a loud noise was heard from the kitchen. "Let me just grab that," Trudie said before quickly walking towards the kitchen.

Once Trudie was out of the room, Emily turned towards Elena with a small smile, "how are you doing?"

Elena smiled brightly at Emily, "I'm good. I'm glad you convinced me to come today. I feel closer to Isobel somehow."

Emily squeezed her sister's hand, she was happy that Elena finally warmed up about the idea of learning more about their birth mother. Even though Grayson and Miranda raised them, Emily thought that they deserved to know where they came from and Trudie was helping to understand their birth mother.

A few minutes later, Trudie came back into the dining room table with three small cups of tea and a thin book. Once she sat the warm tea down, she quickly opened the book and turned to a certain page before passing it towards the two girls. Emily looked at the book, and she realized it was the same picture Jenna had showed them this morning.

"They came to the games for us," Trudie remembered while pointing towards the small photo of herself with Isobel dressed in a cheerleading outfit. "The football team hadn't won in years," Trudie explained, "we were the stars." Trudie paused, "well, Izzie was. But I was a damn good backup."

Emily smiled brightly before turning to Elena with a smirk, "like mother, like daughter."

Elena chuckled before explaining to the confused Trudie, "Emily is cheer captain at our school." Once Trudie nodded with a smile, Elena told the older women, "this is great. Thank you."

Trudie smiled, "you're welcome." Trudie glanced over at the older sister and stated, "you haven't touched your tea."

Emily glanced over at her cup of tea, and realized that she was so wrapped in learning about Isobel that she hadn't even touched it like Elena had. Emily quickly picked up the cup and took a small sip. Once the liquid reached the back of her throat, Emily furrowed her brows in confusion of the taste. "What is this?" Emily questioned, really hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

"Oh, it's just some herbal mixture," Trudie answered simply.

Elena was confused why her sister was asking about the tea, so she moved her cup to her nose and took a quick whiff. Elena eyes widened when she didn't noticed the smell earlier, "vervain?" Elena questioned Trudie. But the only reaction they got out of Trudie was the size of her eyes and her stiff posture. "You know," Elena stated.

"Know what?" Trudie asked with fake confusion.

Emily sat down her cup of tea and stated, "you didn't invite us in, and you're serving us vervain tea. So, you know."

Trudie swallowed hard and quickly stood up, "I think you guys should probably leave."

Emily stood up and asked strongly, "what are you not telling us?" Emily didn't like the fact that this woman wasn't telling her and Elena the whole truth. What did she know about vampires? Was she involved somehow?

"Please leave. Now!" Trudie yelped.

Elena quickly jumped up and grabbed her and Emily's jacket and quickly pulled Emily from the woman and out of the house. Emily sighed, she didn't want to stop questioning the woman, but she followed after Elena since she promised she would leave when she wanted. The two girls slowly made their way to Elena's car but while Emily was waiting for Elena to unlock the car door, she saw someone standing in the middle of the road and staring directly at them. "Get in the car," Emily commanded her sister quickly before jumping into the car as well. Elena quickly followed her sister's advice and got into the car and quickly took off back towards Mystic Falls.

* * *

Later that night, Emily and Elena were inside the crowded Mystic Grill for the Mystic Falls Most Eligible Bachelors. "He's already been hit on, like, 35 times," Caroline explained to the Gilbert sister's. "He's total cougar bait," Caroline joked next to the door that she liked.

Emily smirked over at Matt, "good job, Matty."

Matt rolled his eyes playfully at his friend, "yeah right, it's embarrassing."

Caroline chuckled before she saw someone over the sister's shoulders that was coming towards the four. "Hi, Mrs. Donovan," Caroline greeted the older woman brightly.

Kelly stared at Caroline before turning to her son's ex-girlfriend with a smile, "Elena, honey."

"Hi, Kelly," Elena smiled brightly at the older woman.

Kelly then turned towards her left and saw the older sister, "and the gorgeous Emily!"

Emily chuckled at Matt's mother before pulling her into a hug, "it's good to see you, Kelly." The older women always loved the two sisters since the Gilbert girls had been friends with Matt since they were in children. Emily liked Kelly, but sometimes she could get on her nerves on how she treated people.

Elena pulled Kelly into a hug after Emily and asked, "how are you doing?"

Kelly shrugged, "oh, same old." Kelly quickly paused, "oh. Matty tells me you broke his heart."

"Mom," Matt scowled his mother with the shake of his head.

"Just kidding. Calm down," Kelly told her son before turning back to Elena, "he found his rebound girl," and quickly glanced over at Caroline. Emily rolled her eyes. She realized Kelly wasn't a big fan of Caroline since she was involved in Matt. Kelly always thought Elena and Matt would be together forever.

"Oh," Kelly yelped before pulling out some money and handed to the Caroline, "here you go, sweetheart. However many that'll buy." Once Caroline took the money, Kelly exclaimed, "I just hope I don't get Bachelor 3. I dated him in high school." Kelly shook her head and whispered, "not impressive. In any way."

Matt shook his head in embarrassment, causing Emily to chuckle. One thing she liked about Kelly is that she knew had to have fun and embarrass Matt. Caroline pulled out a few red tickets before handing them to Kelly who exclaimed, "very exciting."

* * *

Later in the night, Emily had spotted Jenna in the crowd at Mystic Grill, so Emily and Elena joined Jenna at a table when Mrs. Lockwood began to introduce the contestants of the Bachelor raffle. "And what do you do, Bachelor number 3?" Mrs. Lockwood asked the short man.

"Yeah, I'm a plumber," the man mumbled into the microphone with a small smile. Elena chuckled and hid her face in her sister's shoulder, trying to contain her laughter. Jenna and Emily joined in with the laughter of the younger sister and the rest of Mystic Grill.

"Well, isn't that wonderful?" Mrs. Lockwood exclaimed. "We could always use more plumbers," she mumbled before smiling, "moving on." Mrs. Lockwood looked down at the card in her hand before speaking, "number four, Alaric Saltzman." Emily bumped her shoulder with Jenna's with a teasing smirk, causing Jenna to roll her eyes and continue to stare at the man she liked. "Wow. that's quite a mouthful," Mrs. Lockwood stated. "What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High," Alaric answered simply in the microphone.

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies," Mrs. Lockwood spoke to the crowd, "this one's a keeper." Mrs. Lockwood turned back to Alaric with a smile, "what do you teach?"

"History," Alaric answered.

"Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls, something crazy," Mrs. Lockwood instructed Alaric nicely.

Alaric glanced next to him, where Damon Salvatore stood and playfully placed his hand towards his ear. "Uh, well…" Alaric thought.

Mrs. Lockwood pulled the microphone away from Alaric and turned towards the crowd with a smile, "he's probably saving the best stories for his date." Mrs. Lockwood continued down the row of bachelors and locked down at the card in her hand, "and last, but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

"Well, I'm tough to fit on a card," Damon smirked.

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?" Mrs. Lockwood questioned the blue eyed man.

Damon nodded, "oh, yeah. L.A., New York." Damon paused, "a couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually." Damon glanced over at Alaric, "I think - I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric?" Damon nodded his head, "yeah, 'cause I - I know your wife did."

Emily quickly glanced over to Elena with wide eyes that matched Elena's brown eyes. The two girls glanced back over to Damon when he continued. "I had a drink with her once. She was - she was a great girl." Damon questioned Alaric, "I ever tell you that?" Damon smirked, "cause she was - delicious. Mmm! Mmm mmm mmm."

"Are you okay?" Jenna questioned Elena who was staring at Damon with tears in her eyes.

Emily gave Jenna a quick smile, "we're just going to get some air," before standing up and grabbing Elena's arm. As soon as the two sisters were out the Grill, Stefan quickly followed after them.

"Elena," Stefan called out.

"He killed her?" Elena questioned. "Damon was the vampire that killed her?"

Emily's eyed widened in shock, "wait. Isobel was killed by a vampire?" once Elena nodded her head, Emily questioned, "why didn't you tell me?"

Elena sighed, "I just found out before we came to the Grill. I was going to tell you," Elena promised. Emily couldn't believe it. Damon was the one that killed her birth mother, her best friend's brother killed Isobel.

"I don't know what happened," Stefan quickly spoke up. "Alaric said that they never found the body."

"Oh, my God. Stefan," Elena cried out in shock.

"I know. I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you," Stefan spoke quickly while glancing at the two shocked girls. "But I just - I wanted to know more."

"I was feeling sorry for him, hoping this whole Katherine thing would change him," Elena huffed, "I'm so stupid." Emily quickly pulled her sister into a hug, noticing that she falling apart every time she spoke.

Stefan shook his head, "he doesn't know the connection to you. I thought about confronting him, but he's already so on edge."

"Why are you protecting him?" Emily questioned Stefan in shock.

"Because Elena isn't the only one hoping that he might actually change," Stefan spoke softly.

Elena pulled away from her older sister and turned to Stefan with a sad expression. But Elena's eye widened when she saw someone over Stefan's shoulder. "That man," Elena trailed off.

Emily quickly grabbed Elena's hand and pulled Elena behind her. "That man was outside of Trudie's," Emily explained to Stefan stiffly.

Stefan turned around to look at the man before commanding the two girls, "get back inside. Come on," Stefan carefully pushed the two girls to the direction of the door of Mystic Grill.

Emily held onto Elena's hand while they carefully moved through the crowd in Mystic Grill trying to get back to the table where Jenna was. But unluckily, Elena ended up bumping into someone. "Whoa. easy there," the voice spoke. The two girls looked up and saw it was Damon who smirked, "buy a ticket like everyone else."

Emily rolled her eyes at the older Salvatore, "did you enjoy that?" Emily growled out, "rubbing it in to Alaric Saltzman?" Emily wasn't just going to let Damon walk around Mystic Falls happily without him knowing everyday that he killed they birth mother.

Damon looked at the two girls confused, "what?"

Elena spoke up with anger in her voice, "just as I was starting to think that there was something redeemable about you."

Stefan quickly walked up the trio with a shake of his head, "Elena," he mumbled, trying to get her to stop.

Damon glanced over at his brother before turning back to the Gilbert sisters, "am I missing something here?"

"Did I forget to mention earlier when we talking about my birth mother? The one that gave me up?" Elena questioned.

"Mm-hmm," Damon mumbled while continuing to stare at Elena.

"Her name was Isobel," Elena explained. Damon's face changed from smiling and happy to a frown and furrowed brows. "Go ahead. Reminisce about how you killed her," Elena growled out.

Emily quickly pulled Elena away from Damon before she would break down in front of the whole town that was in Mystic Grill. Emily quickly pushed anyone out of the way, and made their way outside the Grill once again. But of course at soon as they were outside, Stefan quickly followed after them.

"Come on. Let's get you home," Stefan called out to the two girls.

Before either girl could respond to Stefan, Emily abruptly stopped where she stood and quickly hid Elena behind her, because the man from earlier stood directly in front of them. Stefan quickly moved in front of Emily, protecting both girls.

"I have a message for you," the man spoke once all eyes were on him.

"What?" Emily questioned the man.

But Stefan placed his hand on her shoulder and questioned the man, "who are you?"

The man ignored Stefan and stated, "stop looking."

Elena moved from behind her sister and decided to stand next to her when she questioned the man, "stop looking for what?"

The man looked over at the two girls, "she doesn't want to know you. She doesn't want to talk to you."

Emily froze and asked breathlessly, "Isobel?"

"You need to stop looking," the man spoke before asking, "do you understand?"

Elena glanced at her sister before turning back to the man, "she's alive? Does that mean she's a -"

Stefan quickly spoke up, "Elena, he's under compulsion."

"Do you understand?" The man asked again.

"Yes. We do," Emily spoke up to the man.

"Good," the man mumbled. He looked over at the road before turning back to the trio and stated, "I'm done now." The man took one step back and when he did, a huge truck was passing by. Causing the huge truck to hit the man.

The two girls gasped in shock when the truck ran over the man. Elena quickly wrapped her arms around Emily and shoved her head into Emily's neck in fright. As soon as the truck slammed on it's brakes, Emily pulled Elena with her and followed Stefan to the accident. While Stefan went to check on the man, Emily saw a cell phone lying a few feet away. Emily looked around, making sure no one was looking, before picking up the phone and quickly sticking it inside her jacket pocket.

Stefan quickly stood up and grabbed one arm from both girls and pulled them away from the body and roaming eyes outside of Mystic Grill. "Come on. Let's get out of here. Come on," Stefan commanded while quickly pulling the girls.

* * *

Emily quietly walked towards Elena's room, she peeked inside Elena's room, and saw her sister sitting on her bed with a photo in her hand. Emily knocked on the door and spoke softly when Elena lifted up her head, "hey."

All Elena did was give her sister a small smile before looking back at the photo. Emily carefully walked to Elena's bed and sat next to her sister. She looked over at the photo in Elena's hands, which cause a smile to slowly form on her face. It was photo that Elena had taken, it was a photo of their mom and dad with the two of them in the middle. Emily couldn't place the memory, but she did know for certain is that they were happy.

Emily grabbed the photo carefully from Elena's hands and placed it back on Elena's bedside table. Emily noticed Elena's sadden face, so she pulled out the phone from her jacket pocket, the phone that belonged to the man that was following them. Emily showed the phone to Elena, who's eyes widened.

"Is that..." Elena trailed off.

Emily nodded her head, "I took it encase there was any information on Isobel."

"Have you checked?" Elena asked quietly.

Emily shook her head, "I wanted to do it with you." Emily carefully opened the phone and looked through the recently called. There was only one number through the whole phone. Emily glanced up at Elena before pushing call and placing it on speakerphone. Emily bit her lip while waiting for the phone to be answered. She was nervous, this might be the number of Isobel was alive and a vampire.

"Was there a problem?" A female voice spoke, "did you find them? What's going on?"

Emily quickly looked up at Elena who had tears in her eyes before speaking nervously, "Isobel?"

But the second Emily opened her mouth, the women on the other line quickly hung up the phone. Emily closed her eyes and sighed before placing the phone back into her jacket pocket. Emily glanced over at her sister who was playing with her fingers and avoiding eye contact with her older sister. Emily moved over and laid down on the right side of Elena's bed before pulling Elena into her side and began to play with Elena's long brown hair. Elena left out a small sigh when she finally began to relax beside her twin sister.

"We'll figure this out," Emily promised. "I won't give up trying to find out about Isobel." Emily paused for a moment before continuing, "just relax. We'll worry about everything tomorrow." Once Elena nodded her head against Emily's shoulder, she bent down and gave Elena a loving kiss on the top of her head before continuing to play with Elena's hair. Emily was going to stop trying to figure out where they came from. Everyone deserved to know where they came from, so she wasn't just going to stop because Isobel told them to. They deserved to know the truth, and that is what they were going to get.


	21. Chapter 21

Emily leaned against the many gray lockers that littered the crowded hallways of Mystic Falls High School with her twin sister and best friend. Stefan spoke up to the two girls, "Damon hasn't said a word to me. Every time I try to talk to him, he shuts me down," Stefan explained.

"Do you think he's still trying to find Katherine?" Emily questioned Stefan. She hoped Damon would give up on Katherine so she wouldn't come to Mystic Falls and burn the small city to the ground with her destruction.

Stefan glanced over at Emily, "I don't know." Stefan paused before explaining, "he waited 145 years only to find out that Katherine could not care less. I mean, it's gotta hurt, right?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders before smirking, "and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." Emily glanced over at Elena when she heard her chuckle. She smiled over at her younger sister before giving Elena a high-five.

Stefan chuckled at the two sisters before looking at his girlfriend, "you have every right to be upset with him." Stefan glanced over at Emily before asking, "have you guys thought about what you are going to do?"

"About what?" Elena questioned before continuing, "Isobel, our vampire birth mother, who's related to our vampire ancestor Katherine, who screwed over your vampire brother?" Elena shrugged, "nah, I haven't thought about it at all."

Emily smirked, "Damn, Elena. I'm loving the attitude," Emily joked while looking over at her sister.

Stefan chuckled, "I'm sorry I brought it up."

Elena sighed, "it'd just be nice if we could get through one day without having to deal with any of it. No vampire mother or brother."

"Amen," Emily praised her sister. She couldn't remember the last time she had a vampire and drama free day.

Stefan rose an eyebrow at the two girls, "no vampires at all?"

Emily sighed loud and dramatically, "I guess you can stay, if you must," Emily joked.

Stefan smiled at the older Gilbert while Elena rolled her eyes at her sister before answering her boyfriend. "No vampires but you. I just want to get us back to normal stuff like school and homework and," Elena gasped, "here's a thought, fun."

"Ooh," Stefan smiled, "that sounds good to me. When do we start?" The two girls chuckled before following Stefan down the busy hallway.

* * *

The two girls were standing by Stefan's locker while he was placing books inside, when suddenly a happy Caroline popped up next to the two sisters. Emily chuckled lowly when Elena jumped in fright when the blonde showed up. Emily was used to Caroline popping out of nowhere since she was her best friend.

"I'm thinking nothing huge, just a dinner at the Grill, maybe a late movie," Caroline exclaimed as soon as she close enough for the trio to hear her.

"You mean like a double date?" Stefan spoke up while he was looking through his book bag.

Caroline shrugged, "two pair out on a Friday night, couple. Yeah. a double date," Caroline smiled at Stefan and Elena.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Elena asked quietly.

Emily smirked over at her sister, "it could be fun."

Caroline smiled brightly at Emily before turning back to Elena, "yeah, listen to your sister. We all haven't gone out together before and I don't want it to be uncomfortable for us." Caroline paused before continuing, "look, the couple dynamics have changed and there's been a little awkwardness between you, Matt, and me and I just think it's important that we get over it."

Elena shook her head, "I don't know."

"I think that sounds like a great idea," Stefan spoke up from behind Elena.

"You do?" Elena questioned her boyfriend in shock.

Stefan nodded his head, "yeah. A nice evening out with friends. Sounds fun," Stefan whispered, "as in 'fun.'"

Emily chuckled at Elena awkward expression and the smiling Caroline. "A double date it is," Elena smiled over at Caroline.

"Okay!" Caroline smiled before her smile dropped and turned towards her best friend, "oh! Emily do you want to join us?"

Emily shook her head and chuckled, "oh, no, no. I don't want to be the fifth wheel. I have a date with my couch and some yummy chocolate ice cream." Emily smiled at the blonde, "you guys have fun."

Caroline smiled at her best friend before turning to the couple, "so, we will see you tonight," before strutting down the hallways of Mystic Falls High School.

Emily glanced over at her sister, who was raising one of her eyebrows at Emily. She rolled her eyes, "what? I'm having a vampire free day too."

Elena shook her head and chuckled at her twin sister, after a moment, Stefan also joined in the laughter. Emily rolled her eyes at the two and made her way through the hallways and towards class with the couple following behind while still laughing at the older Gilbert.

* * *

After Elena had left with Stefan and the house was quiet, Emily made her way towards the kitchen in her black sweatpants with a red sweater. She opened the freezer, and smiled when she saw her chocolate ice cream. Emily grabbed the ice cream and spoon from the drawer before making her way to the living room.

Emily sat down in the middle of couch and picked up the remote control and began to flick through the many channels, trying to find a good movie. Before Emily could find a movie, someone spoke up from behind her, "what are you doing?" the voice spoke with humor.

Emily glanced over her shoulder and saw that it was her aunt Jenna. Emily pointed towards her chocolate ice cream, "having a date with this yummy goodness."

Jenna rolled her eyes, "why aren't you out having fun on a Friday night?"

"Elena's having a double date with Stefan, Matt, and Caroline," Emily explained.

Jenna grabbed the ice cream from Emily's hand and before she could complain, Jenna quickly spoke, "nope. You aren't staying here on a Friday night. We're going out to the Grill and we are going to have fun."

Emily sighed, "fine," and she stood up and walked towards the door to slip on some shoes.

Jenna rolled her eyes, "no, no. we are going to do this the right way." Jenna smirked before grabbing her niece's hand and pulled her upstairs towards Emily's room.

Emily looked at her aunt in confusion when Jenna ran towards her closet and began to look through her clothes. "What are you doing?" Emily questioned Jenna.

Jenna stopped her movement, glanced over at her niece, and smiled, "I'm dressing you up," Jenna stated like it was obvious.

Emily rolled her eyes, but decided to let Jenna continue looking for an outfit. She didn't mind having Jenna dressing her up. Emily used to always dress in Jenna clothes when she first got interested in fashion.

"This is the one!" Jenna yelped in happiness before pulling out a dress and pushing it right into Emily's arms. She didn't have time to look at the dress before Jenna was pushing her across the room and towards the bathroom, "go put it on," Jenna commanded before closing the door.

Emily shook her head and quickly slipped on the dress. She looked into the mirror to see what dress Jenna gave her and saw that it was an off the shoulder black and floral dress. Emily shrugged, she was happy with the dress. It was really cute. Emily knew that she and Jenna always had the same style.

Emily walked back to her room just in time to see Jenna sat down black open-toed heels, a pair of earrings, a rose gold ring, and a black purse on her bed. Emily chuckled and spoke, "you're really going all out, aren't you?"

Jenna looked up her niece with a smile, "you look amazing. And yes I'm going all out, we're going to have a blast tonight! Now hurry up! I'll be downstairs."

Emily chuckled before slipping on the black heels and carefully placing her earrings and ring on. She glanced into her mirror to make sure her outfit was perfect before grabbing her bag from her bed and making her way down stairs.

* * *

Emily and Jenna quickly made their way into the crowded Mystic Grill when Jenna saw someone that she didn't think would come back to the small town. "Kelly? Kelly Donovan?" Jenna called out. Emily looked to where her aunt was looking, and sure enough, Kelly Donovan was at the bar with none other than Damon Salvatore. Emily groaned quietly, there goes her one day of no vampires. But Emily decided to humor Jenna for the night. Jenna deserved to have night off of having to take care of three teenagers.

Kelly turned around to see who called her name and smiled when she saw the strawberry blonde. She quickly jumped off the bar stole before pulling the women in a hug and exclaimed happily, "Jen!"

Once Jenna pulled away from the hug, she commented with a bright smile, "I heard you were back in town." Jenna looked over to the man that was sitting next to Kelly, who happened to be Damon, "she used to babysit me."

"And then, I used to party with her," Kelly also told Damon with a smile.

Emily leaned against the bar and smirked, "ooh, Jenna used to a party girl, do tell."

Jenna chuckled and pointed towards Kelly, "this woman is crazy."

"Not as crazy as you," Kelly smirked at Jenna before winking over at Emily.

Jenna shook her head, "I'm not anymore."

"Well sit," Kelly commanded, "drink!"

Jenna shook her head once again and wrapped an arm over Emily's shoulder, "I shouldn't. I'm more responsible now. Haven't you heard?"

Kelly sat back on her stool and spoke, "well, take a night off, it's good for the soul."

Emily nodded and looked over at her aunt, "yeah, come on, Jenna." Emily smirked, "you said we're going to have fun."

Jenna stared at her niece for a moment before finally agreeing, "fine, fine." Jenna pointed at Emily, "but you are not drinking."

Emily groaned, "aw, you're no fun, Jenna," she scowled her aunt.

Jenna shrugged lightly before sitting on the bar stool next to Kelly and grabbed one of the shots that the bartender poured. Jenna bumped her glass with Kelly and Damon's glass before mumbling, "this is not going to end well."

Damon smirked, "can't wait," before the three adults shot back the hard liquor that was in the shot glass.

* * *

Emily watched in humor while the three adults continued to shoot back multiple shots of amber liquor. She noticed that Jenna was starting to get a little tipsy, Emily decided to take advantage of that. "Hey, Jenna," Emily called out and waited for Jenna's glassy eyes to focus on her before continuing, "do think I could have some?" Emily asked sweetly.

Jenna smiled at her niece and threw her arm over Emily's shoulder, "I don't see why not," Jenna exclaimed before pushing a small glass towards her oldest niece. Jenna then turned towards the man with the baby blue eyes and commanded, "don't be grumpy. It can't be that bad."

Damon's blue eyes focused on the glass in his hand and mumbled, "you'd be surprised. My primary reason for existence has abandoned me and after today's events the remains of the shaky ground that I walk on are about to go kaboom." Damon paused before turning his mood around and smirking over at Kelly, "let's get hammered."

"Let's," Kelly smirked before the three adults bumped their glasses together. But before they took a sip, Jenna drunkenly turned to her niece with wide eyes, "well, get in here! You're drinking with us now!"

Emily met Damon's blue eyes that was smirking at her. Emily shrugged, brought her glass up and bumped the three glasses that were raised before all four of them downed the rough alcohol.

But Jenna suddenly tucked her head down and whispered as quietly as she could, "quick,hide. We're not here."

Kelly lowered her head next to Jenna's before whispering, "why? Where'd we go?"

"Children under our care. Five o'clock. That is not good," Jenna quickly whispered while shaking her head.

Emily rolled her eyes before turning around, she quickly spotted Elena and Caroline standing while Matt and Stefan were seated at a booth. Emily shrugged, she didn't realize that they had been here the whole time. Emily turned back to her aunt and whisper, "do you know I'm one of those children that you take care of?"

Jenna padded Emily's head drunkenly, "but you are fun. So you don't count."

Emily smiled at her aunt, "thank you… I think," Emily mumbled. Jenna chuckled at her niece before pushing another glass towards Emily and pouring the three more glasses for the other two people and herself. Damon smirked over at the green eyed girl before the four downed another shot.

* * *

Emily had lost count of how many shots that she had, but she knew for one thing, that she was having a blast with her aunt, her friend's mother, and the vampire that killed her birth mother. The alcohol was blocking out her anger towards the older Salvatore, she just wanted to have fun and relax.

Emily and Jenna bumped two glasses together before downing another shot of alcohol. They both turned to Kelly and Damon when they went quiet and saw that they were extremely close together.

"So, the thing about cherries, you have to…" Damon began whispering towards Kelly.

But before Damon could continue, Kelly placed her finger towards Damon's lips and pulled out a cherry stem that was tied in a knot.

Damon smiled at Kelly and mumbled, "oh my goodness," before placing his pink lips onto Kelly and taking the cherry stem from her mouth. "That's amazing, you were fast," Damon praised Kelly.

Emily glanced over at Jenna, who's eyes were wide in shock. Emily chuckled lowly and spoke up, "that would be our queue."

"You're giving up already?" Kelly asked while continuing to stare into Damon's blue eyes.

"I need to put this one to bed," Jenna spoke with a slur.

Emily rolled her eyes at her aunt, "I think you got that backwards drunky," Emily chuckled at her aunt before grabbing her purse from the bar and looping her arms with Jenna's and guided her out of Mystic Grill.

"See you guys!" Jenna yelled out to the couple at the bar.

Emily walked down the stairs of the entrance of the Grill and waited carelessly for Jenna. Emily chuckled when she saw Jenna trip on the last step, causing Jenna to break one of her heels. "Ouch! Damn it!" Jenna yelped.

"Need some help?" A strong voice spoke up, causing Emily to jump to look up to see a man in front of them.

"Stupid shoe," Jenna mumbled while chuckling at herself.

"Lift up your other foot," the man commanded with a smile. Jenna listened to the man who broke the other heel so Jenna could walk. The man stood up and handed Jenna her broken heel, "here you go."

"Thanks, I think," Jenna chuckled at the man.

The man glanced at the strawberry blonde and the brunette that was watching the two, "was that Damon Salvatore you were with?"

Emily wasn't drunk, but she was a little tipsy so she answered the strange man with a smirk, "the one and only." Emily rose an eyebrow, "you know him?"

"We go way back," the man nodded. "He still live out by Miller Lane?"

Emily shook her head in confusion, "he lives in the old Salvatore boarding house by Wickery Bridge," Emily corrected the man.

"He's still inside if you want to go say hi," Jenna jumped up.

The man shook his head while looking into Jenna eyes, "I prefer to stay here and talk to you."

Emily smirked when Jenna froze in her spot. "Oh, nice," Jenna mumbled quietly with a smile. "Very smooth with the shoe and the flirt." Jenna paused while glancing over at the smirking Emily, "but, I'm a little drunk and a guy plus drunk me equals very bad things."

The man moved closer to Jenna and stared into Jenna's eyes, "I'm pretty sure you'd like it."

Jenna stared at the man, which caused Emily to begin to get a little nervous but she calmed down once Jenna busted out laughing. "Sorry. That was a seriously lame pick up," Jenna apologized.

Even with not a steady mind, Emily didn't like how the man was staring at Jenna, so she quickly walked over to Jenna and linked her arms with her aunt. "We should be going," Emily spoke towards the man before dragging her laughing aunt away from the strange man.

* * *

It took Emily double the time it would usually take to walk home from the Grill with the giggling Jenna hanging off her arms. Emily slowly opened the door and pulled Jenna through the entrance, who yelled loudly, "Jeremy!"

Jeremy quickly ran towards the stairs from the kitchen. "Jenna!" Jeremy looked at his sister confused, "hey, what's up?"

"Regret," Jenna mumbled onto Emily's shoulder.

Emily chuckled and told her brother, "she's drunk. I'm going to get her bed. Good night, love you Jer."

Jeremy rolled his eyes playfully before telling his sister, "good night and love you too."

Emily gave Jeremy one last smile before holding onto Jenna's arm and carefully walked her up the stairs. Jenna groaned once they made it up the stairs before leaning against Emily's shoulder. Emily chuckled at her aunt but spoke softly, "we're almost there."

Emily walked as slowly as she could, so Jenna wouldn't trip over her broken heels. Emily carefully helped Jenna lay on her bed before pulling her broken heels off and tossing them in the corner of her room. She pulled the covers up to Jenna's waist, Emily was about to walk out of the room but Jenna called out to her.

"Emmie," Jenna mumbled.

Emily sat down on the edge Jenna's bed and questioned quietly, "yeah, Jenna?"

"Thank you for hanging out with me tonight," Jenna mumbled out sleepily. "You make a fun drinking partner." Jenna chuckled softly, "but you aren't aloud to drink anymore."

Emily smirked, "whatever you say, Jenna."

Emily was about to stand up when Jenna mumbled quietly, "I miss my sister."

Emily's face saddened at Jenna's comment. Emily sat back down on the edge Jenna's bed and grabbed her hand, "you do a great job at raising us. Mom would be proud of the adult you have become." Emily gave Jenna a smile, "you deserved to have fun today." Emily bent over Jenna and gave her head a kiss, "get some sleep, Jenna. You're going to have a huge headache in the morning."

Emily quietly closed Jenna's bedroom door after shutting off her lights. She made her way towards her bedroom and quickly put on some sweatpants and a t-shirt before slumping into her bed. Besides having to hang out with Damon for the night, Emily decided the day was a success from all the drama and vampires. She was glad that she listened to Jenna and went out tonight. Emily never really had the chance to hang out with her aunt in a while, so it was fun to act carefree with Jenna. Hopefully Jenna won't remember anything that happened tonight, so Emily wouldn't get in trouble for drinking, even though Jenna was the one to give her the alcohol. Emily closed her eyes with a happy sigh, tonight was one of the fun nights she has had in a long time.


	22. Chapter 22

Emily leaned against one of the old walls that surrounded the Salvatore boarding house and gazed calmly outside and watched while the rain, that suddenly took over Mystic Falls in less than one night, bounce off the diamond shaped windows. Even though, Emily hated water that took her parents lives and almost took hers and Elena's, the effect of rain hitting the exterior of an house, always calmed her down. The sound of rain always made Emily feel like everything was okay. It would always bring back memories when she and Elena would make cookies on a rainy day with their mother and the three women would cuddle together on the couch. But her piece and quiet was interrupted by the reason she and Elena were at the Salvatore boarding house while there was a storm brewing through the small town. Damon was pounding heavily on a wooden plywood that he placed in front of the broken window that got ruined the night before.

"I say we go to Pearl's, bust down the door, and annihilate the idiot that attacked us last night," Damon told his brother simply once he finished hammering the makeshift window.

"Yeah. And then what?" Stefan questioned Damon while pacing slowly in front of the roaring fireplace. "We turn to the rest of that house of vampires and say, "oops. Sorry?"

Emily rolled her eyes when she saw Damon shrug playfully at Stefan's question. She moved away from the window and stood above Elena who was sitting on the couch before speaking towards the older Salvatore brother with distaste in her voice. "I can't believe you made a deal with Anna's mother, who kidnapped Elena and I."

"It was more like a helpful exchange of information," Damon told the green eyed Gilbert girl. "It's not like I had choice. She's…" Damon paused before adding, "scary." Damon smirked over at the two sisters that were in his eye sight, "besides, she's gonna help me get Katherine back."

"Of course she is," Elena huffed. "Damon gets what he wants, as usual. No matter who he hurts in the process."

"You don't have to get snarky about it," Damon stared at Elena.

Elena stood up from the couch and growled out towards the older Salvatore brother, "we woke up this morning to learn that all the vampires have been released from the tomb. I've earned snarky." Emily's face lifted up a small smirk at Elena's remark to the vampire. She was glad that her sister was finally standing up for herself when it comes to the blue eyed vampire.

Damon sighed heavily when he sat down on one of the leather chairs before turning to the fuming Elena, "how long are you going to blame me for turning your birth mother into a vampire?"

Elena crossed her arms over her chest with the shake of her head, "I'm not blaming you, Damon. I've accepted the fact that you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."

"Ouch," Damon mumbled towards Elena.

"Damn, that's gotta hurt," Emily smirked over towards the older Salvatore, who rolled his eyes at the two Gilbert sisters.

"This isn't being very productive," Stefan quickly spoke up, trying to stop the tension in the room. "We're gonna figure out a way to deal with Pearl and the vampires." Stefan looked towards his brother with a serious expression, "yeah?" But all Damon did was get up from the leather chair and leave the living room without a word.

"I'm sorry. He just makes me so cranky," Elena told her boyfriend when Stefan pulled her into a soft hug.

"I know. He makes everyone cranky," Stefan told Elena while he held her close to his body.

"So, what are we going to do?" Emily questioned from the couch she decided to occupy.

"Damon and I are gonna handle everything, I promise," Stefan explained simply.

Elena quickly pulled away from her boyfriend's embrace, "well, what about me?" Elena shook her head, "I can't just sit here and do nothing."

Emily nodded her head in agreement, "Elena's right. We can't just do nothing. You can't take down all the tomb vampires without some help," Emily tried to persuade Stefan.

Stefan quickly shook his head at the two Gilbert girls, "you are going to do nothing, because that's what going to keep you two safe." Emily rolled her eyes at Stefan's statement, she knew that he was very protective her and Elena but they wanted to help, this is their town they need to keep safe too.

"Which means nothing if you're not safe, too," Elena grabbed Stefan's hands that held her face gently.

"What do you mean?" Stefan questioned humorously, "I'm perfectly safe. I have Damon, the self-serving psychopath on my side."

Emily rolled her eyes from the couch and mumbled, "well, that's comforting."

* * *

Emily glanced over her shoulder when she heard the familiar sound of Elena's phone ringing once again, causing Emily to groan towards her younger sister, "either answer him or shut your phone off," Emily scolded Elena.

Elena rolled her eyes at her sister before picking up her phone and glancing at the screen before pressing cancel on her phone. As soon as she pressed cancel, someone was pounding on the front door. Elena glanced over at Emily who rose an eyebrow at her before going towards the door and opening it. Once she opened the door, Damon quickly walked into the Gilbert house and spoke, "you're ignoring me." Damon glanced over at the older sister on the couch, "both of you."

"Oops, my phone is off," Emily shrugged carelessly at the older Salvatore.

"The 6 missed calls?" Elena questioned Damon, "sorry. My phone is dead."

Damon ignored the playfulness in both Gilbert sisters voices and asked seriously while staring down at Elena, "is Stefan here?"

"No," Elena deadpanned. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"He went out in the woods and didn't come back," Damon explained. "I can't get him on his phone," Damon mumbled while looking down at his phone before continuing, "I figured he was here with you."

Emily quickly pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket and dialed Stefan's number but hung it up right after and quickly walked towards the duo. "My call is going straight to voicemail," Emily told her sister and Damon.

Elena quickly dialed Stefan on her phone and sighed, "so is mine." She then turned to Damon in worry, "where could he be?"

"You're not gonna like what I'm thinking," Damon mumbled while glancing at the two Gilbert girls. Emily glanced over at her worried sister with the same expression. She knew whatever Damon was thinking, it wasn't going to be good. And for the sake of Stefan, they needed to act fast.

* * *

Emily and Elena both sat in Damon's blue mustang in the middle of nowhere in the raining Mystic Falls. Damon had driven to a small house that was surrounded by woods, where Stefan might be located. Emily constantly bounced her leg while looking outside the rainy window in nervousness. She never had to be in a position where she had to worry about Stefan, and now that day has come, she didn't know what to think. Stefan had always protected Emily and her sister, so now they needed to help and protect Stefan.

Emily's green eyes focused on something that she saw in the pounding rain. She quickly grabbed the black umbrella that was sitting at her feet and commanded, "come on, Lena," before stepping out of the blue car and opening the umbrella. She waited for Elena to run underneath the umbrella before quickly walking up to Damon, who was alone.

"What happened? Where is he?" Elena quickly asked Damon once she realized he didn't have Stefan with him.

"They have him. I can't get in," Damon explained while carefully getting under the large umbrella.

"Why not?" Elena questioned back.

"Because the woman who owns the house is compelled to not let me in," Damon told the two girls.

Emily glanced over at her sister, who was getting more worried by the second, before looking back at the blue eyed vampire with determination in her eyes, "I can get in." She wasn't just going to sit here while her best friend was hurt, she had to do something to help.

Damon quickly shook his head, "you're not going in there."

"Damon! We have to do something!" Emily yelled at the older Salvatore brother.

"But you are not going in there," Damon exclaimed before looking at Elena, "neither of you."

Elena deflated once she realized that Damon knew what she was thinking, she wanted to help just as bad as Emily did. "Why are they doing this? What do they want with him?" Elena cried out.

Damon paused before exclaiming, "revenge. They want revenge."

"We gotta do something," Emily told Damon with seriousness with a hint of worry for her best friend.

"I know," Damon mumbled while glancing back at the small house that held his brother.

"We can't let them hurt him," Elena spoke. "We gotta get him out of there."

"I know." Damon grabbed Elena's face softly, "Elena, I know. But I don't know how to get him out."

* * *

Apparently, Damon thought of an idea on how to get Stefan from the small house that held all the tomb vampires, because he headed straight towards Mystic Falls High School instead of going back to the Salvatore boarding house.

Emily walked through the empty hallways of Mystic Falls High School with Elena while Damon was quickly walking ahead of them. Emily glanced around the hallways weirdly, she never once been in the high school when there was not one student crowding the hallways. Emily glanced over at her sister, and saw that she was biting her lip in nervousness. Emily grabbed Elena's hand and squeezed it tightly and gave her sister a reassuring smile before continuing to follow Damon through the empty hallways.

"Well, don't you look…. Alive?" Damon called out.

Emily pulled Elena to a stop behind a corner, and decided to listen to who Damon was talking to. "You can't hurt me," a new, familiar voice spoke towards the vampire. Emily scrunched up her face when she realized it was her history teacher, Mr. Saltzman.

"Oh, I can hurt you, all right," Damon threatened the teacher.

Emily pulled Elena from the corner and faced the teacher and vampire. They didn't have time for Damon to fight with the teacher, so Emily quickly called out, "Mr. Saltzman. We need your help."

Luckily, Mr. Saltzman promised he would hear what the Gilbert sisters had to say. Emily knew it had nothing to do with her or her sister, it had to with the teacher being interested in their aunt. But Emily didn't mind, she just wanted to help Stefan in anyway she could.

"Stefan's in the house," Elena quickly explained to the history teacher once they walked into his classroom. "Damon's a vampire. He can't get in. We need you." Elena glanced over at her sister before turning back to the teacher, "I would go, but…"

"Your life is valuable," Damon called out from the other side of the classroom before looking towards the history teacher, "yours, on the other hand is."

"Stefan told me about your ring," Elena told Mr. Saltzman while glancing down at the large ring on his finger.

"What about it?" Mr. Saltzman questioned.

"Let me recap… you tried to kill me. I defended myself. You died. Then according to my brother, your ring brought you back to life," Damon explained. "Am I leaving anything out?"

"Yeah." Mr. Saltzman stood up and threateningly moved towards the vampire, "the part where I try and kill you again. Only this time, I don't miss."

Emily quickly stood in front of the history teacher before he could stand directly in front of Damon. "Mr. Saltzman. We need your help, please."

"It's Stefan," Elena pleaded next to her sister.

Mr. Saltzman stared at the green eyed girl before focusing on the younger sister, "I'm sorry, Elena. But it's not my problem."

"That's a shame," Damon spoke. "Because the woman in charge of the crowd can help find your wife." Emily quickly glanced over towards Damon with furrowed brows. That definitely wasn't true, or she would have found out where her birth mother was by now.

"You're lying," Mr. Saltzman stared hard at the vampire.

"Am I?" Damon questioned. "Why don't you ask her for yourself?" When the teacher didn't say anything, Damon commented, "coward." Damon walked towards the door and called behind him quietly, "come on, girls."

"All right!" Mr. Saltzman yelped before the two sisters and vampire could walk out the classroom. "Wait. I'll go."

As soon as the words were out of the teacher's mouth, the trio walked back towards the classroom and silently surrounded Mr. Saltzman's desk. He began to pull a large leather bag from his desk drawer and opened it up to show multiple weapons.

"Teacher by day, vampire hunter by night," Damon commented.

"I've you to thank for that," Mr. Saltzman told the vampire.

Emily ignored the bickering between both men, and focused her eyes on the weapons that are meant in hurt vampires. Emily's brows furrowed when she realized she didn't even know what she was looking at. "What are these?" Emily questioned the vampire hunter.

"Those are tranquilizer darts filled with vervain," Mr. Saltzman answered without a thought.

"Just get me in," Damon commanded, "I'll get Stefan out."

Emily rose an eyebrow at the vampire, "that's your plan? You're going to take on a whole house filled with vampires by yourself?"

"Well, I'll be a little stealthier than that, hopefully," Damon told the older sister.

Emily rolled her eyes at the blue eyed vampire before focusing her eyes back on the vampire weapons. Emily carefully grabbed one of the vervain filled darts and moved it around her fingertips, getting a close look at weapons. "Whoa. what are you doing?" Mr. Saltzman quickly questioned in the young girl.

"I'm coming with you guys," Emily told the two men like it was obvious.

Elena nodded her head in agreement before sneakily grabbing one of the darts. "We can help," Elena tried to persuade the vampire and hunter.

"No. no. no. no. No way," Damon smirked at the two girls while Mr. Saltzman grabbed the dart from Emily.

Emily looked over towards the vampire in shock, "you're kidding me, right? I came here to help my best friend, I'm not going to sit on the sidelines while Stefan is in danger."

Elena nodded her head, "you could distract them, and then Emily and I can get Stefan out." Elena told the vampire while staring hard into his blue eyes. While Damon was occupied when Elena, Emily quickly and quietly slid another vervain dart into her jacket pocket while no one was watching.

"You'll get yourself killed," Damon told the two girls while looking at Elena. "You're not going in there."

Emily folded her arms over her chest and told the vampire, "we're going."

Damon ignored the two stubborn girls and turned towards Mr. Saltzman and exclaimed, "so, when you get me in, get out as quickly as you can. I know how to sneak around where they can't hear me." Damon rolled his eyes, "you'll basically just be in the way."

Emily rolled her eyes at Damon, "you need our help. You can't get Stefan and fight the vampires at the same time, Damon."

Damon smirked over towards the older Gilbert sister, "I'm a vampire, I can get him by myself." Damon rolled his eyes playfully before exclaiming, "if you want to help, you can drive the getaway car and watch your sister. Happy?"

Emily glared at the vampire, "no, I'm not happy. I'm going into that house and helping Stefan."

Damon huffed, "you're not going in the house."

"It's Stefan we're talking about here," Elena cried out. "You don't understand."

"Oh, I understand," Damon spoke. "I understand. He's the reason you live. His love lifts you up where you belong," Damon spoke playfully. "I get it."

Elena however didn't find it funny, she glared at the older Salvatore. "Can you just not joke around for two seconds?"

"I can't protect you, Elena," Damon growled out. "I don't know how many vampires there are in there." Damon snapped his fingers in front of Elena's brown eyes, "that's how long it takes for you to get your head ripped off." Damon paused before continuing his rant, "I have to be able to get in and get out. I can't be distracted with your safety," Damon glanced over towards the older Gilbert girl with a pointed look. "Or this will end up a bloodbath that none of us walk away from… including Stefan. Damon watched carefully when Elena's sadden eyes glanced to the floor before speaking softly, "I know. I get it. I understand."

"If we're gonna go. Let's go," Mr. Saltzman spoke after they stood in silence for a moment before packing up his weapons.

* * *

Emily felt like she was experiencing deja vu, here she was once again sitting inside Damon's blue mustang in the constant rain while bouncing her leg. But this time the nervous feeling was much worse. Emily drummed her fingertips on the leather steering wheel while continually to glance through the windows, looking for Stefan and Damon or the trouble that would follow.

Emily glanced towards the passenger seat, where Elena was sitting and was moving things in black purse that sat in her lap. Emily rose an eyebrow when she saw Elena pull out a vervain dart. "That's my girl," Emily commented with a tiny smirk on her face before pulling a vervain dart from her jacket pocket and held it up. "Come on," Emily commanded her sister before quickly jumping out of the blue car.

Emily didn't care if she got in trouble with Damon, all she cared about was getting Stefan away from the vengeful vampires that taken over the small house. Once Elena was out of the car and by her side, Emily grabbed her sister's hand tightly before quickly and quietly walking towards the white house. The two girls made their way successfully onto the small porch before Emily quickly pushed Elena back towards the brick wall when she heard a voice speak. "Billy, Jacob, get back in here!" A male voice spoke loudly.

Emily waited for a moment before there was no more voices before taking a deep breath she was holding. She glanced carefully around the porch before she saw a cellar. If she was going to torture someone, that was the place she would do it in so she quickly grabbed Elena's hand and pulled her down the stairs as fast as she could without being seen. Emily moved towards the closed door that blocked the inside of cellar. She carefully tried to open the door, just it was locked. Emily looked for anything to break the window, but there was nothing around so she slammed her covered elbow into one of the small windows of the door. Emily carefully opened the door before grabbing onto Elena's hand tightly. The two sisters quietly walked down the hallway before Emily froze when she saw a vampire sitting in a chair with his eyes closed and headphones in his ears. Emily quickly pushed Elena behind the wall before peaking around the corner to look at the man.

"Stay here," Emily mouthed towards Elena before pulling out the vervain dart from her jacket pocket. Emily saw that the vampire was coming towards her way, so she held up the vervain dart high to get ready to attack. But it was useless, because Damon came from an open spot and stabbed the vampire in the neck with his own dart.

Once Elena came around the corner, Damon glared at the two girls, "are you insane?"

But Damon didn't get an answer back, because as soon as the vampire was dead, Elena was rushing down the hallway with Emily close behind. They didn't have time to listen to Damon rant about them being in danger, they needed to get Stefan and get the hell away from the vampires that didn't even know they were there.

"Elena, Emily," Stefan groaned in pain once he saw the two Gilbert girls busting through the last door of cellar. "You shouldn't be here."

"They were supposed to stay in the car," Damon told his brother before moving towards the only other vampire that was in the room. Damon held up a wooden stake above the vampire's heart but didn't move, because Stefan quickly spoke up to stop him.

"No. No. No. Not him," Stefan told his brother before he could touch the vampire's unbeating heart with the wooden stake.

"Whatever," Damon mumbled before walking away from the vampire. "Let's get you down," Damon told his brother before walking towards one of the ropes that held Stefan up in the air.

"There's vervain on the ropes," Stefan grunted out to warn his brother.

"Emily, pull that," Damon commanded while pointing at the rope. Emily quickly jogged towards the soaked rope before pulling. As soon as she pulled, Stefan came straight down with a groan.

"All right, let's go," Damon commanded while walking towards the door. "Clothes on."

"Wait," Stefan groaned out.

"What?" Damon groaned before whispering, "guys, come on. We have to get out of here."

As quick as Stefan could while being sore, he pulled out one of the stakes that were stuck in the vampire's legs with a grunt.

"Come on, we gotta go," Damon complained quickly.

"The other one," Stefan whispered in pain.

While Elena helped Stefan stand, Emily quickly leaned down and grabbed the wooden stake with both hands and pulled with all the strength she had before throwing the stake towards the ground. Once the stakes was out of the vampire's legs, he groaned thankfully. Emily grimaced at the vampire. She felt bad for him, because he must have helped Stefan, if he was staked in the cellar with the Salvatore.

But Emily couldn't think much about it, before Damon questioned the two girls, "can you get him in the car?"

Emily grabbed one of Stefan's arms while Elena grabbed the other and the two girls moved as fast as they could out of the room with the exhausted Salvatore. "Yeah," Emily mumbled out towards Damon.

"All right, go," Damon commanded before moving towards an open doorway.

"What about you?" Elena quickly questioned Damon in confusion.

"You rescue, I'll distract," Damon repeated Elena's words for earlier before commanding, "go."

The two Gilbert girls quickly walked up the steps from the cellar and as quietly as they could, they hurried down the stairs of the white porch and made their way towards the woods. Every step they took through the difficult woods, the more Stefan would groan in pain. "You okay, Stef?" Emily questioned quietly. But all she got in response was a grunt.

"Can you make it?" Elena asked her boyfriend while they quickly moved through the tree branches. But of course, with their luck Stefan ended up tripping on a large rock, causing all three to crash towards the ground.

Emily groaned in pain when she lifted her face from the dirty ground. She sat up onto her knees before glancing over towards her twin sister in worry. "You okay?" Stefan questioned the brown eyed girl.

"Yeah," Elena whispered.

Once Emily knew that Elena was okay, she quickly stood up from the ground and the two girls helped Stefan up from the ground. Emily wrapped an arm around Stefan's waist and carefully pulled him up, "come on. We're almost there. We have to keep going."

After walking for a few more minutes that felt like hours, Emily finally spotted Damon's blue car up ahead. Emily sighed thankfully, "oh thank God," Emily mumbled out.

Elena looked up from the ground when her sister spoke before smiling lightly, "come on, it's right over there," Emily told her boyfriend while the two sisters continue to lead the injured vampire.

Once they reached the blue car, Emily leaned Stefan against the car before commanding her sister, "go start the car." Elena nodded her head quickly before running towards the driver's seat. Emily caught her breath for a moment before opening the passenger door and carefully setting Stefan into the seat.

"Emily…" Elena trailed off with a scared voice.

Emily quickly glanced over towards her sister once she recognized Elena's voice. She glanced down where Elena was looking, and realized that the key was missing from the ignition. But Emily didn't get to think of what happened, before a vampire was tossing her out of the way and grabbing Stefan from the passenger seat.

Emily groaned in pain when hurt back hit the bottom of a large tree. All Emily could hear was Stefan gasping and groaning in pain, so she ignored the pain she was feeling in her lower back and quickly helped herself stand up and looked over towards Stefan and the vampire. What she saw, made her eyes widen in fear. The vampire was holding Stefan in the air with a stake in his hand. Emily quickly searched through her jacket pockets and found the vervain dart.

"And this is for the tomb," the vampire growled out and raised his wooden stake towards Stefan's heart. But Emily moved as quickly and quietly as she could before stabbing the vampire in the neck with the vervain dart. Emily gasped as she watched the vampire fall towards the ground. The vampire was the man that was outside the Grill the other night when she and Jenna had been drinking. She couldn't believe she let Jenna flirt with the vampire, when she was supposed to be protecting her family.

"Stefan," Elena gasped as she quickly ran towards her boyfriend, who fell towards the ground. After getting over the shock of the vampire, Emily quickly moved towards her sister and best friend. Emily's eyes widened when she saw the wooden stick that was inside Stefan's stomach. Emily glanced over at her sister with the nod of her head, before the two girls grasped onto the stick and quickly pulled it out of Stefan. The green eyed vampire groaned in pain before he began to fade and close his eyes. "Stefan," Elena called out before realized what was happening. "No, no, no. Stefan, Stefan!" Elena yelled out.

Elena looked over at her sister in shock, she didn't know what to do. Emily quickly began to shake Stefan as hard as she could. "Come on, Stefan. You can't do this," Emily cried out in anger.

Elena glanced behind her when she heard a loud groaning sound, knowing it wasn't Stefan. Elena's eyes widened when she saw the vampire was getting up from the ground. "Oh, please Stefan. Get up. Stefan," Elena mumbled out as quick as she can while glancing back at the awake vampire. Elena grabbed Stefan's face before glancing down at her hand and seeing that she was bleeding. Elena took a deep breath before bringing her bloody hand towards Stefan's pink lips before whispering, "here."

"Elena, please run," Stefan whispered against Elena's hand.

"No," Elena whispered while shaking her head quickly.

"Please," Stefan tried again.

Emily looked over at her helpless sister and her best friend who was in pain. "If you are going to something, you need to do it now," Emily commanded her sister before standing up from the ground while watching the vampire carefully.

Elena nodded her head at her sister before turning back to Stefan with a plan. "Stefan. My wrist. Here," Elena told her boyfriend while rolling up her sleeves and pushing her wrist towards Stefan's mouth. "Take my wrist. You need more blood."

"Go, Elena. Run. run," Stefan commanded with a groan.

"No," Elena cried out. "I trust you." Elena stared into Stefan's eyes, so he would know that she was serious. Once Stefan made sure, he carefully bit into Elena's wrist and began to drink her blood. Elena groaned in pain, before the pain went away and she watched her boyfriend drain the blood from her small wrist.

Emily's eyes widened when she saw the vampire looking towards their way while slowly getting up from the ground. "Guys, we got a problem," Emily mumbled quietly towards the couple.

Emily watched the vampire stand directly up and grab a wooden stick from the ground before stomping towards her direction. Emily quickly ran towards her sister and grabbed her arm. She pulled her away from Stefan and away from the angry vampire. The vampire charged towards Stefan with the stake, but Stefan quickly jumped up and attacked the vampire with his new found strength. Stefan threw him against a tree and grabbed tightly around his neck with a large growl. He grabbed the stake from the vampire hand and stabbed him deeply in the side. Stefan grabbed the stake from his side before stabbing him straight in the heart, and killing the vampire instantly. But that wasn't enough for Stefan, because he took out the stake and stabbed him into the heart multiple times in anger.

"Stefan!" Elena quickly called out to her boyfriend before running towards him and grabbing his hand that was stabbing the vampire.

But something that neither of girls ever thought would happen. Stefan turned around and growled right into Elena's face with his vamps sticking out through his mouth and his eyes red with anger. Emily quickly pulled Elena behind her and stood face to face with the angry Stefan. Noticing the scared expressions on his girlfriend and best friend's faces, Stefan turned his face back to normal and looked at the two girls with a horrified expression. Emily finally eased her tense back once she saw Stefan drop the broken stake towards the ground. For a second, she was even afraid of Stefan in his vampire state. But she also knew that he wouldn't have hurt her nor Elena.

* * *

Emily sighed when her back finally hit the warm mattress of her bed. She was glad to finally be home at the end of the day. Emily was also happy that Stefan was safe at the Salvatore boarding house with her twin sister. Emily closed her eyes and was about to drift off into sleep, but it was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. Emily groaned, all she wanted to do was to sleep, but she decided to answer it encase it was Elena.

Emily didn't bother to look at the screen before pressing accept and tiredly placed the phone to her ear and mumbled, "hello?"

"It's Vicki," Caroline spoke to her best friend while trying to hold her tears in.

Emily quickly sat up in her bed, wide awake with interest at hearing Caroline's cracked voice. "Wait, wait. What happened?"

Caroline cried out, "Vicki's dead."

"Oh, no," Emily mumbled out. Emily was in shock that someone had found her body, she thought Damon had taken care of it. Emily was in worry for her friends that cared for the older girl. "How's Matt taking it?" Emily asked quietly.

"He's a mess," Caroline whispered. "That's why I'm calling, could you come over to his house?"

"Yeah, sure," Emily quickly responded without a thought. "I'll be right over," Emily told her friend before hanging up her phone and jumping out of her bed and quickly slipped back on her boots.

* * *

Emily quickly knocked on the door of Donovan house and waited patiently. She began to play with her fingers in nervousness but looked up when the door was pulled open. When she looked up, she saw her blonde best friend. "Hey, Care," Emily mumbled.

Caroline pulled the door open and waited for the brunette to come in before closing the door. Emily grabbed one of Caroline's hands lightly, "you okay?" she whispered. Caroline nodded her head before pointing her head towards the kitchen.

Emily quickly followed behind Caroline and saw her baby brother sitting at the small table and across from him was someone she hasn't seen in a long time since all the vampire's came to Mystic Falls, it was her best friend, Tyler Lockwood. Emily quickly walked over towards her brother and kissed the top his head. Jeremy didn't respond but he did squeeze Emily's hand before looking down at the table. Emily moved over and sat in the chair next to Tyler. She leaned her head on his shoulder and whispered, "you okay?" Tyler looked down into the green eyes of his best friend and gave her a one tiny nod. Emily reached down and squeezed Tyler's hand before sitting in silence.

Emily looked up when she saw someone walk into the kitchen. It happened to be her twin sister, Elena. "He wants to talk to you," Elena mumbled to her sister. Emily nodded her head before quietly walking towards her sister and giving her a small smile before making her way back towards the bedrooms of the house by herself.

Emily stood in front of Matt's closed bedroom door before thinking, if Matt was anything like she, he wouldn't be in his room but in Vicki's room. So she quietly moved a few doors down, towards Vicki's room where the door was wide open. Emily took a peek and saw that Matt was sitting on Vicki's bed with his head in his hands. Emily sighed sadly before mumbling out, "Matty."

Matt quickly looked up when he saw the person he wanted to talk to. He rushed towards her and leaned his head on her shoulders with his arms wrapped around her tightly. Emily quickly held her friend close to her. Matt had always been the closest towards Emily, other than Tyler but he didn't know what it was like to lose a parent like Emily. Matt was even closer to Emily than he was with Elena. While they dated, Emily and Matt had always been best friends no matter what happened.

"I got you. I'm right here," Emily spoke softly to her friend while running her fingers slowly through his short blonde hair. Emily stayed quiet while she heard Matt take deep breaths against her jacket and cry silently before she spoke softly, "you will get through this. It's going to hurt, but the pain will become bearable."

Matt pulled away from his friend and locked his teary blue eyes to her green eyes and mumbled, "it hurts," with all the pain he felt through his whole body.

"Oh, Matty," Emily spoke. Seeing her friend in pain made her heart break. Matt did everything in his power to control Vicki while their mother was never around. He had to grow up as soon as he entered high school and Kelly left. Emily felt bad for Matt, he didn't deserve to put all Vicki's problems on his back. Emily carefully moved her friend towards the large bed and made him relax against the bed. She grabbed his hand tightly and looked into his clouded blue eyes, "if you need me for anything, please let me know, okay?" Once Matt nodded his head, Emily gave him a small smile. "I promise you, that you will be okay. You will feel like you don't want to be here anymore, but trust me, in a few months, you will feel okay and you will be smiling at something stupid Tyler is doing," Emily tried to joke. She was successful, Matt's lips twitched into a small smile. Emily leaned down and kissed the top of Matt's head, "try to get some rest, Matty. I love you," Emily told her blonde friend before leaving Matt to his sister's room so he could have some time alone.

Emily sighed and leaned her head against the closed door. She was in shock that they had found Vicki's body. Emily had always hoped that they wouldn't find her body for the sake of Matt. He didn't deserve to deal with the deal of his own sister. It was going to be a hard thing for Matt to deal with, but Emily will try her hardest to be there for her friend no matter what. Then there was Jeremy, her baby brother who was in love with the girl and who thought she had left town. She knew Jeremy was going to find out that she in fact didn't leave Mystic Falls. Emily wanted to protect her brother from all this, but it looks like that plan is already turning upside down every moment that goes by.


	23. Chapter 23

"Jer! Come on! We're going to be late for school!" Emily yelled at the bottom of the stairs while slipping on her jacket. Emily sighed when she didn't hear her brother coming down the stairs. She glanced beside her once she heard footsteps that came from the living room. Emily sighed thankfully when she saw her sister, "at least you know how to get ready on time," Emily mumbled towards Elena.

Elena shook her head and widened her eyes jokingly, "maybe it's a twin thing," Elena told her sister with a serious expression before breaking into a chuckle.

Emily rolled her eyes and pushed Elena's shoulder lightly. Before Emily could say anything, Jenna came jogging from the kitchen with a metal thermos. "Forgot this," Jenna mumbled towards the younger twin before handing over the hot coffee.

"Thank you," Elena smiled.

Emily shook her head, "I don't think it's a twin thing if you are forgetting stuff. I don't do that," Emily joked before pulling the front door open. Emily's eyes widened once she saw who was stood in front of her. Someone who she didn't think she'd see for a long time.

"Emily. Elena," the man spoke with a bright smile.

"Uncle John," the two Gilbert sisters mumbled out at the same time with the same amount of shock that was in their voice, you could also see the shock in their eyes, one set of green eyes and one set of brown eyes. Emily recovered faster than Elena, and quickly gave her uncle a small smile. As for the girls in the Gilbert house, none of them particularly liked John. When he would come into town, he would only start problems with as many people as he could. Emily never trusted the man, she always felt like he was hiding something.

John turned his blue eyes from the two sisters towards the strawberry blonde that was standing directly behind them. "Jenna," John smiled at the older women.

"John," Jenna mumbled out. "You made it," she commented.

"I'd said I'll be here before noon," John told the women before slowly making his way through the doorway. As soon as the man was through the doorway, Emily closed the door and looked over at Jenna with wide eyes and mouthed, "you knew?" But all Emily got was a short nod before Jenna walked away and towards the man she hated. Emily groaned quietly, she wished she knew John was coming. She wondered why John had came back so soon to the small town, he would only visit a few times per year, now he's here two times in the last six months. Something was wrong if John was back already, Emily thought.

"Oh what you say and what you do are typically two very different things," Jenna mumbled out towards John.

"Uncle John, what's up?" Jeremy spoke out loud while stomping down the large, wooden stairs.

"Hey!" John smiled at his nephew. Jeremy didn't respond or make a facial expression, but he did slap the back of his uncle's shoulder before quickly walking out the front door.

"I had some business in town," John spoke up towards the three girls that stood looking at him with similar confused expressions. "I thought a visit was in order."

Emily twitched her head to the side, "how long are you staying?"

John shook his head and answered, "I don't know yet."

"Well, we are going to be late for school," Emily told John before looking over to Jenna and mouthing, "good luck." Emily turned and smiled over at the blonde man, before quickly pulling Elena out of the house.

* * *

"He said his trip is open-ended," Elena mumbled out towards Matt with a sigh.

Matt looked up from his locker and towards the two sisters that were leaning against the wall. He thought for a moment before shaking his head, "uncle John, I never really liked that guy."

"This is why we're friends, Matty," Emily joked towards the blonde.

Matt rolled his eyes before chuckling at the green eyed Gilbert. He placed another heavy book into his locker before focusing his eyes on the younger sister with soft expression, "I'm here for moral support if you need me."

"Thanks," Elena mumbled. She glanced over at her sister before telling Matt, "I think we'll suffer this one alone, you've been through enough."

Emily nodded while looking at her blonde friend with soft eyes, "don't worry about us, we can handle uncle John alone," Emily smiled.

Matt looked up the two girls, "thank you, by the way, for just - for everything." Matt looked over at the older sister, "how you helped me with Vicki's funereal and the memorial, I can't thank you enough."

"I was happy to help you, Matt," Emily told her friend with a bright smile. "I promised I would be there for you."

"So, is Caroline still baking for you guys, around the clock?" Elena asked Matt with an amused expression.

"She finally went to her dad's," Matt began, "which is a good thing because my mom was about to strangle her if she drops off one more lasagna."

Emily chuckled lowly, she knew how Caroline could be when she cared deeply for someone. And when they are going through something or sad, she likes to help as much as she can. Emily remembered Caroline did the same thing when their parents passed away.

* * *

"I made a copy of a paper Jeremy wrote for me," Mr. Saltzman told the Gilbert sisters. "I think you should take a look at it."

Emily glanced over at Elena with a worried expression before taking the paper from the history teacher's large hands. Emily's eyes widened once she saw the title, 'Fact or Fiction: The Truth About Vampires in Mystic Falls.' She handed over the paper to Elena before crossing her arms over her chest, "Jeremy wrote this?" Emily asked the history teacher in shock.

"He's very clear that he didn't think it was real," Mr. Saltzman explained to the two sisters.

Emily sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, "I really hope you are right." She shook her head and glanced over at the nervous Elena before looking back at the history teacher, "we didn't go through all this trouble in protecting him, just so he could become in harm's way."

Once Elena handed Mr. Saltzman back the paper that the youngest Gilbert, he furrowed his eyebrows in wonder at the two sisters, "so, how do you deal with it?"

"What do you mean?" Elena asked quietly.

Mr. Saltzman shrugged his shoulders lightly, "with all the lies and the secrets. You have to lie to everyone who's important to you."

"It's not safe for them to know the truth," Elena spoke up. "So, yes, I keep it from them, but it's only because I love them," Elena explained to the history teacher slash vampire hunter

"If all the lies and the secrets keep them safe, then it's worth it," Emily added on. That was the only reason why she lied to everyone she loved, it was to keep them safe from what they didn't know existed. If it kept them from being hurt, she would without a doubt, continue to lie.

Mr. Saltzman nodded his head before stating after a moment, "I think Stefan is a good guy. But, uh, at the end of the day, he's still a vampire," Mr. Saltzman told the two girls but stared hard into Elena's brown eyes.

"I know it's hard to understand," Elena told the teacher, "but Stefan is different." Elena shook her head quickly, "he would never do anything to hurt me."

* * *

"I have no interest in the Founder's Day Kick-Off Party," Jeremy exclaimed with a mouth full of chinese noodles. Emily rolled her eyes at her brother and reached next to her to slap the back on Jeremy's head. The younger Gilbert glared at his oldest sister before purposely shoving more noodles in his mouth with a bright smile.

John chuckled at the two children before stating seriously to his nephew, "sure, you do. It's tradition."

"Far be it for us to break from tradition," Jenna spoke sarcastically from the kitchen sink.

"The Gilberts have been apart of this town for a hundred and fifty years," John began to explain to the young boy, "we're one of the founding families and with that distinction comes certain obligations, including going to the party." John paused to take a quick bite before continuing towards the Gilbert boy, "one day, when you can appreciate the significance, I'll tell you about your heritage."

"Hmm, the Gilbert family legacy," Jenna spoke up with a small smile. "I forgot how sacred it was." Jenna looked over towards the confused Jeremy, "I'm not a Gilbert, so I was never cool enough to hear it."

Jeremy chuckled before turning towards his uncle, "why does she hate you?"

Emily smirked, remembering once when John was visiting the same time Jenna was, Emily finally got it out of Jenna after a few large glasses of wine. Emily glanced over at Jenna, who had wide eyes and quickly shook her head repeatedly. Emily shrugged lightly, this was payback for Jenna when she didn't tell her Jenna was coming. She turned towards her brother and stated with a large smirk, "they used to sleep together."

"Emily!" Jenna scolded her oldest niece with wide eyes. Everyone had a different expression on their face. Of course, Jenna was shocked and felt betrayed but knew she deserved that from her niece, John's eyes were wide while looking at Emily, not knowing that she knew about that, and there was Jeremy who was laughing at the adults.

"What?" Emily looked over at her aunt with fake shock, "I wasn't just going to lie to my brother."

Jenna rolled her eyes and threw a dish towel at the young girl before turning back to the sink. Emily chuckled at her aunt before looking at her brother with a smirk, who shook his head at his sister before high-fiving her.

* * *

Emily was making her way to her bedroom and as she was passing Elena's room, she heard a loud crashing sound. She didn't wait for a second, when vampires were all over Mystic Falls and how fast they are, she quickly slammed Elena's door open and right away, she saw a vamped out Stefan with his back to a wall and a broken lamp next to his shoes. "Stef?" Emily called out quietly and cautiously.

Stefan stared at the older Gilbert sister with dark red eyes and blue veins surrounding his forest green eyes. He realized how scared she looked and glanced over to Elena who was sitting up on her bed with a worried expression, before making his face turn back to normal and dashed out of the room through the window.

Emily stared at the opened window, where Stefan just went through before quickly making her way towards Elena. She grabbed her sister's face softly and looked at her carefully before asking, "what the hell happened?"

Elena's eyes widened in shock, "I-I don't know. We were just kissing and then he just vamped out and freaked out," Elena quickly spoke.

Emily nodded her head and asked softly, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Elena mumbled. "I'm going to call Damon, see if he can help with Stefan," Elena told her sister.

Emily nodded before looking at her sister in nervousness, "do you think Stefan will be okay?"

Elena looked at her sister with furrowed brows, "he's Stefan, he has to be."

"I hope so," Emily mumbled out while staring at the broken lamp that reminded Emily of what Stefan was going through. She knew Stefan had control issues when it came to human blood, but Elena did the right thing. If her sister didn't do what she did, she would have definitely taken charge and done the same thing no matter Stefan said.

"I think we should tell Jeremy," Elena told her sister after a moment of silence. Emily looked at her sister confused, not knowing what about, so Elena quickly explained, "about us being adopted."

"Are you sure?" Emily questioned her sister.

Elena nodded, "we need to tell him." Elena paused, "and I think you should be the one to tell him." Emily's eyes widened at her sister's statement. She didn't understand why Elena wanted her to tell Jeremy about their biggest secret. Elena sighed, "as bad as hate to admit it, you and Jeremy are closer. I think he would understand better if you were the one to explain it to him."

After a moment of thinking, she knew that Elena was right. Everyone knew that Jeremy looked up to Emily more than anyone else. Emily nodded, "I'll talk to him." But Emily continued to look at her sister in worry. She wanted to be here when she talked when Damon. She trusted the Salvatore a little more after noticing that Damon would protect her sister, but she wanted to help all she could with Stefan. But she knew she had to talk with Jeremy first.

* * *

Emily took a deep breath once she reached the outside of Jeremy's bedroom. She was worried what would happen once she told Jeremy the truth about who she really was. Emily didn't want Jeremy to be disappointed or think of her differently. It was now or never, Emily thought.

Emily slowly opened the door and spoke quietly, "hey, Jer."

Jeremy turned around in his desk chair and looked at his nervous sister with furrowed brows, "what's up?"

Emily bit her lip before nodding her head towards the hallway, "come on, let's go somewhere."

Jeremy stood up from his chair and looked at his older sister with suspicious expression, "you aren't going to kill me, are you?"

Emily rolled her eyes at Jeremy's childish statement, "no, I need to tell you something important and I want to spend sometime with my favorite brother."

"I'm your only brother," Jeremy rolled his eyes at his sister before making his way out of his room and towards the wooden stairs.

* * *

Emily stayed quiet the whole car ride, trying to think of what she was going to tell Jeremy. She could feel Jeremy's brown eyes staring at the side of her head every couple of minutes, but she kept silent. Finally after another fifteen more minutes, Emily pulled to a stop in front of a parking lot that took you directly towards a wooded area and a large lake. Emily thought it would be a good place to tell him, since the three Gilbert children used to come here often with their parents.

The two teenagers walked through the woods in silence before Emily came to a complete stop in front of the middle of the large lake. "Do you remember when dad taught you how to fish for the first time?" Emily asked Jeremy for the first time since leaving the Gilbert house.

Jeremy looked over at Emily confused before focusing his eyes onto the lake with a small smile, "yeah. Dad said this is where I become a man and I have to protect my sisters."

Emily nodded, "and what did I tell him?"

"That you were the older sister, so you had to protect us," Jeremy recalled while looking back towards Emily. "Why are we out here?" Jeremy questioned in confusion.

Emily bit her lip in nervousness, "what I'm about to tell you, might change what you think of Elena and I." Emily took a deep breath, "Elena and I are adopted." Emily felt like the whole world was in flames while she waited for Jeremy to say something.

Jeremy's eyes widened, but he quickly controlled his shock after seeing the inner struggle Emily was experiencing. "Wow," Jeremy mumbled out, finally after what felt like hours for Emily. "When did you find out?"

Emily let out the large breath she was holding, "I just found out a couple days ago." The two teenagers continued to walk along the lake before Emily exclaimed, "I just didn't know how to tell you."

Jeremy looked at the green eyed girl confused, "why were you so worried about what I thought?"

Emily sighed softly, "me and you are really close, I know you look up to me and I didn't want you to think anything differently about me or Elena." Emily wrapped an arm around Jeremy's shoulder, "even if we aren't related by blood, you will always be my baby brother."

Jeremy rolled his eyes playfully but gave Emily a bright smile and hugged her sister to his side, "you'll always be my big sister."

Emily smiled over at Jeremy while they walked in silence along the lake. She knew now that she was worried for nothing, Jeremy still thought of her in the same way. Emily was glad that there wouldn't be any tension with the three teenagers.

Emily nudged Jeremy's shoulder with a small smile, "so, I heard someone is doing amazing in history now."

Jeremy chuckled but nodded his head, "yeah, yeah. He's really been helping me out. He gave me some extra credit and stuff," Jeremy explained.

"Well, I'm happy you are doing better," Emily told her brother. Emily remembered the whole point Mr. Saltzman told her and Elena about his report, so she decided to speak to Jeremy about it, to make sure that Damon's compulsion was still in effect. "Mr. Saltzman loved your vampire paper," Emily stated.

Jeremy paused while staring at his sister before nodding, "he thought I had a clever angle."

Emily's brows furrowed, "what drew you to that subject matter?"

"Uh, I don't know," Jeremy shrugged, "boredom." Jeremy chuckled lowly, "or maybe I'm just as nuts as the long line of Gilbert crazies."

Emily pushed Jeremy's shoulder, "oh come on, Gilberts aren't crazy."

"Ah, easy for you to say," Jeremy smiled over towards Emily, "you're not one."

Emily paused in her step and looked over at Jeremy's smiling face with an opened mouth, "ouch, you jerk," Emily huffed towards Jeremy. "You're going to pay for that," Emily told her brother before jogging to catch up with the laughing Jeremy.

* * *

Emily was making her way through the large building in the middle of town square, the Founder's Hall, with Elena's arm wrapped around hers. With everyone in Mystic Falls in the large building, it felt like it was smaller than it was. Every movement the two sisters made, someone would come to try to talk to them or accidentally bump into someone. Being Mystic Falls' darling child, it was hard for Emily to avoid the people of Mystic Falls. But finally, after politely speaking to a few people, Emily quickly pulled Elena towards the ballroom of the building. She knew no one would want to talk while they are dancing or at the free bar.

Elena sighed once they were freed from all the adults, "I don't know how you do it, having to talk to everyone that comes up to you."

Emily smirked over at her sister, "it's a talent."

Elena chuckled before looking around the room while staying attached to her sister. "Hey, there's Stefan," Elena told Emily before pulling her sister towards her boyfriend with a bright smile. "Hey!" Elena called out to Stefan once they were close enough to the Salvatore.

"Hey, how are you?" Stefan spoke before pulling Elena to his side and planting a small kiss on her cheek. Stefan turned over to the green eyed Gilbert and pulled her into a tight hug, "there's my girl," Stefan smiled brightly at Emily.

Elena looked at Stefan weirdly, "are you drunk?"

Stefan cleared his throat and avoided Elena's eyes for a moment before speaking, "okay, I know it's a little weird but it's really helping me. The alcohol," Stefan turned to his amber colored liquor, "takes the edge off."

Emily leaned against the bar and smirked over towards Stefan, "oh my God, you're totally that drunk high school guy at parties sneaking booze."

Stefan stared into Emily's green eyes before nodding his head, "I totally am, yeah."

"How worried do I need to be?" Elena questioned her boyfriend with a serious expression.

Stefan's eyes widened before quickly shaking his head, "oh, no. You don't need to be worried. It's just until the cravings go away." Stefan noticed Elena's uneasiness, so he grabbed onto her shoulders gently, "listen, I think we should enjoy it while it lasts." Stefan looked at Elena with smile and asked, "would you like to dance with me?"

Elena's eyes widened, "you hate dancing. I usually have to beg you."

"No, no, no," Stefan corrected her, "you have to beg the sober me. The drunk me, there is no begging necessary."

Emily rose an eyebrow at Stefan, "do you know, no one is dancing?"

Stefan smirked over towards Emily, "that's because they need something better to dance to." Stefan grabbed Emily's hand, "and you are coming with me. No one can say no to Emily Gilbert."

Emily looked back at her sister while Stefan pulled her across the room. Elena's eyes widened, but Emily gave her sister a small smile and a nod before quickly walking with Stefan. Once they reached the DJ, Stefan called out to him. As soon as the DJ's eyes were locked on Stefan's green eyes, Emily realized that the Salvatore compelled him to change the music.

Emily rolled her eyes and chuckled lowly once she heard the DJ turn the song to something upbeat. "Are you sure you're okay?" Emily questioned Stefan once he turned towards her direction. She was worried about how Stefan was acting, it just wasn't normal for his character.

Stefan waved his hand at the Gilbert girl, "of course I am okay." Stefan held out his hand and spoke poshly, "Emily Gilbert, will you do the honor and dance with me?"

Emily chuckled, "Stefan Salvatore, I would love to dance with you," she spoke with the same posh.

Stefan pulled Emily's hand quickly, making her slam into his chest with wide eyes. "Come on, Emmie. I heard you were a dancer, show me what you got," Stefan smirked at the green eyed girl.

"You're so on Salvatore," Emily told Stefan with a smile. The two moved around each other while dancing with smiles on each of their faces. Emily knew that she was supposed to watch Stefan, to make sure he was okay, but dancing with him was bringing out the fun that Emily used to have.

Emily laughed loudly when Stefan twirled her around before pulling her back to his chest. She felt like she could act like her old self when she got to hang around with Stefan. Emily didn't know why she felt that way or why Stefan's the only person she felt that way around, but she wasn't going to question it at the moment.

* * *

Emily was looking at the painting around the Founder's' Hall when Elena suddenly pulled her hand without speaking and made her way towards the older Salvatore. "Have you noticed what your brother has been up to?" Elena questioned Damon at the bar once she and Emily were close enough.

"Nope, I have been too preoccupied with yours," Damon told Elena after taking a drink of his bourbon.

Emily looked over at Damon confused, "why? What has he been doing?" She didn't like Jeremy around Damon, when the vampire didn't mind flaunting what he was.

"Jeremy has been asking questions about Vicki Donovan's death," Damon explained.

"He knows that her death was ruled an overdose," Elena spoke up with confusion.

"Really?" Damon whispered towards the younger sister. He changed his voice to imitate Jeremy before speaking, "oh but sheriff, someone buried her. Who would do that?" Damon raised his hand up, "I know I know! Me! I mean, I could compel him but he's wearing vervain."

"We are not compelling him again," Emily glared over at the blue eyed vampire.

"If he keeps asking questions…" Damon trailed off.

"Damon, no," Elena spoke strongly while staring at the older Salvatore. "I don't want him to go through that again." Elena glanced over at her sister, "we'll handle it."

Damon grabbed a small rose from the plant that was sitting next to him and smelled the flower. He turned to Elena and sighed, "okay. But don't say I didn't warn you," before handing her the red rose.

Emily watched with an eyebrow raised as Damon and Elena stared into each others eyes closely. Once Damon left the room, Emily turned to her sister and quickly questioned, "what was that?"

Elena avoided looking into her sister's green eyes and called out, "we need to speak to Jeremy," before quickly walking through the crowded room. Emily decided to not think about how Damon looked at her sister, she quickly followed after Elena to go find Jeremy.

* * *

Emily pulled Elena's arm to stop her from walking and pointed with her head towards the opened door. The two sisters looked in carefully and saw Jeremy sitting in front a roaring fire quietly in a dark room.

The two sisters moved towards the white couch, and sat on either side of Jeremy. "Jer," Elena spoke up softly while rubbing Jeremy's back, "we heard about your conversation with Sheriff Forbes."

"No one is trying to figure out what happened to her," Jeremy spoke while looking towards Elena. "They all willing to believe that she OD'ed."

Emily sighed quietly, Jeremy was the last person she wanted to lie to, but she knew it was going to protect him. "The coroner's office confirmed it, Jer. if that's what they said happened, then…"

Jeremy quickly interrupted his older sister and questioned, "is that what you believe?"

"Jeremy, I think if something else happened, then the police would be all over it," Emily told her brother. She didn't feel right to lie to him totally. Emily wanted to be as honest as she could with her little brother without hurting him.

"What do you think happened?" Elena questioned after a moment of silence.

"I think somebody killed her and buried her body and I don't think we should write it off just 'cause it's easy," Jeremy spoke strongly.

"They're just doing what they can to move on," Elena tried to console her brother, so he would stop asking questions.

"The truth is the only thing that's gonna help people to move on," Jeremy tried to explain to his sisters. Emily sighed quietly, if only Jeremy knew the truth then he wouldn't dare say that. It was only going to break his heart more.

"Jer, just - just let it go, okay?" Elena told her brother with a small nervous stutter. "Whatever it was, she's gone now."

Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows, "whatever it was? So you don't think it was an overdose?"

Elena glanced over at her sister with wide eyes, but Emily quickly shook her head. Elena quickly looked over towards Jeremy and mumbled out, "of course, I do."

Jeremy glanced over at his two sisters, "is there something you aren't telling me?" While Elena avoided his gaze, Emily just looked at him with soft eyes. "Why aren't you looking at me?" Jeremy questioned Elena, who looked the most guilty.

Emily quickly jumped in to save Elena, "Jer, it's nothing. The police are handling it, Elena and I don't know anything."

"If there was something else, you would tell me, right?" Jeremy questioned Emily seriously.

Emily hated herself for lying straight to Jeremy's face, but she had to keep telling herself that he was going to be safe every time she didn't tell him the truth. So, Emily squeezed Jeremy's hand with a small smile, "Of course I would, Jer."

* * *

Elena sighed quietly while walking through the hallway while her head laid on Emily's shoulder with her arms locked with her sisters. "I hate lying to him. I wish we didn't have to," Elena mumbled out to her sister.

Emily squeezed Elena's arm and mumbled, "I know. But just think we are protecting him." Emily whispered towards Elena, "if he were to find out the real truth, it was crush him. Just remember, we are keeping him safe."

Elena nodded her head, but she didn't have time speak before Matt came walking up to the two sisters. "Who knew I've been missing all the fun at the Founders' parties?" Matt smiled at the two girls.

Emily chuckled at her blonde friend, "I think that's the alcohol in your system speaking, my dear friend."

"Is it bad that I'm enjoying myself?" Matt questioned after throwing his arm over Emily's shoulder.

Emily shook her head and patted Matt's chest softly, "you deserve to have some fun."

Elena swatted at her sister's hand, "don't encourage him to drink." Elena smiled over at the laugh Matt, "thank you for the dance, by the way."

"Hey, not a problem," Matt smiled drunkenly at his ex-girlfriend before pulling her into a hug. Matt pulled away before glancing at the two sisters, "air, I need some air. Come with me?"

Elena glanced over her shoulder and saw Stefan with another drink in his hand before turning towards the blonde, "sure."

"Emily?" Matt questioned his friend.

Emily looped her arm with the drunken Matt, "of course, Matty." Emily pinched his red cheeks playfully, "I gotta keep an eye on you."

Matt pushed her shoulder before the three began to make their way through the long hallway. "You haven't seen my mom have you?" Matt questioned loudly while walking.

"No, not in a while," Elena shook her head at the blonde.

The three teenagers finally made it to the back door, Emily went first but as soon as felt the air, she froze in her spot. "Oh, my God," Emily mumbled out. She shocked and mildly disgusted, in front of her was Tyler making out with Kelly Donovan.

Matt looked at the two making out in confusion before quickly jogged towards them and pulled Tyler from his mom hard, "what the hell are you doing man?"

"Matt!" Kelly yelped out.

"Mom!" Matt yelled out towards the women in anger.

"Woah. Dude, calm down," Tyler tried to speak to Matt so he would lose his anger. But that was the wrong thing to do to a drunk and angry Matt, because he quickly turned towards the male and swung his fist at Tyler's face.

"Matt!" Elena yelped in shock.

But that wasn't even the worse part of the whole thing. Tyler threw his fist back towards Matt and when he did, Matt ended up slamming into his mom and making her her fall against a small table and crash to the ground. "Tyler!" Emily yelled out, "stop it!"

"Tyler, stop it!" Elena yelled out. "You're hurting him! Somebody help us!"

Luckily Mr. Saltzman was close by, he quickly jumped in and pulled Tyler from sitting on top of Matt and punching at his face. The history teacher slammed Tyler against the wall and questioned, "what the hell was that?"

Emily and Elena quickly jogged towards Matt, who was choking on the hard ground. The two girls helped Matt from the floor and slowly moved him to a chair. Emily didn't bother to listen when Mayor Lockwood began to speak, he probably was trying to make it seem like nothing happened. Emily grabbed Matt's face softly, "are you okay?"

Matt looked around the empty yard and questioned, "where is she?"

Elena looked around and shook her head, "I don't know."

"Come on, put your head up," Emily commanded her friend while tilting his head towards the dark sky. Emily sighed, of course there could never be a drama free day in Mystic Falls.

* * *

"Not so excited that we have another month of these Founders' Day events," Jenna huffed while walking up the stairs with Emily.

Emily leaned against the banister with a small smirk, "fingers crossed that uncle John will be gone by then," Emily joked.

"We can only dream," Jenna called out on her way to her bedroom.

Emily chuckled and shook her head before making her way to her bedroom, but before she could reach it, she saw Jeremy sitting at his desk in the dark. Emily furrowed her eyebrows and placed her head in the doorway and called out, "you okay, Jer?"

Jeremy quickly turned around in his chair, "fine."

Emily looked at her brother in worry, "are you sure you are okay?"

"I'm fine, Emily," Jeremy told his sister before turning around in his desk chair.

Emily sighed once she closed her bedroom door. She could feel that Jeremy wasn't okay. Something was wrong, she knew her brother like the back of her hand, he wasn't okay. But she decided to not push it tonight, he's been trying to handle Vicki's death. Everything was spirally out of control, Emily just opened she could fix it before something bad happened.


	24. Chapter 24

Emily looked up from her notebook when she heard Mr. Saltzman speak up as soon as he walked into his history class filled with students. "Okay, this week we're gonna set outside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founders' Day," Mr. Saltzman told the class. "Apparently the community leaders feel it's more important than World War 2 but hey, what do I know?"

"Sorry, I'm late," a voice spoke quickly from the opened door. Emily glanced up to the doorway and her eyes widened once she saw it was Bonnie Bennett. Emily was surprised that Bonnie was back, but she was also happy she was. Emily hadn't spoken to Bonnie since Grams' funeral.

"Well, it looks like we will be at full occupancy today," Mr. Saltzman said once he saw the brown eyed girl. "Welcome home, Bonnie," the history teacher smiled softly at the young girl.

Bonnie nodded and quickly moved to her seat, which was right next to Emily, Elena, and Stefan. As soon as Bonnie turned towards her, Emily smiled brightly at her friend as did Elena. But once Bonnie's eyes reached Stefan's, her smile quickly vanished and looked to the front of the class.

Emily's eyes furrowed in confusion, so she quickly closed over at her sister and best friend, who was just as confused as she was. She thought Bonnie was okay with Stefan after everything that the four went through. But she knew for one thing, she was going to figure the reason for Bonnie to ignore the younger Salvatore.

* * *

Emily and Elena were walking outside of school when Emily spotted someone she needed to speak to. "Bonnie!" Emily called out to the Bennett witch when she finally saw her outside of school. Every time Emily or Elena tried to talk to her, she would always make up an excuse to get away from the Gilbert sisters.

"Hey," Bonnie mumbled out when she saw who called out to her, before continuing to walk quickly.

Emily quickly jogged closer to Bonnie, "I tried to grab you after class but you were already gone," Emily told her friend. "How are you holding up?" Emily questioned softly, "how's your family?"

Bonnie shrugged, "we're dealing, it's been hard."

Emily gave Bonnie a small smile, "well, I for one have missed you so much."

Bonnie gave Emily a small smile before glancing over at the worried Elena, "yeah, I just had so much to deal with after Grams' funeral and, honestly after Elena told me the tomb spell failed, I just didn't want to come back."

"I hope you understand why I called," Elena spoke up for the first time. "I wanted you to know before you came home."

Bonnie nodded her head lightly, "I understand why. I just wish I didn't know."

It was silent for a moment before Elena tried to speak to her friend again, "I know it's been really hard-"

But before Elena could finish, Caroline jumped in and interrupted the younger twin. "Bonnie!" Caroline yelped in excitement. "Bonnie! Thank God you're home!" Caroline exclaimed before pulling Bonnie into a tight hug. "I know we talked everyday but I missed you."

Emily quickly glanced over towards Elena and saw that she was just as shocked as Emily. She thought Bonnie didn't want to speak to anyone, but she had spoken to Caroline everyday, meaning she just didn't want to talk to the Gilbert sisters. Knowing that Bonnie didn't want to talk to her or Elena made Emily a bit upset, but she could understand. She and Elena both forced the vampire world in her life and when she did get apart of it, it killed her Grams. Emily just wished Bonnie would have explained to her that she needed a break.

"How are you doing?" Caroline asked Bonnie softly.

"Better. Better," Bonnie nodded her head. "You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy."

"Well, I can help with that," Caroline smiled brightly. "Major wardrobe confab needed ASAP," Caroline exclaimed. "You need to help me pick up the perfect dress for the Founders' court."

"The Founders' court? Did I miss something?" Elena questioned confused.

Emily's eyes widened, "please tell me you're joking, Lena." Once Elena shook her head, Emily rolled her eyes and explained, "Miss Mystic Falls!"

Caroline nodded her head, "they announced it today and you, Emily, and I are on it," Caroline told the younger sister.

"Oh, my God!" Elena's eyes finally widened, realizing what they were talking about. Elena glanced over at her sister, "we signed up for that so long away… I completely forgot."

Caroline scoffed with a chuckle, "yeah." She looked at Elena seriously, "so, are you dropping out then?"

Elena stood silent for a moment before looking down and shaking her head, "I can't."

"No?" Caroline questioned in confusion.

"Her mom is the one who wanted her to enter," Bonnie explained to Caroline while looking at the two Gilbert sisters with soft eyes.

Emily linked her arms with Elena's and squeezed it gently while giving her sister a small smile. She knew that Elena was saddened about the fact that their mother wouldn't get to see the two girls at the Miss Mystic Falls. Emily remembered that it was their mother's pride and joy, so she would happily make her mother proud.

* * *

Emily made her towards the football field, where saw the football team practicing. She looked closely until she finally saw the number one jersey, the one she was looking for. Emily leaned against the fence and waited for Tyler to notice her. It didn't take long for the football team to start whispering about the head cheerleader watching them practice. Finally, Tyler glanced over to her before whispering something to the football players. He then jogged towards and took his helmet off.

"How's the face?" Emily questioned with a smirk from where Matt laid a good punch.

Tyler rolled his eyes at the brunette, "my face is perfect like always."

"Sure it is, Ty," Emily chuckled. "Can you please do me a huge favor?" Emily begged her friend.

"What do you need?" Tyler faked huffed.

Emily pushed Tyler's shoulder before stating, "will you be escort for Miss Mystic Falls?"

Tyler placed his hand under is chin, "mmm, I don't know. Maybe if you asked nicely," Tyler smirked over at his best friend.

Emily rolled her eyes and sighed, "fine." She took a deep breath and smiled at the smirking football player, "Tyler Lockwood, would you do me the honor and being my escort?"

Tyler smirked before smiling and pulling Emily into a sweaty hug, "I would be honored to, Emmie."

Emily pushed Tyler off of her, "you stink, Ty." She pointed towards her friend, "you better not stink later for dance practice."

Tyler held his hands up in innocence, "I promise I will smell my best."

Emily chuckled, "now get back to football, you guys sucks," Emily smirked at her friend before walking off the field. Emily always knew that she could count on her best friend, Tyler. He could be a jackass sometimes, but he was always there for her no matter what.

* * *

"This year's queen will have the special honor of taking stage at the hundred and fiftieth Founders' Day Gala," Mrs. Lockwood spoke to the older Gilbert girl. Emily was sitting straight in a seat in the Founder's' Hall with the mayor's wife and two important women in Mystic Falls. To be Miss Mystic Falls the contestants have to go through an interview to decide who deserves it more. "Before we crown our winner, we'd like to get to know a little bit more about each of you," Mrs. Lockwood spoke with a bright smile.

Emily smiled at the three women before answering confidently, "I run the student council at Mystic Falls High School, which helps out with all the fundraisers in our town, school functions, and anything to help the community." Emily took a quick pause before continuing, "My mother, Miranda Gilbert, was proud to be a volunteer in Mystic Falls and she cherish being apart of the Miss Mystic Falls organization. I want to make my mother proud and stand up what she believed in for this town. She believed that we should all come together in community, honor, and family. She was proud to be apart of this town, so I hope I can do her justice in her memory."

* * *

"Honor your partner," Mrs. Lockwood instructed the couples in the middle of Mystic Falls High School cafeteria. Emily stood straight across from her best friend, Tyler Lockwood, with his mother watching the couple closely. Emily bowed her head towards the dark haired boy who did the same, but with a small smirk. "Let's focus. Right hand around," Mrs. Lockwood instructed. Emily listened, and placed her right hand beside her face while staring at Tyler. "Flirt with your eyes," Mrs. Lockwood continued. Emily couldn't help but laugh as quiet as she could when Tyler began to wiggle his eyebrows at her. Emily knew the dance like the back of her hand, so she decided to have some of her own fun. Each couple moved closer to each other and began to walk around each other with their right hand up. Emily smiled up at her friend and fluttered her green eyes at the dark haired boy, causing Tyler to laugh quietly. "Left hand round," Mrs. Lockwood commanded after a moment.

"You know your mom has been staring at us the whole time?" Emily whispered quietly towards Tyler once they switched hands.

Tyler glanced over to the older women quickly, and in fact, his mother was keeping a close eye on them. Tyler chuckled lowly, "mayor's son and Mystic Falls' darling daughter, she thinks we would make the perfect couple."

"Both hands," Mrs. Lockwood instructed.

"You couldn't handle me, Ty," Emily smirked at her best friend while lifting up both of her hands and continue to move around each other slowly.

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Mrs. Lockwood yelped loudly, causing everyone to stop dancing and look over towards the mayor's wife. Emily couldn't help but laugh when she saw who Mrs. Lockwood was scolding, it was Stefan and Elena. "There's no touching during this part," Mrs. Lockwood told the couple, "it's about the simple intimacy of the near touch." Mrs. Lockwood looked at the couples before smiling at her son and his best friend, "very nice, Emily!"

Emily smiled at the older women, "thank you, Mrs. Lockwood."

"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood," Tyler imitated Emily's happy voice with a smirk.

"Shut up," Emily pushed on Tyler's shoulder with a chuckle before the couple continued to follow to Mrs. Lockwood's instructions.

* * *

"Thanks for doing this with me, I know you aren't the dancing type," Emily told Tyler once the dance class was finished for the day.

Tyler shrugged while taking a big gulp of water, "it was no problem." Tyler smirked, "my mom will be happy that I'm getting closer to Mystic Falls' darling child."

"Don't give her any ideas," Emily laughed at her friend.

"She had that idea since we were four years old and I brought you home," Tyler explained with a chuckle.

Emily was about to speak, but she saw Elena and Stefan waiting for her, so she turned back to Tyler's dark eyes with a smile, "I need to get going, but I will soon with a suit, Mr. Lockwood," Emily smirked.

"And I will see you a dress, Mrs. Gilbert," Tyler smirked at the green eyed girl before walking away and towards his smiling mother.

Emily chuckled when she saw Mrs. Lockwood still smiling once Tyler walked up to her. Emily quickly jogged up to Elena and Stefan with a smirk, "you guys seemed to have fun today."

Elena chuckled and linked her arms with her sister before smirking, "you and Tyler look like you are getting closer," Elena hinted.

Emily glanced over at Stefan and noticed that he was looking at the ground with a clenched jaw, Emily's eyes furrowed but decided not to think anything of it and turned to her sister with an eye roll, "you know Tyler and I are only ever going to be friends."

"Whatever you say, Emmie," Elena joked.

The trio began to walk away from the school cafeteria, but they stopped once they say who walked through the door. Emily could feel the tension as soon as they laid eyes on the dark eyed girl, so she tried to fix it, "Hey, Bonnie," Emily smiled warmly at the girl.

"Hey," Stefan finally spoke up with a small smile, "how are you?" But Bonnie didn't say anything. All she did was stare at Stefan with a frown before moving her eyes over towards the Gilbert sisters with a blank stare.

Tired of the silence, Caroline who stood next to Bonnie, decided to quickly speak up, "I begged Bonnie to fill in for Matt, he had to work today."

It was of course silent once Caroline spoke, but Elena decided to try with her friend. "Bonnie, do you have a minute?" Elena asked softly.

Bonnie stared at the younger sister before speaking, "we only have 30 minutes for rehearsal."

Emily knew that Bonnie was only making an excuse up, so she decided to help her sister out, "it'll only take a minute, I promise," Emily smiled at the Bennett witch.

Bonnie stared the green eyed girl with soft eyes, she decided to at least hear her out, so she nodded her head before moving towards the side of the large cafeteria.

Emily thought maybe Bonnie would talk to her more, so she decided to start. "Bonnie, what's wrong?" it didn't take a genius to find out that Bonnie was avoiding the Gilbert sisters.

"It's not worth talking about," Bonnie shrugged.

Elena looked at Bonnie in confusion, "what do you mean, not worth it?" Elena paused while glancing over at her sister before turning back to Bonnie, "you barely said ten words to either of us and you won't even look at Stefan." As soon as Bonnie looked away from Elena's brown eyes once she spoke Stefan's name, Elena realized the problem. "Is that what it is? Is it Stefan?" Elena questioned.

Bonnie sighed after a moment of silence between the three girls. "Listen. Elena, I can't pretend that everything's okay." Bonnie glanced over at the older sister for a second before continuing, "everything my Grams did was to protect us from those vampires in the tomb. And now they're out which means she died for nothing."

Emily sighed sadly, she really felt bad for Bonnie. She didn't even want to be involved in anything that had to with vampires. But she did it because Elena and Emily asked her to. And now that Bonnie knew that the spell didn't work, it felt like that Grams died for nothing, just be in danger with the tomb vampires. Emily looked at Bonnie with soft green eyes, "I'm really sorry that happened, Bonnie."

Elena nodded quickly, "what can I do to make it better?" Elena questioned desperately.

Bonnie looked over at Emily with a barely noticeable smile before turning to the younger sister with a sigh, "that's just it. There's nothing you can do." Bonnie paused, "I blame him, Elena, him and Damon," Bonnie glanced at both sisters before continued, "and I'm not gonna put either of you in a situation where you have to choose sides. I'm just having a hard time with it, okay?"

* * *

Emily stared at the dress that has been on the back of her closet door since the day she bought it. It was a simple but beautiful strapless red dress with a silver beading around the waist. Emily remembered when she and Elena signed up for the Miss Mystic Falls, as soon as they did, the two sisters and their mother headed straight to the dress shop. Emily thought it was weird to get the dress a year before the actual event, but her mother explained that she wasn't going to find the perfect dress the first around, and she was right, it took the twins four months for them to find their dresses, after visiting the stores on the weekends with their mother. While Emily went for a red dress, Elena went for a silk blue dress, their father would joke about how they were opposites but everyone knew that the two girls were a lot alike.

Emily softly grabbed the red dress from the hanger in her closet and carefully placed it into a long black bag before placing her heels and jewelry into her large purse. Emily glanced around the room, to make sure she had everything, before making her way down the wooden stairs. Once Emily reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked up and saw Elena and Alaric talking. "Hey," Emily called out before looking over the vampire hunter in a nice suit, "are you our ride?"

Alaric nodded before asking, "do you want me to take that for you?" He pointed towards the things her arms.

Emily looked down at the things in her arms that felt like were going to slip before taking a thankful sigh and handed over the bag to Alaric who was already holding onto the younger twin's bag, "you are life saver."

"Alaric," a voice spoke up. Emily glanced over Elena's shoulder and saw that it uncle John. "hey buddy, what are you doing here?" John questioned the history teacher in confusion.

"Well, I'm the chauffeur," Alaric explained.

"I thought I was driving," John said while glancing over at Emily and Elena.

"No need," Jenna called out to the man she despised while walking down the stairs, "we're going with Ric." Jenna looked over at Alaric with a small smile.

"Are we ready?" Elena questioned once she saw aunt.

Jenna nodded and opening the front door to let the sisters passed by before turning back to John, "Jeremy can ride with you."

* * *

Emily was looking into one of the many vanity mirrors that sat on a white table top in the Founder's' Hall while putting the finishing touches to her red lips. She sat the lipstick down and looked into the mirror with a bright smile, Emily's makeup was absolutely perfect with her red colored lips, rosy cheeks, and smokey eye shadow. Emily felt like nothing could go wrong today, the only thing that mattered to her was to make her mother proud.

"Thanks for helping me," Elena interrupted the silence that took up the room. She glanced into the large mirror and back at the strawberry blonde, who was doing her long brown hair into medium curls.

Jenna chuckled and continued to curl Elena's hair slowly, "don't thank me until you're sure your hair isn't gonna burn off."

"You know, I remember when mom and us were first applying to this, she was so excited," Elena spoke after a moment of silence.

"We all were excited, at the time," Emily told her sister when she twirled in her chair to face Elena with a small smile adoring her face.

Elena nodded, "it was. She made it sound like so much fun." Elena glanced over at her sister, "you were into it just as much as mom was." Elena shook her head while looking down at her fingers that laid in her lap, "but, a lot has changed since then."

Emily reached over and grabbed Elena's hand with a small smile, "it's okay not to be okay right now. Mom always spoke about this day, but now she's not here, it doesn't feel right, I know," Emily explained to Elena.

"I hate to break it to you, but it's a little late for cold feet," Jenna told the younger sister, since Elena was the one hesitating unlike Emily, who was excited to participate the Miss Mystic Falls.

Elena shook her head, "I don't have cold feet." She glanced over at Emily with a small nod, "Emily's right. I just… I think I'd be enjoying it a lot more if she was here."

"She would be proud of you for sticking it out," Emily told her twin sister.

Jenna stared at the two girls with sorrow in her eyes before finally regaining her voice and spoke, "well I tell you one thing, your hair would have a better chance if she was."

Emily looked over at the strawberry blonde that was welding the extremely hot wand with wide green eyes, "maybe you should put that down before you burn yourself or us," Emily joked while Jenna rolled her eyes at the older sister.

Elena chuckled before standing from the chair, "we should probably go put our dresses on," Elena exclaimed and grabbed Emily from her chair before the two sisters made their way out of the room.

The two Gilbert sisters made their way through the large building with smiles on their faces before they reached the room where all the dresses were stored. Emily's face twitched in confusion when she saw one of the contestants, Amber, pacing up and down the room. "Hey, Amber," Emily called out to get the blonde's attention before speaking softly, "are you okay?"

Amber looked up to see the cheerleading captain staring up at her in worry, with Elena close by and the same worried expression. Amber shook her head with a small chuckle while continuing to pace the small room, "I hate being the center of attention. I get panic attacks."

Emily removed herself from her twin sister before slowly walking up to the blonde and grabbed her arm softly, to stop Amber's pacing, "do you want to talk?" Emily asked the girl carefully not to freak her out more than she already was.

Amber looked at the older sister with a grateful smile, "thanks. But," Amber chuckled in nervousness, "I think I just need some air." Amber gave the two Gilbert sisters one last smile before dashing out of the room.

"Poor girl," Emily commented with the shake of her head before moving to a large closet in the corner to find her red dress while Elena saw her dress leaning against a tall mirror.

"Hey," Elena gasped. "You can't be here," Elena told the blue eyed vampire.

Emily glanced behind her when she heard her sister speak, she rolled her eyes when she saw it was the older Salvatore brother. "What are you doing here, Damon?" Emily questioned.

"We need to talk," Damon told the two girls with full seriousness.

"Does it have to be right now?" Elena questioned softly while holding her blue dress in hand, to make a point.

Damon moved closer towards Elena before speaking, "normally I would have a completely different outlook of what I'm about to tell you, but since it could really inconvenience me, I'll squeal."

Emily moved closer to the duo and looked at Damon in confusion, "what's going on, Damon?"

Damon paused before spilled out the truth, "Stefan's still drinking human blood."

"What?" Elena breathed out.

Emily's eyes widened, "are you serious?" Emily was in shock, she knew that Stefan was having problems but she thought it was because he was having withdraws, but in reality he was drinking blood like he was Damon.

Damon nodded, "yeah. A month ago, I would have rejoiced but with the council back on the alert, it is not good time for Stefan to fly off the handle."

"I know he's been a little edgy, but he said that was normal," Elena tried to explain to older Salvatore.

"He has a fridge full of stolen blood bank contraband in the house," Damon stated.

"Oh my God," Elena gasped before she took a seat on one of the couches.

"He has no idea what normal is," Damon continued, "his entire existence isn't normal. Normal to a vampire is drinking human blood, but he spent all this time fighting it, when he should have been learning to control it and now it's controlling him instead."

Emily shook her head and began to pace the small room exactly like Amber was just doing minutes ago. "This is Stefan, he's the president of self control." Emily bit her lip and looked up at Damon in nervousness, "what can we do to help him?"

Elena shook her head in denial, "this is Stefan we are talking about."

Damon looked at the older sister before focusing his blue eyes on her brown ones, "Stefan on human blood, Elena. He'll do anything, he'll say anything, because he's not gonna want to stop. Trust me," Damon explained.

"This is all my fault," Elena exclaimed before quickly jumped up from the couch and now she is the one to begin to pace. "I'm the one who fed him the blood in the first place," Elena continued.

"Elena, if you didn't do it, I would have done it," Emily confessed to her sister.

Before Elena could say anything, someone suddenly opened the door of the small room. The two sisters glanced up at the door and saw it was the vampire that they were talking about, Stefan Salvatore. "What's going on here?" Stefan questioned once he saw the seriousness on each face of the twins.

"I was just filling the girls on your extracurricular activities," Damon explained tightly to his brother.

Stefan stared at his brother with a scoff, "what are you talking about?"

Emily glanced over at her sister and noticed the shocked glassed eyes that still took over Elena's face, so she decided to speak up, "we know about the blood, Stef," Emily told her friend while crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm gonna…" Damon began, noticing the tension with the trio, "I'll be downstairs, drinking," Damon mumbled before quickly walking out of the room and closing the door.

Stefan chuckled once Damon was out of the room before stating, "I was going to tell you," Stefan stared at the green eyed girl before focusing his eyes on his girlfriend.

"When?" Elena questioned while crossing her arms over her chest, like her sister.

Stefan moved to walk closer towards Elena slowly, "I'm fine." Stefan smiled, "I'm fine, the blood, it doesn't change anything."

Emily sighed while she leaned against the window, to give the couple some space. But she couldn't just keep her mouth shut when Stefan was in trouble and he didn't want help. "It's changing you," Emily spoke softly.

"Why because I kept a secret from you?" Stefan questioned the older sister, "I don't have to tell you everything, you're not my girlfriend, Emily."

Emily sighed quietly, she decided to ignore the random pain she felt when Stefan spoke and decided to continue, "you're right, I'm not. But Elena is, and she didn't even know." Emily shook her head and looked into Stefan's green eyes sadly, "you aren't you, Stef." Emily looked over at Elena with a small smile, "I'm going to go get dressed," she exclaimed before quickly grabbing her red dress from the closet and making her way out of the room.

* * *

"Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore," mayor Lockwood spoke at the bottom of the staircase before the brunette made her way down the stairs in her long pink dress.

"Has anyone seen Amber?" Mrs. Lockwood quickly asked as soon as she walked up towards the remaining girls.

Emily looked at the mayor's wife in confusion, "she said she needed air, but that was awhile ago," Emily explained before Mrs. Lockwood walked away.

"Do you see Stefan down there?" Elena questioned while leaning over the balcony.

Caroline leaned over the balcony and shook her head, "nope. Just my boring fill in escort," Caroline sighed.

Emily looked over at the blonde, "I thought Matt was your date."

Caroline sighed loudly, "they wouldn't let him out of work." Caroline looked down at the balcony before smirking over at the green eyed sister, "is that Tyler Lockwood I see as your escort?"

Emily rolled her eyes, "we're just friends, you know that," Emily told her best friend. She couldn't remember how many times she have told the whole Mystic Falls about her and Tyler's relationship.

Caroline rolled her eyes at her friend before remembering and quickly turning towards Elena with wide eyes, "wait, what happened with Stefan?"

Elena glanced over at her sister before turning back to the blonde with the shake of her head, "I don't know, he just disappeared somewhere, I don't know." Elena's eyes widened, "what am I doing? I should have never gone through with this."

"What do you mean?" Caroline questioned quietly.

"I need to find Stefan, this isn't me, I'm not this person anymore," Elena explained before trying to walk away.

Emily quickly grabbed Elena's arm and made her sister face her. "Lena, you need to calm down," Emily commanded while looking at Elena with soft green eyes. "We will find Stefan later and we will fix it. Right now, you are doing this because mom wanted this for us." Emily gave Elena a bright smile once she saw her sister calm down, "it's just for a few minutes you are going to go out there and make mom proud. Okay?"

Elena nodded her head slowly and whispered, "okay." Emily nodded and gave Elena's hand a squeeze before placing Elena beside Caroline and she stood next to her sister by the staircase.

"Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton," mayor Lockwood spoke before she gave the two sisters one last smile before gracefully making her way down the stairs to her replacement.

"Elena, you're next," Mrs. Lockwood whispered towards the younger sister, "come on."

Elena quickly looked over at her sister in nervousness, causing Emily to chuckle lowly before rubbing her sister's shoulder soothingly, "you're going to do amazing," Emily promised her sister.

Elena finally gave the confidence she needed, she gave Emily a real smile before walking towards Mrs. Lockwood. "Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by mister Stefan Salvatore," the mayor Lockwood spoke.

"Are you ready, Emily?" Mrs. Lockwood questioned the green eyed girl once Elena was out of sight.

Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening her eyes and smiling at Mrs. Lockwood, "I'm ready."

"And last by not least, Miss Emily Gilbert, escorted by Tyler Lockwood," mayor Lockwood called out to the audience.

Emily took one last deep breath before slowly making her way down the staircase, she smiled once she saw the smirking face of Tyler Lockwood. "Impressive," Emily whispered to the male.

"Well I am your escort, I had to look as good as you," Tyler whispered back. Emily smiled up at the Lockwood with a tint to her pale cheeks.

Even though Emily dreamed about this moment, she was beyond nervous as soon as they walked out the front doors and were faced with all of Mystic Falls staring at them. Emily squeezed Tyler's large hand tightly, causing him to give Emily a small smile and a squeeze back. Emily was careful not to trip over her long dress while walking down the aisle of people. She took a quiet sigh when she saw Jenna smiling brightly at her along with Alaric. Emily thought back at the times when she was three and her father would place her on his large feet and dance in the living room with Frank Sinatra playing in the background, she remembered her father smiling down at her, telling her that she was anything but ordinary and she was going to achieve anything that she desired. Thinking of that memory, caused Emily to gain the confidence she needed, so she stood up straight and put on a bright smile while walking down the aisle of people.

Finally, the contestants made it to the middle of the crowd, where they would be dancing. Once they came to a stop, Emily glanced over at her sister before looking across from Elena. She was confused when she didn't see Stefan, but she saw Damon. Emily decided to focus on the dance, instead of what her vampire friend was doing. In this moment, Emily wanted to imagine that she didn't know the existence of vampires, but she wanted to imagine that her mom and dad were smiling proudly in the crowd.

Once the soft music began to play, Emily took a step forward and bowed towards Tyler, who whispered, "you're going to do great." Emily gave her friend a small, barely noticeable smile before taking a step back. Emily stood straight and as soon as the vocals began in the song, she raised her right hand and began to dance to the soft melody. Emily took a step back at the right time, before switching hands and holding up her left, she continued to dance with a proud feeling soaking up her heart. As Emily danced with Tyler, she felt like she was honoring her mother right then and there. She felt like she could feel her mother beaming at her in happiness. Emily somehow felt closer to her mother while she danced around with her best friend, knowing she was honoring her mother.

* * *

"Where is Amber?" Caroline questioned while she glanced around the stage at all the girls, but couldn't find the blonde.

Emily's brows furrowed and whispered, "I don't know."

"Before I crown the winner," mayor Lockwood spoke into the microphone once he walked on the stage, "I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community." Mayor Lockwood paused for the audience to clap and cheer before he continued, "so, without further ado, it is my honor to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Ms. Caroline Forbes!"

Caroline froze in her spot when she heard her name, Emily chuckled at her best friend before pulling her into a tight hug, "you deserve it!" Emily knew that Caroline wanted this with everything she had.

"Congratulations!" Elena told Caroline before pulling her into a hug.

"I actually won!" Caroline cried out in happiness.

"Get up there, Miss Mystic Falls," Emily smirked at her best friend.

Caroline squealed and pulled Emily into another hug before walking towards mayor Lockwood, who placed a white satchel around her. Emily was proud of her best friend. Even though she didn't win, she knew she lived out her mother's dream and that was all Emily needed.

* * *

Emily was speaking with Mrs. Lockwood when Elena politely excused her sister and quickly pulled her in the direction of Damon. "Did you find him?" Elena questioned Damon.

Damon pulled the two girls to the side and whispered, "there were signs of a struggle in the upstairs bathroom," Damon explained. "There was blood and that Amber girl is missing," Damon continued.

Emily's eyes widened, she didn't even think that Stefan could be hurting Amber since she was missing. Emily looked at Damon in worry, "do you think he'll hurt her?"

Damon didn't answer her question, but commanded the two girls, "come on, let's get your coats."

* * *

"Stefan!" Elena yelled out once she saw her boyfriend's mouth deep into Amber's neck while the blonde screamed for her life.

At hearing Elena's voice, Stefan pulled away from Amber and dropped her to the ground with wide eyes. "Stefan, come on, get control," Damon commanded his brother. He slowly walked towards Stefan with his hand out, "it's okay, come on. Breath through it, man." But once Damon was close enough, Stefan threw him against a tree in distress.

"Stefan! Stop it!" Elena yelled out.

Stefan ignored the voice of his girlfriend, and charged towards Damon. But before he could even move two steps, Stefan bent down in pain. Emily glanced behind her and saw that it was the Bennett witch causing the pain. She knew that this was what needed to be done, so Emily held Elena close towards her and stayed silent. Once Stefan's face returned to normal, Bonnie stopped messing with Stefan's mind. The said Salvatore began to look around at each faces in horror before Damon called out to him softly, "it's okay, Stefan." But Stefan gasped in shock once he looked over at the two Gilbert sisters, who looked afraid of him, so he ran away from the woods and away from the worried faces.

* * *

Once Stefan had left, Damon called sheriff Forbes, who arrived quickly with her deputies and an ambulance for the injured Amber. Sheriff Forbes walked over towards the blue eyed vampire, Bennett witch, and the Gilbert sisters after speaking with Amber, "she doesn't remember what happened," sheriff Forbes told Damon.

"It's a good thing the girls got here when they did," Damon told the blonde women, "she lost a lot of blood."

Sheriff Forbes nodded before turning to the three girls and asked, "you didn't see anything?"

It was a long pause when no one answered, so Emily glanced over at her sister and Bonnie and saw that they were staring at each other. To avoid suspicion, Emily decided to speak up, "we found her on the ground bleeding, so we quickly called Damon."

"Is she going to be okay?" Bonnie whispered.

"It looks like it, yeah," sheriff Forbes told Bonnie before suggesting, "why don't you girls get back to the party?" sheriff Forbes glanced over at the blue eyed male, "Damon and I can take it from here."

"Okay," Elena nodded.

The three girls began to walk away from the sheriff and the vampire. It was silent for long time before Elena spoke up softly, "Bonnie, can we talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Bonnie mumbled out while continuing to walk through the woods.

"Bonnie, please," Elena begged.

Bonnie quickly turned around and stared at the brown eyed girl, "I told you I wasn't going to make you choose, but I need to make the choice for myself." Bonnie glanced at the two girls, "please, just leave me alone," before quickly walking away.

Emily sighed once she saw Elena's sadden face. She knew Bonnie just needed time to come to terms with everything that happened. But Emily knew that Elena just wanted her best friend back, she could understand that. Emily wrapped an arm around Elena's waist and began to walk back towards the party with Elena's head on her shoulder.

The two sisters walked in silence before they stood on the front steps of the Lockwood mansion. "Are you okay?" Emily asked her sister once they came to a stop in front of the party.

Elena sighed and shook her head, "I don't want Bonnie to hate me forever and I don't know what we are going to do with Stefan."

Emily gave Elena a small smile, "Bonnie just needs time to understand that she values your friendship no matter what. just give her time, not everyone can take knowing about vampires as easily as us," Emily whispered the last part before rubbing Elena's back softly, "and about Stefan, we'll figure it out and we won't stop, we'll help Stefan, I promise."

Elena stood in silence for a moment before chuckling in disbelief, "what would I do without you? You've got me through today every time something came up."

Emily gave her sister a joking smirk, "I'm just that good." Once Elena was smiling and laughing, Emily grew serious, "I will always be there for you." Elena smiled brightly at her sister before hugging her tightly.

"Oh, good, there you guys are," Alaric called out while walking out of the Lockwood mansion when he saw the sisters, "Jenna wanted me to get the car." But as soon Alaric saw the sadden look in the younger sister's eyes, he grew serious and asked, "what happened?"

Emily sighed and moved closer to Alaric before explaining, "Stefan has gone off the rails when it comes with blood." Emily shook her head, "we don't know what to do or how to help him."

Alaric stared at the two girls for a moment before nodding his head, "I might know what you should do."

* * *

After driving to Gilbert house in silent, the two sisters quickly changed up stairs before meeting Alaric by his car, like planned. Alaric opened up his trunk and pulled out his black bag. As soon as he opened it, Emily realized it was the bag he kept the vervain darts in.

Alaric pulled one out and held it out, "you just need to push it inside of him and he will go down," Alaric explained.

Emily grabbed the vervain dart from Alaric hands before turning to Elena, "you need to do it, Lena." Once Emily saw her sister's eyes widened she grabbed her hand, "I'll be right there if you need any help," Emily promised her sister.

Elena nodded her head and grabbed the dart before pushing it in her back pocket. While Elena walked towards her car, Emily turned to Alaric with a nod, "thank you for doing this."

Alaric nodded his head, "Stefan's a good guy. I'm glad to help you and Elena even if he is a vampire."

Emily pulled Alaric into a quick hug and whispered, "you're a good guy too, Ric," before jogging towards Elena's car.

* * *

It was silent in Elena's car before Emily questioned, "can you do this?" She wanted to make sure that everything would go smoothly so they could help the younger Salvatore.

Elena was quiet for a moment before nodding her head, "I need to this. We're helping him, right?"

Emily gave Elena a small smile, "of course we are. It's going to hard, but we're helping him to get better." Emily really hoped this would work, it was their only chance to help Stefan. She wasn't going to give up no matter how hard it would get.

After a few more quiet minutes, Elena pulled up at the Salvatore boarding house. Emily gave Elena's hand a tight squeeze before they quietly made their way inside the large house. While Elena went straight up the stairs towards Stefan's bedroom, Emily headed to the living room where she saw Damon.

Damon rose an eyebrow at the older Gilbert sister, "what are you guys doing here?"

"We came up with a plan," Emily explained to Damon, "but we need your help with the heavy lifting."

Damon simply nodded his head in agreement before downing the rest of his class of bourbon. The duo quietly made their way upstairs towards Stefan's room, and waited for Elena to get the job done.

It was silent for a few moments, before Emily heard a heavy body drop to the ground. Emily quickly walked into the room with Damon slowly following behind. Emily headed straight for Elena who was staring at Stefan's body sadly. "Are you okay?" Emily questioned her sister. But all Elena did was wrap her arms around her sister's waist and hug her tight.

"Sure you want to do this?" Damon questioned while glancing at Stefan, who was knocked out on the wooden floor.

Elena stared at her boyfriend before nodding, "I'm sure."

The two girls followed Damon while he carried Stefan down the stairs towards the Salvatore cellar. They watched Damon place Stefan against the wall before closing and locking the large door. "There's no guarantee this is going to work," Damon explained.

Emily crossed her arms over her chest, "it's the only option we have."

Damon nodded towards the older sister before making his way to the stairs, but turned around when he didn't hear any footsteps. "You coming?" Damon questioned the two girls.

Elena glanced over at Stefan through the small window before shaking her head, "I'm gonna stay here."

Damon nodded, before he moved down and sat against the hard wall. Emily nodded her head at her sister before the two sisters joined Damon and sat across from him. Emily really hoped that locking Stefan away would help him, or she didn't know what they could do.


	25. Chapter 25

Inside the small, dark cellar in the basement of the Salvatore boarding house was the youngest Salvatore brother. On a small cot, was where the blood hungry vampire laid in pain from his thirst for human blood. Stefan opened his eyes from his deep sleep, that was caused from vervain and gasped in pain, but went quiet when he was pulled into a painful memory.

* * *

 _WOODS 1864_

 _The people of the small town of Mystic Falls were waking the dark streets with fire torches in their hands and determination in their hearts. It was the night all the men were all waiting for, the capture of all vampires. Jonathan Gilbert stood surrounded by men with large rifles and torches, but he paused into his step to check the famous Gilbert watch, or known to the council as a vampire compass. The compass began to twirl around, notifying the men that they were in the presence of a monster, a vampire. Jonathan Gilbert moved closer to the men, who held a person in their arms who was passed out from the special plant of vervain. They knew right then and there, that the passed out man was a vampire. So the men threw the vampire into a large carriage with the rest of the vampires they caught. "We have to get them to the church," Johnathan Gilbert told the men once the vampire was secure, "they're waiting."_

 _Across from the carriage and in the dark forest was the Salvatore brothers watching the destruction of their town. "Circle around that way," Stefan whispered in command to his older brother, "I'll distract him. Go." As soon as Stefan saw Damon take off, he quickly walked out from his hiding spot and stood in the middle of the street and shouted towards the men, "over here! There's another one! Quick! Help me!" Stefan took off in the opposite direction of the carriage, hoping to divert the men._

 _"Arm yourselves," Johnathan Gilbert commanded the men before running after the young Salvatore with the armed and determined men._

 _Thanks to Stefan's diversion, there was only one man protecting the carriage of vampires with only one rifle. Damon stood on the side of the carriage and waited for the perfect moment before quickly facing the man with a large punch to the face, knocking him out. As soon as the man was town, Damon quickly searched the man's pockets for the keys. He stood up and began to try each key for the lock as fast as he could. "We don't have long," Stefan told his brother after he escaped the men and joined his brother to save the person that meant everything to each Salvatore._

 _It didn't take more than a five seconds before Damon had unlocked the carriage. He pulled the door open and spotted the woman he loved. "Katherine," Damon exclaimed once he say the brunette. Damon and Stefan both joined together and quickly helped the brown eyed girl out of the carriage and softly sat her on the hard, cold ground. Once she was on the ground, Damon quickly pulled off the muzzle that the men placed over her mouth. "We're going to get you out of here," Damon promised Katherine while he worked on the large ropes that covered the girl's hands._

 _Stefan glanced up when he heard horses neighing and men yelling, he quickly turned back to Damon and exclaimed, "Damon, hurry. Hurry."_

 _But as soon as Damon got the ropes off of Katherine's hands, there was a loud gun shot heard around the forest. And to the Salvatore's surprise, it went straight through Damon. The older brother slammed into the ground as soon as the bullet ripped through Damon's skin. Stefan quickly ran towards his brother in fright, "no! No, Damon," Stefan cried out. The younger brother gasped in pain when he watched the life being sucked out of Damon._

 _Stefan looked up from the ground when he heard men running. "I think we got one!" A man yelled out to the group that carried rifles and torches._

 _But Stefan knew that he needed to protect himself and the woman he loved, so he quickly stood up and grabbed the rifle that laid next to be the passed out man and pointed it towards the men. But they were faster, and shot Stefan straight through the stomach, causing the green eyed boy to drop to the ground in pain. Stefan laid on the hard ground while staring at Katherine while he died slowly and painfully, just like his brother._

* * *

Elena stood outside of the dark cellar and stared into the small window at her boyfriend that was being tortured from thirst and memories. "It's so hard to see him looked up like this," Elena whispered out.

"You're the one that locked him up," Damon commented while leaning against the wall and staring at the brown eyed girl.

Emily glared over at the vampire before turning to her sister with soft eyes, "it was our only chance to help him, Lena."

Elena nodded to her sister with a small smile before turning to the blue eyed vampire and stated, "you helped."

"I couldn't have him running around chewing people, while the town was looking for vampires, now, could I?" Damon questioned sarcastically.

"It had nothing to do with you actually caring about him?" Elena questioned, full with sass.

"Your thing, not mine," Damon mumbled.

* * *

 _QUARRY 1864_

 _Stefan opened his green eyes slowly, but when he did, he jumped in fright when he didn't know what happened. He looked around his surroundings and saw that he was in a small burnt building in a open field by the quarry. Finally gaining his bearings, Stefan glanced down at his clothes and noticed the blood in the middle his shirt. Stefan remembered exactly what happened, so he quickly pulls his shirt open and saw that there was no bullet hole. He remembered being shot, so he didn't know why there was no bleeding wound. Stefan glanced down at his hand and saw that a large silver and blue ring sat on one of his fingers, it had a single S in the middle._

 _"Katherine had me make that for you weeks ago," Emily, the Bennett witch, exclaimed towards the younger Salvatore._

 _"Where am I?" Stefan asked hoarsely._

 _"The quarry, just north of town," Emily explained, "my brother and I brought you here last night. We found you dead in the woods."_

 _Stefan looked at the women in worry, "where's Damon?" Emily moved her eyes over towards the water, so Stefan quickly turned around and saw his brother shirtless, sitting by the water. Stefan turned around and looked down while thinking when he quickly turned back to Emily, "am I… am I a-"_

 _"Not yet," Emily interrupted, knowing what he was asking. "You're in transition," she explained._

 _Stefan shook his head in confusion, "but, how? I-"_

 _"You had Katherine's blood in your system when you died," Emily interrupted once again to explain to the younger Salvatore._

 _Stefan shook his head, "no. I never-"_

 _"She's been compelling you to drink it for weeks, Stefan," Emily told the green eyed boy._

 _Stefan sat there for a moment, thinking about the information before looking back up at Emily, "and Damon?"_

 _"No compulsion was necessary," Emily answered, "he drank from her willingly."_

 _Stefan exhaled sharply, shocked at what Emily explained about his brother drinking Katherine's blood with no problem. Stefan slowly made his way towards the water, and looked down at Damon._

 _"I woke up last night, I didn't know where I was," Damon spoke softly while looking at the water that was flowing. "I went to the church. And I watched them drag her inside. Then they set fire to it, and the whole church went up into flames," Damon explained. He looked up at Stefan with sad blue eyes, "they killed her, Stefan. She's gone."_

* * *

Emily was inside of Elena's large closet, looking for clothes. The two girls planned on staying at the Salvatore boarding house again, they wanted to keep an eye on Stefan. Elena suddenly stopped looking for clothes before pulling out her phone and dialed a familiar number and placed it on speakerphone before going back to looking for clothes with her sister.

"What?" the male voice spoke from the phone.

Emily rolled her eyes once she realized it was the older Salvatore. Elena pushed her sister's shoulder before speaking, "Emily and I are just grabbing some clothes, and then we'll be right over. How's Stefan?"

"Extra broody," Damon spoke, "hold on." While the two girls waited for Damon to come back on the phone, they began to shove clothes into the tan bag Elena had in her hand. "He won't eat anything," Damon called out.

"He has to eat," Elena explained before asking nervously, "what's his favorite… kind of… um."

"His favorite kind of what?" Damon questioned with a smirk.

Emily chuckled at her sister's awkwardness before calling into the phone, "animal, Damon." Emily smirked over at her sister, "Elena wants to know if he likes fluffy animals."

"Ew, gross," Damon mumbled.

"Elena wanted to know," Emily spoke with a small smirk gracing her face.

"Well, Stefan likes puppy blood… little golden retriever puppies, with floppy ears. That's his favorite," Damon told the two girls before hanging up the phone.

Emily chuckled at the disgusting expression that was stuck on Elena's face. "It's your own fault you wanted to know."

Elena rolled her eyes, "come on, we should go," Elena told her sister.

Emily nodded her head before throwing one last shirt into Elena's bag. Once the two girls were out of the large closet, Emily quickly closed it. They turned around and jumped when someone was standing right behind the door.

"Sorry," the older man mumbled.

Emily rolled her eyes. She hated when John would come in her room, it only means he was up to something and it was never good. "Uncle John. what's up?" Emily questioned the older man.

"I thought we could talk," John spoke while glancing at the two faces. "We haven't had the chance to catch up," he continued.

Elena grabbed onto Emily's hand in nervousness before slowly walking around John and mumbled, "we're actually on our way out, so…"

"Well, it won't take long," John spoke while walking around Elena's room.

"What do you want, John?" Emily questioned, tired of the way he was dancing around what he wanted to say.

"Well," John spoke while looking at a photo that sat on Elena's desk before turning to the two girls, "I know you know."

"Know what?" Elena questioned in confusion.

"It's really silly to keep pretending," John spoke with a small smile. "What do you think your mother would say, if she knew you were dating a vampire?" John questioned the younger sister.

Emily glared at the man. How dare he say something like that. "Which mother are you talking about?" Emily questioned the older man with an eyebrow raised before pulling Elena out of the room and out of the Gilbert house.

* * *

 _QUARRY 1864_

 _Stefan walked towards Damon, who sitting down by the quarry, with a pail of water. He grabbed his bloody shirt and began to wash it with the water. "I bet Johnathan Gilbert has told father by now," Stefan interrupted the silence, "wonder how he took the news that we're dead."_

 _"As if he cares," Damon mumbled before grabbing his own shirt and dipping it inside the pail of water. "He betrayed us."_

 _"He thought he was protecting us, Damon," Stefan tried to explain. "He thought he was protecting this town."_

 _Damon ignored his brother and began to rub the blood off his hands with a wet cloth before groaning. "God. This sun is hurting my eyes," Damon complained to Stefan._

 _"It's part of it," Stefan explained. "The muscle aches, the sick feeling - Emily says it's our bodies pushing us to feed, to complete the transition."_

 _"That's not gonna happen," Damon told his brother._

 _"Is that your choice, then?" Stefan questioned, "to die instead?"_

 _Damon looked at Stefan in confusion, "isn't it yours? This was all to be with Katherine. But she's gone. I want it over."_

* * *

Elena stood in front of the small window of the door that belonged to the cellar and looked at her boyfriend sadly. Emily stood a little bit behind her and decided to give sister some privacy, even though Elena made her come down here with her. Emily knew that Elena was scared, that nothing would work for Stefan, so she decided to come with her for moral support.

"How you feelin?" Elena questioned softly. "Damon says you need to drink that," she told Stefan when she saw him staring at the bottle of blood that laid on the ground. When Stefan shook his head, Elena quickly spoke,"you need it, Stefan. Can't survive without it."

"I don't want to survive," Stefan told Elena while glancing up at her through small window.

"What?" Elena questioned in shock. "Don't say that."

"I'm sorry, Elena," Stefan apologized. "No more. After what I've done, it has to end. I just want it over."

Elena didn't know what to say, so she gave Stefan one last look before quickly walked back on the stairs and away from her boyfriend. Emily sighed from the wall she was leaning on. She decided to say one thing to Stefan before she followed after her sister. Emily slowly made her way up to the small window and saw that Stefan was still staring at the bottle of blood. "You need to fight," Emily spoke right away. "You can't give up now, that is not what the Stefan I know does." Emily sighed when she didn't get a reaction from the vampire. "Just please don't give up. I need you to keep on living and the only way you can do that, is if you drink from that bottle." Emily gave Stefan a small smile and whispered, "I believe in you, Stef," before leaving the cellar and headed to the living room where her sister and Damon sat in silence.

Emily sighed when she sat next to Elena on the couch, "I tried, but he's still not drinking."

Damon shrugged across from the girls on a leather chair, "he's just being dramatic. He's not gonna starve himself."

"Why would he say that?" Elena questioned the older Salvatore with sadness in her voice.

"He feels bad about hurting that girl," Damon explained, "it's a very typical Stefan martyr. It will pass."

"Will it?" Elena questioned, "because he seemed to be in a lot of pain."

"Yeah. well, that will pass too, once he eats," Damon tried to explain.

"I didn't mean physical pain," Elena corrected Damon.

"I know what you meant," Damon told the younger sister. He stared into Elena's eyes when he stood up, "look, are you gonna be okay here if I have to run out? I have to go to an errand with the teacher."

Emily rose an eyebrow at Damon, "since when did the vampire hunter and vampire became friends?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "I don't have friends."

Emily faked gasped, "I thought we were friends."

Damon smirked over at the older sister before turning towards Elena with worried eyes, "you should, um, you should stay up here. You shouldn't be down there by yourself."

"I'll be fine," Elena told Damon.

Emily rolled her eyes, "I will protect my sister, Damon. She will be fine."

Damon looked at the two girls before his eyes focused on Elena, "you know… you're both very trusting of him, given the circumstances."

"He's still Stefan deep inside, we can still trust him," Emily told Damon, defending the green eyed vampire.

Elena looked over at Damon, "so are you, otherwise you wouldn't be leaving."

Damon stared at Elena for a moment before speaking, "I won't be long."

* * *

 _SALVATORE ESTATE 1864_

 _The small town of Mystic Falls was silent after the day of chaos that took place. It was pitch black dark, so many people of the small town were already asleep. Stefan quietly made it way up the Salvatore Estate, but pauses when he hears two voices with his new vampire hearing._

 _"May I offer you a drink, Mr. Gilbert?" Giuseppe Salvatore questioned._

 _"Thank you, Mr. Salvatore," Johnathan Gilbert thanked the older man._

 _"This won't touch much longer," Giuseppe promised._

 _While the two men continued to speak, Stefan slowly made his way closer to the large house he used to call home._

 _"I want to make sure the founders' archives are accurate," Jonathan told the man while writing carefully in the large book that would go down in history._

 _"Be sure to document the loss of civilian life in the church," Giuseppe commanded while pouring another glass of alcohol._

 _"They were hardly civilians, Mr. Salvatore," Jonathan grunted out while looking down at his writing._

 _"As far as anyone needs to know, they were," Giuseppe stressed. "As the record keeper for the council, what you write will be passed down through generations. Certain details should be kept only between you and me."_

 _"For example?" Johnathan questioned._

 _"My sons," Giuseppe answered. "They will be remembered as the innocent victims of the Battle of Willow Creek, not for their shame."_

 _Johnathan nodded, "certainly, Mr. Salvatore."_

* * *

Elena decided she wanted to try to get through Stefan again, and just as promised, Emily stood by her sister's side. It wasn't that she didn't trust the younger Salvatore, it's just that he didn't have his perfect control that he used to have.

"You know, Damon hasn't fed me vervain in a while," Stefan mumbled with his head between his knees on the floor of the dark cellar. "I could be at those bars in a flash, and you'd be dead."

Emily decided to speak up next to her sister, seeing how all this was affecting Elena. "We both know that you won't, Stef," Emily told the green eyed vampire.

Stefan glanced up when he heard Emily's voice, before looking back at the ground, "please just go away. I don't want you here."

Emily shook her head, she wasn't just going to let Stefan suffer in here. If they were going to help him, they actually had to do something about it. So, Emily pulled with all her might and opened the door, she and Elena quickly slipped in. Emily made sure to stand in front of Elena, she would always protect her sister first.

"What are you doing?" Stefan spoke with tiredness in his voice. "Get out of here."

Emily grabbed onto Elena's hand, "we're not going anymore, Stefan."

"You're taking a stupid risk. I could hurt both of you," Stefan told the older girl.

"You won't hurt Elena, I'd let you go through me before you could touch Elena," Emily told Stefan strongly. She bent down and picked up the full bottle of blood and held it out to Stefan, "you need to drink. It's the only way for you to get better, Stefan."

"Emily, get out of here, or I will take you on your offer," Stefan growled out from the ground.

Emily ignored when Elena tried to pull her out of the room, she continued to stare at Stefan, "I'm not leaving you. Drink."

Stefan vamp sped up and rushed towards Emily, causing Emily to jump and stood protectively in front of Elena. "I said get out," Stefan growled out loudly.

Emily stared hard into Stefan's eyes, "we are not leaving."

Stefan finally listened to the older sister and let his face transform back to normal. He slowly made his way back to the small bed that he had laid on for the best few days.

Since Emily saw that Stefan had a small bit of control, she decided to let Elena away from her side, so she could talk to Stefan. Emily stood against the wall, while Elena slowly made her way to the small bed and sat next to Stefan. "Talk to me, Stefan," Elena stressed, "why are you doing this?"

Stefan had his eyes closed when he spoke up, "I'm making the decision I should have made years ago."

"What are you talking about?" Elena questioned in confusion.

"You have to feed in order to complete the transition," Stefan stated.

Elena nodded her head while she stared at Stefan, "I know that."

"It was a choice I shouldn't have made," Stefan told Elena while staring into her brown eyes.

* * *

 _SALVATORE ESTATE 1864_

 _Giuseppe Salvatore sat at his desk, writing in a small book with a drink to his left, when he heard footsteps. He looked up and jumped in fright when he saw his supposed to bed dead son, Stefan Salvatore. "Dear God!" Giuseppe whispered when he stood up and stared at the boy._

 _"Even in our death, you only feel shame?" Stefan questioned his father._

 _"You're one of them now," Giuseppe stated._

 _"No," Stefan spoke before slowly making his way into the small room. "Father, I came to say goodbye."_

 _"I watched you die," Giuseppe stated._

 _Stefan's eyes widened in shock before questioning, "you were there when we were shot?"_

 _"I pulled the trigger myself," Giuseppe truthfully spoke._

 _"You killed your own sons?" Stefan questioned disbelief._

 _"You were both dead to me the moment you sided with the vampires," Giuseppe spoke with anger. "I only thank God that your mother isn't alive to see the disgrace you've become."_

 _Stefan quickly shook his head, "I haven't turned yet. I don't want to. I'm going to let myself die, father. Please," Stefan cried out._

 _"Yes, you are," Giuseppe spoke with calmness. The sound of his voice didn't match his actions, because he quickly grabbed a wooden rod next to the roaring fire and broke it over his knee. Giuseppe held the broken wooden rod over his head and went to strike his son, but Stefan was faster. Stefan threw his father against the wall, causing Giuseppe to land on the wooden rod._

 _Stefan quickly rushed towards the older man once he saw what he did, "father, I didn't mean to!" Stefan sat on his knees over his father, staring at the rod that stood in his father's chest with wide eyes._

 _"Get away from me," Giuseppe groaned out in pain while holding tightly onto the rod._

 _Stefan shook his head, "no, let me help you." He quickly pulled the rod out of his father's stomach. But what Stefan wasn't counting on, was on the blood. Stefan looked at his the rod in his hands and saw the warm blood on his hands. He stared at the blood in interest before slowly bringing his bloody fingers to his pale lips. Stefan looked at his father's wound in amazement before he pushed the older man's hand away and carefully placed his hand against the bloody wound. As soon as he brought the fresh blood to his mouth, his face began to change to the monster is father hated._

 _Stefan gasped in pain when he felt something happening to his body all at once, "oh, God! What's happening to me?" It was his body completely the transition from his own father's blood._

* * *

"How can you even look at me right now?" Stefan spoke quietly while looking over to Elena.

"You need to be able to talk about these things, Stefan. I need to hear them," Elena spoke before carefully touching Stefan's arm. "Come upstairs. We can talk about it more, and we'll keep talking as long as you need."

Stefan looked over at Elena, "you're so sure I'm ready?""

Elena nodded her head, "I am. I know you are." When Stefan didn't say anything she got up from the small bed and moved to the cellar door.

Emily gave Elena a small smile before walking closer to Stefan. She pulled out Stefan's ring that he needed and sat it next to the vampire. "If you're not ready, then you can stay here, but if you are, this will be here for you," Emily spoke softly. "But I do believe that you are ready. You are Stefan Salvatore, I believe in you," Emily told her friend before walking out of the cellar.

* * *

Emily made her way to the living room and saw her sister sitting on the couch when her diary in her hand. She made her way over to the same couch Elena was on and leaned her head on Elena's shoulder. "Are you okay?" Emily questioned in her sister.

Elena sighed before closing her diary and looking over at her sister, "I just wish that I could help him more."

Emily nodded her head in understanding, "you will," she promised her sister. "Just let him think for a while. I think we got through to him."

Elena smiled over at her sister, "thank you for helping me with Stefan."

Emily kissed the side of her sister's head, "I don't mind helping, he's my best friend. I'll always be there for him."

Damon suddenly walked into the room with a groan, "ugh. God. you're still here?"

Emily rolled her eyes at the older vampire, "oh shut up, Damon." Emily smirked, "we didn't want you to get lonely."

Damon rolled his eyes and plopped down on the couch, "I don't get lonely."

Elena ignored the duo's banter before turning to Damon in wonder, "so, how was the errand?"

"Futile," Damon mumbled. "Although, I think I witnessed the teacher having an existential crisis." Damon glanced over at both girls, "have Stefan eaten yet?"

Emily rose an eyebrow at the vampire, "when did Damon begin to care for his brother?"

Damon shrugged, "just wondering."

Emily rolled her eyes before growing serious and glanced over at Elena with a smile, "I think he's getting better."

Elena nodded her head, "but he's got a lot of guilt that he has to deal with. And it doesn't help that you've spent the last 145 years punishing him for Katherine getting caught."

"This is my fault now?" Damon questioned.

"No, it's no one's fault, Damon," Elena shook her head. "I'm just… saying you're not exactly innocent. You've made it your life's mission to make him miserable."

Damon quickly stood up and began to place the living room before turning to Elena, "let me ask you a question. In all this important soul searching and cleansing of the demons of Stefan's past, did you ever manage to get the rest of the story?"

"He said there was more," Elena exclaimed.

"Yeah. that's an understatement," Damon growled out.

When Damon went to walk out of the room, Elena quickly stood up and grabbed Damon's arm, "Damon. Damon, tell me."

* * *

 _Q_ _UARRY 1864_

 _It was dark time at the quarry when Stefan finally arrived back to his older brother. But when Damon turned around, he saw a happy Stefan with a scared young girl. Damon looked at Stefan in confusion, "what are you doing? Who is that?"_

 _"I brought her for you," Stefan told his brother, "She's a gift." Stefan turned towards the girl and stared into her eyes, "have a seat, please."_

 _The young girl sat down on the steps on the small burnt building that was for shelter. Damon looked over at Stefan with wide eyes, "what have you done, Stefan?"_

 _"Damon, I've been to see father," Stefan began, "he came at me. I didn't know my own strength. There was blood everywhere. He was dying, and the blood was too strong. I needed it. I had to have it," Stefan explained._

 _"You fed," Damon stated, already realizing the answer._

 _"Yes," Stefan nodded with a smile on his face. "And it's incredible. My body is exploding with power, Damon."_

 _"No," Damon cried out quietly._

 _"I can hear things from far away," Stefan exclaimed, "I can see through the darkness. I can move, like it's magic." Stefan moved closer to Damon and grabbed onto his long shirt, "and the guilt, the pain… Damon, I can turn it off. Like a switch. Katherine was right. It's a whole nother world out there, Damon."_

 _Damon tried move away from his excited brother and groaned out, "Katherine is dead, Stefan. There's no world without her."_

 _When Damon tried to walk away from him, Stefan quickly turned his brother around and grabbed his face tightly, "no. you can turn that off, too. You don't have to feel that pain anymore."_

 _"I don't want it," Damon told his brother while trying to push Stefan's hands off of him._

 _"You're weak," Stefan told Damon, "you'll be dead soon. You need this," Stefan tried to convince his brother._

 _Damon shook his head and quietly whispered, "no."_

 _"You'll die," Stefan stressed._

 _"No. I can't," Damon cried out in pain for the lost of Katherine._

 _Stefan stared at Damon for a moment before turning to the young girl, "please," he spoke before softly grabbing onto her hand and pulled her closer to him. Stefan glanced at Damon before turning to the girl with his fangs out and took a small nip from her neck, causing a few drops of blood to fall. "I won't let you die," Stefan promised Damon._

 _Damon quickly shook his head, "no. I can't."_

 _"Don't fight it," Stefan commanded. "We can do this... together." Stefan turned back to the girl and turned her neck to the side while holding tightly onto Damon's neck. As soon as Damon saw the blood, it was like he was in a trance. With Katherine not on his mind, Damon moved closer to the young girl before drinking the sweet blood._

* * *

Damon took a large drink of bourbon, "from the moment Stefan had his first taste of human blood, he was a different person," Damon explained. "I suppose I should thank him. It's been one hell of a ride," Damon chuckled humorlessly.

Elena eyes widened, "oh, my God. he said he wanted to die." Elena quickly turned towards her sister, "that's why he won't feed. Now I understand why, but…" Elena trailed off when she turned back to Damon.

"His choice," Damon mumbled before pouring more bourbon into his glass. "If he's stupid enough to make it, so be it."

Emily rolled her eyes at Damon, "he's your brother, don't act like you don't care about him." Emily quickly grabbed Elena's hand and jogged out of the room and headed straight for the cellar.

"Where are you going?" Damon yelled after the two girls, but Emily ignored him and quickly made their way to the cellar.

Emily jogged ahead of her sister, worried what Stefan would do. Of course, her worse fear was happening, because the cellar door was wide open and inside was no Stefan. But was even worse when Emily moved into the room, she saw that Stefan's ring was sitting on the small bed. Emily quickly turned towards Elena and showed her sister the ring.

"What are we going to do?" Elena asked her sister with wide eyes.

Emily walked up to Elena, "we aren't going to do anything." Emily grabbed Elena's hand and placed Stefan's ring inside before closing her hand, "but you are." When Elena looked at her in confusion and worry, Emily continued, "you are going to be the one to get through to Stefan, Elena." Emily gave Elena a small smile, "you know what to do."

Elena looked at her sister before nodding her head and quickly ran out of the room and out of the house, heading straight to where she knew Stefan would be, the quarry.

Emily really believed that Elena could get through to Stefan one last time. Even though Emily wished she could be the one that could get through to Stefan, for some reason unknown to her, she was glad that Stefan was going to get better. Emily just wanted to see the Stefan that she knew and loved.


	26. Chapter 26

Emily was walking with the happy couple of Elena and Stefan. She knew that Elena could come through to Stefan, and she did. For once everything was okay, no problems needed immediate attention. Maybe that wasn't the case, they are in Mystic Falls.

Alaric came up the trio and mumbled out, "come with me. We need to talk."

Emily''s face screwed up in one of confusion before looking back over at her sister and best friend, who was wearing the same expression. Emily shrugged her shoulders before they quickly followed after the serious history teacher.

Emily's brows furrowed while she watched Alaric pace up and down his classroom. Apparently, Emily wasn't the only confused one, because Stefan spoke up, "Alaric, what's going on?"

Alaric finally turned to the three confused faces and sighed, "I saw Isobel."

Emily's eyes widened as soon her birth mother's name was out of Alaric's mouth. She couldn't believe that the women was actually in Mystic Falls, after all she done from keeping Emily and Elena from finding her. Stefan glanced over at the two shocked faces of the twins before turning to Alaric, "what did she say?"

Alaric looked over at Emily and Elena before speaking, "she wants to meet you two… or she is going to start killing people."

Stefan's eyes widened in shock before pulling out his phone, "I'll call Damon," Stefan mumbled.

Emily moved over towards Elena and grabbed onto her hand. Elena looked up at her sister in nervousness before squeezing her hand tightly. Emily didn't know what to think. If Isobel went through all this trouble to keep herself hidden, why does she want to meet now? Something bad was going to come, nothing ever is normal in Mystic Falls.

* * *

Finally, after about fifteen minutes, Damon finally walked through the door the history classroom. "Damon, thanks for coming," Alaric spoke when he saw the vampire.

"Sorry I'm late," Damon smirked, "my dog ate my uh… never mind." When it went silent, Damon glanced at everyone's faces, "what's with all the furrowed brows?"

"I saw Isobel last night," Alaric explained to Damon.

Damon quickly looked back Alaric, "Isobel is here?" Once Alaric nodded, Damon questioned again, "in town?" When Alaric only stared at him, Damon already knew his answer. He quickly turned his head, and looked over at Elena in worry.

It was silent for moment while Damon paced around the room, thinking before he turned back to the history teacher, "did you ask her about uncle John? Are they working together?"

"No," Alaric simply answered.

"No, they're not?" Damon questioned in confusion.

"No, I didn't ask," Alaric corrected himself.

"What about the invention?" Damon continued.

Alaric shook his head, "didn't ask."

"Did she know about the tomb vampires?" Damon questioned.

"I don't know," Alaric mumbled.

"Did words completely escape you?" Damon growled out when he didn't get the answers he wanted.

"No, I was a little too distracted by my dead vampire wife to ask any questions," Alaric growled back at the vampire.

Damon glanced over at Elena with soft eyes before questioning, "what did she want?"

"She wants to see us, Damon," Elena told the older vampire.

"Alaric is supposed to arrange a meeting," Stefan told his brother, "we don't know why or what she wants."

Damon continued to stare at Elena with worry eyes, "you don't have to see her if you don't want to."

"I don't really have a choice," Elena mumbled. Emily grabbed her sister's hand when she saw Elena starting to get uncomfortable. She kept quiet while the whole time, she was still in shock that her birth mother wanted to meet her and Elena.

"She's threatened to go on a killing spree," Alaric explained to Damon.

"Oh," Damon mumbled. "I take it that's not okay with you guys."

Elena squeezed her sister's hand before turning to the older vampire, "I want to do it. I want to meet her. If I don't, I know I'll regret it."

"I'll be with you the whole time, Lena," Emily promised her sister, "if you want to do it."

* * *

Alaric had spoke to Isobel and agreed for her meet the Gilbert sisters, so Emily and Elena sat next to each other in a booth in the middle of a busy Mystic Grill. Elena jumped when a waitress sat two cups of coffee in front of the girls. Emily gave the waitress a thankful smile before turning to Elena, "hey, everything will be okay. I'm right here." Emily smirked, "and if you look across from you, you will see Stefan watching us."

Elena quickly looked up and saw her boyfriend at the pool time, looking up at her. "Can you hear me?" Elena spoke quietly. Once Stefan nodded, she spoke again, "thanks for coming, I'm nervous." Stefan chuckled quietly before Elena spoke, "but I'm happy you're here. Love you." Stefan mouthed back to her the same.

Emily's eyes widened once a woman with dark hair took a seat across from them. She realized this woman was her birth mother. Anybody could see that this woman was related to the twins, she made dark brown hair and green eyes, that matched with Emily's. Isobel smiled slightly while looking at the two girls. "You look just like them," she spoke before looking at Elena, "you look just like her, that's eerie." Emily was confused when she said them, who else was just talking about if not only Katherine?

Elena's eyes widened, "you've met Katherine?"

Emily continued to look at the woman in confusion, "who were talking about when you said we look like them?"

Isobel looked at her older daughter, "that's not important now," before turning towards Elena, "she found me after I turned. Genetic curiosity, I suppose." Isobel smiled, "she would be fascinated by you," she twitched her head to the side when she looked at her older daughter, "by the both of you, actually."

Emily knew that she wasn't going to get her answer so she decided to question her on something that she would answer. She looked down at Isobel's neck, "is that how you can walk in the sun?"

Isobel glanced down at the necklace that was hanging loosely around her neck before nodding, "Katherine helped me obtain it."

"Who's our father?" Elena questioned.

"Not important," Isobel mumbled. "He was a teenage waste of space," she spoke carelessly.

Emily glared at the woman, "a name would be nice."

"It would, wouldn't it?" Isobel spoke. "You both ask a lot of questions."

"That's what happens when your birth mother walks into your life after sixteen years," Emily told the older woman.

Isobel smirked, "I know you are definitely my daughter."

It was quiet for a moment before Elena questioned in wonder, "why did you compel that man to kill himself? Right after he told us to stop looking for you."

"And why try to find us after all this time trying to stop us from finding you?" Emily questioned with her head tilted to the side.

Isobel shrugged lightly, "dramatic impact. I wish it would have been more effective."

"Human life means that little to you?" Elena questioned Isobel with disgust in her voice.

Isobel smiled and shook her head, "it means nothing to me. It's just part of being what I am."

Elena shook her head, "no, it's not. I know other vampires, that's not true."

"You mean your boyfriend over there by the pool table?" Isobel questioned while staring into Elena's brown eyes, "Stefan Salvatore." She looked at Elena in wonder, "why Stefan? Why didn't you go for Damon? Or are you enjoying them both like Katherine?" Isobel looked over at Emily with a smirk, "or are you both sharing Stefan?"

Emily's eyes widened as soon as the words left Isobel's mouth. She glanced over at Elena, who had the same expression while staring at their birth mother. Emily glanced to Stefan, who looked at her before avoiding her eyes. Emily's eyes furrowed, what the hell was going on? Did Isobel know something she didn't?

Emily decided to ask Isobel the question that had been bothering her since Isobel came into town, "why did you want to meet us? Why now?"

Isobel looked at her oldest daughter with soft eyes, "because I'm curious about you two." Isobel's face changed to one of neutral before she spoke, "but the real reason is, I want what your uncle wants. Johnathan Gilbert's invention."

"Of course you know the devil," Emily mumbled quietly.

"How do you know our uncle?" Elena questioned Isobel.

Isobel glanced over at Emily with a small smirk before looking back to Elena, "I used to spend a lot of time here when I was younger. John had a crush on me for years. He was the first one that told me about vampires," Isobel explained.

"So what made you want to be one?" Elena questioned.

"It's a very long list of reasons, Elena. All of which I'm sure you've thought about," Isobel told her younger daughter.

Elena shook her head immediately, "no."

"That was your first lie," Isobel spoke, "it's inevitable, you're going to get old, Stefan won't." Isobel paused when she saw Elena glanced over at her vampire boyfriend before continuing, "forever doesn't last very long when you're human."

Emily glared at the older woman that gave birth to her, she didn't have the right to take a bite out of Elena like that, pun not intended. "We will not help you get the invention back," Emily got out of the booth and pulled Elena with her, "have fun, Isobel."

Isobel quickly grabbed Elena's wrist tightly, "sit down or Elena gets a broken wrist." Isobel glanced behind Elena and said, "and tell your boyfriend to walk away." Emily glanced over to Stefan and gave him a reassuring tight smile.

Emily looked over towards Elena and gave her small nod before the two sisters slid back into the booth. Emily glared at the older woman, "touch Elena again and Stefan will be the least of your worries."

Isobel ignored her daughter's threats and stated, "I want the invention."

"We don't have it," Elena told Isobel.

"I know that," Isobel smirked, "but Damon does and you're going to get it from him."

Elena shook her head, "he's not going to give it to me."

"Then the blood will be on your hands," Isobel told the two girls. She got up from the table before turning to the sisters with a small smirk, "it was nice meeting you, girls," before she walked away and out of Mystic Grill.

Emily rolled her eyes when the woman finally walked away before mumbling, "bitch." Emily turned to look over at Elena and saw that she had tears in eyes. Emily sighed, "oh, Elena." She pulled her sister into a tight hug. Emily knew Elena couldn't be dealing with meeting Isobel good, especially after Isobel threatened her.

Emily pulled away from Elena when she heard footsteps walking towards them and saw Bonnie standing right in front of them with a confused face. The Bennett witch was about to speak, but she someone behind Elena's shoulder, so she quickly bolted out the Grill. Emily turned around and saw that it was Stefan that Bonnie saw. Emily sighed heavily when she saw Elena quickly run into Stefan's arms with tears rolling down her face.

Stefan looked over Elena's shoulder towards the older sister and mouthed, "are you okay?"

Emily gave Stefan a small smile and nodded. Emily was more worried about Elena, she was taking it more harder. Isobel did threaten Elena, she must be scared out of her mind. Emily already didn't like Isobel since she didn't want either of them, and then she goes and threatens Elena for the invention, that wasn't okay with Emily. She already had a loving mother, she didn't want Isobel in hers or Elena's life even more than she already was.


	27. Chapter 27

Emily walked into one of the many biology classrooms in Mystic Falls High School with Elena quickly trying to keep up with her. Emily smiled when she saw the Bennett witch, "hey, you called. What's up?" Emily was beyond happy when Elena had told her Bonnie made up with her. It felt off balance without Bonnie talking to him.

Bonnie looked up from the grimiore she was looking through and smiled, "hey! Thanks for meeting me. I wanted you guys to see this."

Emily and Elena moved closer to Bonnie, who was sitting at one the desks with a large book. Emily looked at it closely, remembering the book, "is that your ancestors?"

Bonnie nodded, "I've been going through it since Grams died." Bonnie pointed to the book, "check this out."

The two Gilbert twins looked down at the old page Bonnie had pointed to. Elena looked at the page in surprise, "that's the vampire compass."

"Yeah," Bonnie nodded. "According to Emily, Johnathan Gilbert never actually succeeded in inventing anything. Emily secretly spelled them all with magic. Compass, rings, and the mystery device you told me about," Bonnie explained.

Bonnie began to flip through the book slowly, to point out everything she mentioned. Elena quickly placed her finger on a drawing that looked familiar. "Yeah, that's it. Well, a part of it. Damon only has the one piece," Elena explained to Bonnie.

"Emily pledged her loyalty to Katherine," Bonnie began to explain, "but she couldn't stand by and watch innocent people get killed. This is the only way she could think of to help. To let Johnathan Gilbert believe that he'd actually invented these devices."

Emily looked down at the drawing of the device before looking up at Bonnie in wonder, "does it say what the device does?"

Bonnie looked down at the page before she started to read to herself. It was silent for a moment before Bonnie looked at Emily in confusion, "are you sure this is what Isobel wants?"

Emily nodded her head, "I'm extremely sure, she threatened Elena for it," Emily rolled her eyes.

"Well, this a weapon," Bonnie explained, "against vampires."

Emily's eyes widened once Bonnie finished her sentence. She quickly turned to Elena, "we need to find Stefan." The two girls quickly ran to the door, but not before Emily paused and turned to the confused Bonnie, "thank you so much Bon Bon! I owe you one!"

Once Emily caught up with Elena, she grabbed onto her hand before quickly jogging outside the school, knowing Stefan was helping with the Miss Mystic Falls float. The two sisters slowed down and carefully looked through the students for the green eyed vampire.

"Elena! Emily!" Someone called from behind them.

Emily glanced behind her and saw that it was her brother, "hey, Jer," Emily called out while continuing to look through the students.

"Hey, have you seen Stefan?" Elena questioned Jeremy, "we need to find him."

"No, not lately," Jeremy told his sister before quickly catching up with his two sisters. "Listen, do you have a second?" Jeremy questioned.

Emily turned and looked at Jeremy in worry, "what's wrong, Jer?"

Jeremy sighed, "well, it's Anna. I left her all these messages, and she hasn't gotten back to me - not even a text."

Elena glanced over at Emily before looking towards Jeremy in confusion, "Anna? I didn't know that you guys were still friends."

"We're more than friends," Jeremy corrected his sister. "Look, something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything, you've got to tell me."

Elena shook her head, "I haven't talked to her, Jer."

"Are you lying to me right now?" Jeremy asked seriously.

Emily rose an eyebrow at her brother's attitude. "Jer, what's going on? Why would we lie to you?"

Jeremy glanced over at Emily and mumbled, "that's what you guys do. You lie. You lie about everything. I know what Anna is and I know that you both know." Jeremy looked over at Emily with sadness, "I thought you would tell me the truth." Jeremy glanced over at Elena, "so tell me, do you have any idea where she is?"

Emily's eyes widened, she never wanted Jeremy to find out. And now, he wasn't going to trust her since she never told him. Emily bit her lip, "no." Emily sighed when Jeremy just stared at her, "Jer, I was prot-"

But before Emily could try to get Jeremy to understand, he quickly rushed away from his two sisters. Emily sighed and turned around to face Elena, but when she did, she saw the woman she didn't like at the moment over Elena's shoulder. Emily quickly pulled Emily beside her and glared at the older woman, "Isobel. What could you possibly want at this time?"

Isobel smiled, "I'm your mother, Emily. I want to be more involved in yours and Elena's life."

"Thanks, but no thanks. We're going to pass," Emily smiled fakely at Isobel.

Isobel nodded her head, "you both have so many people that you care about. But I've been studying." Isobel smiled before turning to the crowd of students, "let's see if I got this right." Isobel looked around before stopping on someone, "there's the witchy friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one." Isobel moved her eyes to someone else with a sigh, "oh… sad little brother, Jeremy." Isobel continued to move her eyes before she stopped on a blonde, "and there's Caroline, Emily's best friend and obnoxious Caroline. I got all of my info from her by the way. She had no idea who I was and she wouldn't stop yapping." Isobel moved her eyes to another person, "and there's Tyler, Emily's best friend since childhood. Too bad you guys didn't date, would have been so cute," Isobel told her older daughter. She focused once more before mumbling, "oh." She glanced back at her daughters before staring at her next target, "and there's Matt, Emily's friend, Elena's ex, and yappy's future ex. Lots of connections there."

Elena glared at Isobel, "Matt is not involved in this."

"He's involved with you, isn't he?" Isobel questioned right back.

"You need to leave, Isobel," Emily glared at the older woman. She didn't take it kindly when her birth mother was threatening all the people she cared about.

"No," Isobel spoke strongly, "I have some friends here too. Look," Isobel pointed towards her right, causing the twins to look where she was pointing at, "you see that man over there, standing next to Matt by the float? His name's Frank. He's very handsome and he's also quite handy. And he noticed that the axle was kind of rusted, which is very dangerous. So, all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure and…"

Elena realized what Isobel was doing so she quickly yelled out, "no!" But it was too late, because Frank quickly jumped on top of the trailer, causing it to slam right into Matt's hand. Elena tried to run to help Matt, but Isobel quickly gripped onto her arm. Isobel looked at Emily pointedly, letting her know that she will keep her promise from yesterday.

Emily had to watch Matt be in constant pain while people tried to help raise the trailer from Matt's hand. Emily glared at Isobel, "why are you doing this? They have nothing to do with this."

"I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people that you care about," Isobel explained.

"And you're doing this just because of Johnathan Gilbert's invention?" Elena questioned out of breath.

"Hand it over and the fun will stop," Isobel told Elena.

"I told you, Damon is not going to give to me," Elena stressed.

"And I think you underestimate how much Damon cares about you," Isobel smirked over at Elena.

"He'll kill you before he gives it up," Elena told the older woman.

"Is that before or after I kill your brother, Jeremy?" Isobel questioned with a head tilt.

Emily eyes widened, she quickly turned around and tried to find her brother through the crowd. When she couldn't see him, she yelled out, "Jeremy!" Emily turned back around to Isobel, but saw that she was already gone. Emily looked over at Elena with wide eyes, who was looking at her with the same expression. "We'll get him back," Emily whispered in Elena's hear when she pulled her sister into a tight hug.

* * *

After explaining to Stefan and Bonnie what happened, the group was in a quiet classroom trying to think of what to do. It was silent for a moment before Bonnie spoke up, "where is the device?"

"Damon has it," Stefan explained, "he's going to be difficult to reason with."

Emily rolled her eyes with her arms crossed, "that's an understatement," Emily mumbled.

"Then we'll - we'll go to him. I'll talk to him," Elena spoke quickly.

"He's not just going to hand it over," Stefan told his girlfriend, "especially if it's harmful to vampires."

"What if it's not?" Elena questioned after coming up with an idea.

* * *

"Absolutely not!" Damon yelled out when the four people walked through the Salvatore boarding house with their idea.

"Just hear me out," Elena begged.

"I'm not gonna give the device to Isobel, so she could give it to John, who is gonna turn around and kill me. I like being a living dead person," Damon explained.

"But it'll be useless," Elena exclaimed, "Bonnie can take its power away."

"I don't trust her," Damon told Elena.

"I can remove the original spell," Bonnie explained to the vampire.

Elena looked at Damon pointedly, "John and Isobel will never know."

Damon thought for a moment before shaking his head, "no, I'll get Jeremy in my own way."

Emily glared at the vampire, "no. I am not leaving my brother's life in your hands, Damon."

Stefan rose an eyebrow at his brother, "really? How are you going to do that? Because Isobel is a vampire and Jeremy could be dead the second you walk in the door," Stefan spoke, agreeing with Emily.

Damon ignored Emily and his brother, instead he turned to Bonnie in question, "are you even up for this? I mean, no offense, but you're no Emily Bennett. Emily knew what she was doing."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "I've been practicing."

"It's not piano lessons, honey," Damon glared at Bonnie.

Bonnie stood up and walked right in front of Damon before questioning, "what's your favorite book?"

"What?" Damon mumbled.

"Name a book, any book," Bonnie continued.

"Name a book," Damon repeated before thinking, "how about 'Call of the Wild', Jack London?"

Bonnie nodded her head once before walking closely towards the library. It quiet for a moment, before a book flew straight into Damon's hands. The older Salvatore looked at the book in his hand, "Jack London. Great parlor trick," Damon spoke before throwing the book on the couch.

"We're doing this, Damon," Elena spoke. "And we're doing it my way. Now, give me the device." When Damon only stared at her, Elena yelped, "we're wasting time!"

Damon moved his blues eyes towards Bonnie's brown eyes, "I don't trust you, I tried to kill you."

Bonnie smirked, "hmm. You're right, you can't trust me."

"But you can trust me," Elena quickly spoke before Damon would back out of the agreement.

Damon stared into Elena big brown eyes for a long moment before pulling out of the device and handing it over to Elena with a sigh. "Thank you," Elena whispered to Damon.

After a moment, Elena walked towards Bonnie and handed her the device. Bonnie walked towards a tall table and laid it down before pulling her ancestor's grimiore out of her purse before turning to a certain page. She looked at the pocket watch carefully before she pulled out the vampire device from it. Bonnie stared at the device before lifted her hands up and the device began to float in the air. The lights in the Salvatore boarding house began to flicker and flames in the fireplace grew larger, Bonnie opened her eyes and the device fell into her hands. Bonnie turned towards Elena and mumbled, "done."

"Great, now what?" Damon questioned.

"Now we give it to Isobel," Elena exclaimed once Bonnie handed over the device.

* * *

It was now dark in Mystic Falls when Emily and Elena began to walk through the town square, looking for their birth mother. They took a few more steps in quiet town before suddenly there was a loud sound. Emily turned around and saw that Isobel stood right in front of them.

"Where is the device?" Isobel quickly asked.

Emily glared at the woman, "this is not how we are going to do this, where's our brother?"

"This isn't a negotiation. Where is the invention?" Isobel tried again.

"Where is our brother?" Emily questioned again.

"Do you really think I am came alone?" Isobel questioned with a small smile.

Emily glanced behind her when she heard two pairs of footsteps, and saw the man from earlier and a woman. Emily smirked, "oh mother, we are so alike. Do you think we came alone?" Emily questioned right back and pointed her head behind Isobel.

Isobel looked behind her and saw the Salvatore brothers. She rolled her eyes, "for God sakes, call home."

"What?" Elena questioned in confusion.

"Call home and ask to speak to your brother, Jeremy," Isobel continued.

Emily quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed the Gilbert house. She waited for a few nervous seconds before Jeremy spoke, "hello?"

Emily sighed in relief, "hey, Jer. are you okay?"

Jeremy sighed, "yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Uncle John hit his head, it was an accident."

Emily heard Jenna speak up in the background, "and we are all laughing."

Jeremy chuckled, "but yeah, I'm okay."

Emily nodded her head with a small, "how about we make fun of John when I get home, yeah? I'll see you soon," Emily promised her brother before ending the call.

Elena looked at Isobel in realization, "you were never going to hurt him."

"No," Isobel pouted, "I was going to kill him." Noticing Elena's furrowed brows, Isobel spoke, "don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."

Emily rose an eyebrow at Isobel, "how did you know Damon was going to give her the device?"

Isobel smirked over at her two daughters before focusing on Elena, "because Damon is in love with you," Isobel turned back to Emily with a brighter smirk, "and Stefan is in love with you."

Emily glanced over to Stefan in confusion and saw that he was staring at the ground. She then glanced over at her sister, who wouldn't even look at her. Emily glared at Isobel and spoke seriously, "thank you."

"For what?" Isobel questioned in confusion.

"For being the worse person in the world. Thank you for giving us away," Emily shook her head with a smirk, "I'm glad we didn't get raised by you and became such a bitch, like you."

Isobel smirked over at her older daughter, "you have Katherine's attitude." She glanced over at Elena, "goodbye, Elena, Emily. As long as either of you have a Salvatore brother on your arm, you're doomed. Katherine was smart. She got out." Isobel looked only at Elena, "and we all know you're no Katherine, sweetie."

Emily watched with a sigh when Elena walked towards Stefan and pulled him into a tight hug once Isobel had walked away. Emily didn't know what to think, with what Isobel told everyone. She didn't feel that way for Stefan, or did she?

* * *

Later that night, Emily knocked on Elena's door softly before opening the door. "Can we talk?" Emily asked quietly.

Elena only nodded her head.

"I just want to clear something help, I don't have feelings for Stefan," Emily told her sister when she stood in front of Elena's bed. "Isobel doesn't know what the hell she is talking about. She has to be lying, Lena. I'm your sister, please believe me."

Elena stood up from her bed softly before pulling Emily into a hug, "I believe you, Emmie. You're right. Isobel will only do what she wants to mess everything up. I just didn't know what to think when she said that."

Emily smiled at Elena, "it's okay. I love you, Lena." Emily kissed the top of Elena's head, "get some sleep."

Emily stepped out of Elena's bedroom and sighed once she closed the door. She was glad that nothing would change between her and Elena. Emily quietly made her way to her bedroom. She closed her door before grabbing a t-shirt and sweatpants from her closet. But Emily dropped her clothes to the ground when she saw someone standing in the middle of her room. "What are you doing here?" Emily asked quietly.

"I needed to talk to you," Stefan spoke carefully.

Emily nodded her and mumbled, "I figured that," before she picked up the clothes she dropped and threw her on her bed.

Stefan twitched his head to the side, "are you heading to bed?"

Emily nodded before tried to pull off her hoodie over her head. But of course she would struggle getting it off. Stefan stood behind her and helped her take it off, but what Emily didn't know, Stefan slipped off her vervain necklace along with it.

Emily threw her hoodie on her desk chair before turning to Stefan, "so what did you want to talk about?" Emily really hoped it wasn't the conversation she knew they needed to have.

Stefan looked into Emily's green eyes before closing his eyes with a sigh, "I need to get this off my chest and if I don't, I'm going to explode."

Emily's eyes furrowed, "what is it?"

Stefan walked closer to her and spoke quietly but passionately, "Isobel was right. I am so in love with you that sometimes I can't breathe when I'm around you."

Emily's eyes widened in shock, "Stefan…"

"Please let me finish," Stefan begged. Once Emily stayed quiet, he continued, "every time I look at you, my heart tightens when I can't just walk right up to you and kiss you."

"Why are you telling me this?" Emily whispered.

Stefan grabbed the side of Emily's face softly and stared into her eyes deeply, "because it is killing me from not telling you. I just need to tell you the truth. I love you, Emily Gilbert." Before Emily had the chance to say anything, Stefan molded his lips with hers. Emily's eyes widened, but she couldn't stop what she was feeling, and kissed Stefan back. But it was over before she could she enjoy it. Stefan looked into Emily's eyes with tears in his eyes, "I am going to hate myself for doing this."

"What are you talking about?" Emily questioned with wide eyes.

Stefan looked right into Emily's eyes before compelling her, "you talked to Elena after you came home. You made up with Elena. You don't believe what Isobel said about me being in love with you. You took off your necklace so you could clean it. You will not remember this conversation."

Emily blinked her eyes in confusion when she realized she was standing in the middle of her room. She looked around before she saw her necklace on her desk. Emily rolled her eyes, she can't believe she didn't put her necklace right back on after cleaning it. That was definitely not a smart thing to do when vampires around. Emily changed into her sweats before laying in her bed with a sigh. She was glad that Isobel was hopefully leaving. Emily rolled her eyes when she thought about what Isobel had said. There was no one Stefan was in love with her. Emily was glad that she and Elena had made up and moved passed Isobel's lie quickly. Emily didn't know what she would do if Elena was mad at her.


	28. Chapter 28

Emily smirked while watching Jenna help Elena put on her 18th century dress. Elena couldn't sit still when Jenna began to pull tightly on the strings in the back of her dress. Emily had to admit that putting on the large dress was a pain. She had to stand for forty minutes when Jenna placed her dress together. But it was part of being a Gilbert and a founder, Emily wouldn't have it any other way.

"Ouch, this dress hurts," Elena mumbled when she tried to move.

"Suck it in, baby," Jenna chuckled at her niece.

"Beauty is pain, my lovely sister," Emily smirked over Elena's shoulder in the long mirror.

Elena rolled her eyes, "let's get this over with before I change my mind."

Jenna chuckled at the younger sister and pinched her rosy cheeks, "you knew what you were getting into when you signed up for Miss Mystic Falls," Jenna took a step back and smiled at both girls dressed up, "now, go have fun."

Emily looped her arms with Elena's and pulled her out of the room and towards outside, where everyone was getting ready for the Founder's parade. "Yeah, let's go have fun," Emily smirked at her sister.

Elena shook her head and chuckled. The two Gilbert sister's made their way through the crowd of students, until Elena came to a complete stop. Emily looked at her sister strangely before looking to where Elena's brown eyes had landed. And it was on the Salvatore brothers. Emily could see that Damon's eyes were only focused on Elena. But when Emily looked over at the younger Salvatore brother, he was only looking at her with bright eyes and a small smile.

* * *

"John?" Elena questioned in shock. "Is that even possible?"

"Well, there's no proof, but he dated Isobel when she was a teenager and he was the one who brought her to your dad's office for the delivery," Stefan explained.

"You got to be kidding me," Emily groaned. She couldn't believe that uncle John was actually their father. Of course both of her birth parents are the two people that she doesn't like.

"My whole life, I've never liked this man. I-I…" Elena spoke in shock, not knowing to say.

Stefan sighed while staring at Elena, "sorry, I'm sorry. I just… I wanted to tell you before Damon dropped it on you on some typically inappropriate way."

Elena shook her head, "no, I'm happy that you told me, I just… I really hope that it's not true." Elena sighed while glancing over at Emily, "what are we supposed to do? Do we just walk up to him and say, 'are you our biological father?"

Emily shook her head while biting on her bottom lip, "I don't know, Lena. the last time we tried to confront one birth parent, they threatened you," Emily pointed out, "there's no easy way."

"I guess, when you're ready," Stefan told Elena, trying to console her.

Elena shook her head, "I'm never gonna be ready. Stefan, we have enough family problems with the family we actually care about." Elena looked over at Emily in nervousness, "Jeremy read my diary, he knows."

Emily's eyes widened, "are you serious? What does he know?"

"He knows what happened with Vicki and about compelling him to forget," Elena explained.

"I need to go find him," Emily quickly spoke. "He's never going to trust me," Emily mumbled to herself when she walked away from the couple.

Knowing that Jeremy was going to be on the founder's float, Emily made her way where they were setting everything up. Emily looked for a few seconds, before she finally saw the brown hair of her brother.

"Jer!" Emily yelled out.

Jeremy turned to see who called him, and when he say it was his sister, he ignored her and began to walk away.

Emily sighed before picking up her dress, and began to run after her brother. Once she was close enough, she spoke, "Jer, can we talk?"

"Why? So you can lie to me again? Like Elena did?" Jeremy growled out.

"Jeremy, I did it to protect you!" Emily yelled out. "If you want to hate someone, hate me, I'm the one that told Damon to take your memories away about Vicki. Elena just agreed with me." Emily sighed, "I just wanted you to know the truth and not from Elena's diary. It hurt every time I couldn't tell you the truth, but I was doing it to protect you, Jer."

"I thought you would never lie to me, Emily," Jeremy told his older sister before stomping away.

* * *

Emily noticed that Mrs. Lockwood was running around like she had her head chopped off, so she decided to get on the float before the older woman had a heart attack with everything not being perfect. Emily chuckled at the thought, she loved Mrs. Lockwood, but she always had to have everything perfect.

Emily started to walk towards the float, when she heard someone yell out to her. "Emily! There you are!" Caroline yelped in excitement.

Emily chuckled when she saw the smiling blonde, "hey, Care. You look gorgeous."

Caroline smiled brightly before turning around and scolding, "Tyler! Help your date up on the float."

Tyler rolled his eyes before walking to the edge, and pulled Emily up on top of the founder's float. "Looking good, Emmie," Tyler smirked at his best friend.

"Why don't you look dashing," Emily smirked back.

"Get into places!" Mrs. Lockwood yelled loudly.

Emily chuckled, "I think that's our cue. Lead the way, my good sir," Emily joked.

"Let's give a big hand to the Mystic Falls High School marching band!" Mrs. Lockwood yelled into the microphone when the parade began to slowly move forward. Everyone that lived in Mystic Falls, stood on the side and cheered when the marching band began to walk and play loud music. "And for a little local history, Mr. Saltzman's students have recreated Virginia's Battle of Willow Creek," Mrs. Lockwood continued when the next section came down the street. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome our stunning Miss Mystic Falls Court and their handsome escorts! This is Caroline Forbes, Miss Mystic Falls. Aren't they beautiful?"

When the Miss Mystic Falls float began to move, Emily smiled brightly and waved into the crowd. She and Tyler stood next to Caroline and Matt, who were centered in the middle of the large float. As a child, Emily would always imagine being on the floats when they used to watch them back when she was six years old. And now she was living her childhood dream, Emily was glad that she and Elena stayed and participated in the Miss Mystic Falls for their mother.

* * *

While the town of Mystic Falls were cheering in excitement from the founder's parade, two adults had more important things to deal with. In Grayson Gilbert's old medical building was the said man's brother and the mayor of the small town.

John held a small box in his hand before opening and pulling a small piece out of the box. He held it up to show the mayor before speaking, "this is the key. Once inserted, the device will be activated. It will work only once, for an estimated time of five minutes," John explained.

"Yeah, so how does it work?" the mayor questioned.

"It's a high pitched frequency that humans can't hear," John began, "any vampires within a five-block radius will be incapacitated, exposing them. At that time, the sheriff's V5 deputies will inject them with vervain and bring them here, where we will finish them off."

"And you are certain they're attacking tonight?" Mayor Lockwood asked loudly.

"I had a source," John told the man, "one of the vampires from the tomb, he confirmed the attack." John paused before continuing, "they want revenge for what our ancestors did in 1864. Which makes us their targets."

Mayor Lockwood shook his head before looking back at the man, "we're taking an enormous risk. We're talking about our families, John!"

"It's the only way to draw them out and kill him. All of them," John told the mayor seriously.

* * *

Emily was walking through the town, where the huge celebration was taking place. There was not a single spot where no one was smiling and being happy. It was crazy how fast the small town of Mystic Falls could join together. Emily turned around when someone called her name.

"Hey," Stefan called out once he was close enough for Emily to hear.

Emily smiled at brunette before bumping her shoulder with his, "does today bring back memories?"

Stefan chuckled and shrugged, "maybe a little bit." It was quiet while they walked together before Stefan asked softly, "so, how are you dealing with John being your father?"

Emily sighed, "I don't like it. But yeah, it makes sense, my birth mother is a horrible person so why not my birth father too."

Before Stefan could speak, Damon quickly walked over to the duo and questioned Emily seriously, "where's your sister?"

Stefan looked at Damon weirdly, "what's going on?"

"Fifteen words or less… tomb vamps are here. Founding families are their target," Damon explained quickly.

Emily eyes widened so she quickly pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed Elena's number. Emily's heart was beating out of control while she waited for Elena to answer her phone.

"Hey," Elena spoke in her phone.

Emily sighed in relief but quickly questioned, "where are you?"

"I'm with Caroline, Matt, and Tyler at the Grill," Elena answered before wondering, "what's wrong?"

"Listen, I need to get away from the town square as quickly as you can. Just please go with Tyler if he leaves. I'll explain to you later," Emily quickly commanded.

Elena stayed quiet for a moment before speaking confusingly, "mayor is making us leave, so we are probably going to Tyler's."

Emily sighed, "that's good, please be careful. Love you."

"I will and love you too," Elena spoke to her sister before hanging up the phone.

Emily sighed thankfully when she hung up her phone. She turned to the Salvatore brother's, "I'm pretty sure you guys were listening, but she's going to Tyler's."

Damon nodded his head before quickly walking walking away. "Where are you going?" Stefan called out to his brother.

"That's more than fifteen words, Stefan," Damon called out before jogging away.

Stefan grabbed onto Emily's hand, ready to get her out of there, but Emily quickly came to a stop and turned to Stefan with wide eyes, "I don't know where Jeremy is."

"We'll find him, I promise," Stefan told Emily before pulling her with him, to find the youngest Gilbert.

* * *

Emily felt like she couldn't breathe as she and Stefan ran around the crowds of people looking for Jeremy. She knew from experience that the tomb vampires weren't someone you wanted to mess around with and they would kill Jeremy without a second thought.

Emily suddenly came to a complete stop when Stefan dropped to his knees in pain. "Stef, what's wrong?" Emily questioned quickly.

"My head," Stefan groaned.

Emily grabbed onto Stefan's shoulders, "come on, we have to get up, Stefan."

* * *

Elena didn't know what was going on, but she decided to trust her sister and leave with Tyler. She sat in the back of Tyler's car next to Caroline while Matt sat in the front next to Tyler. Suddenly Tyler growled out, "what the hell is that?"

"What's wrong, Tyler?" Elena questioned her sister's best friend.

"That noise," Tyler yelped.

Matt looked over at brown eyed boy weirdly, "wait, what noise?"

Tyler didn't reply, so the three teenagers glanced at each other in nervousness. Tyler began to push one hand against his left ear in pain while he tried to hold onto the wheel. But that didn't last long before he pushed both hands to the side of his head, trying to stop the loud noise that no one else could hear.

"Tyler!" Caroline yelped when she saw the boy let go of the wheel.

The car started swerve in the empty street, causing Elena to start getting freaked out so she yelled out to the blonde in the front seat, "Matt! Grab the wheel!" Matt tried to grab onto the wheel, but he couldn't get total control on the heavy car before it crashed against an iron fence and came to a complete stop.

* * *

Emily didn't know what to do as she sat on her knees in front of Stefan. She tried to help him up, but he was like dead weight while he was in pain. Emily looked up when she heard someone running towards her, she sighed thankfully when she saw it was Alaric.

Alaric quickly helped the young girl pull up Stefan from the ground, before they slowly began to walk away from the crowd. "He just dropped out of nowhere," Emily explained to the history teacher.

"Yeah, he's not the only one," Alaric groaned while holding up most of Stefan's weight. "The cops have gotten everyone who's going down, injecting them with vervain."

Emily's eyes widened when she glanced around the town square and seeing deputies grabbing the people that are falling to the ground. She turned to Alaric quickly, "they're planning to kill all of them."

* * *

Alaric and Emily brought Stefan where there was no one, so he could at least heal and stand. It took a few moments of silence, before Stefan was leaning against his knees and huffing. Emily watched Stefan in worry, "are you okay?"

"It was like needles were piercing my skull and it just stopped," Stefan explained.

"I saw at least five vampires go down," Alaric explained. "They're taking them to your family's old building," Alaric told Emily.

It was quiet for a moment before Stefan exclaimed, "it's the Gilbert device. It has to be."

"But I thought Bonnie took away its powers?" Emily questioned in confusion.

"Maybe she didn't," Alaric commented.

Emily shook her head, "why would Bonnie lie to us about unspelling it?"

"Think about it," Stefan spoke, "we asked Bonnie to deactivate a device that could protect people against vampires."

Emily groaned, she thought Bonnie had actually unspelled the device. "What are we going to do?" Emily questioned while looking at the two men.

"We need to get you out of here," Alaric told the young girl.

Emily glanced over at Stefan and shook her head, "we need to find Damon." Even though Emily didn't like Damon that much, he was Stefan's brother and Elena had a soft spot for him, so she would do her best to help him as much as she could. Emily turned back to Alaric, "can you find Jeremy and get him home, please?"

Alaric quickly nodded his head, "sure," before jogging away from the duo.

"Can you walk?" Emily questioned Stefan.

Stefan nodded and stood up, "let's go."

* * *

Elena stood next to Caroline right in front of the car accident while nervously bouncing her leg up and down. She didn't know what to think or to feel. She was scared out of her mind, it reminded her so much of the last car accident she was in.

Matt quickly walked up the two girls, "are you guys okay?"

The two girls nodded their heads at the same time. "We're fine," Caroline told her boyfriend.

Matt looked at the two girls in worry before focusing his eyes on the blonde, "are you sure? You have a huge cut on your head, Care." Matt moved his eyes to his ex girlfriend and noticed little spots of blood falling from her ears, down her neck. "You both need to be checked out," Matt spoke seriously.

Elena chuckled, "we're fine, Matt. Plus, they need to focus on Tyler, he looks like he got the worse out of all of us."

Matt nodded his head before quickly jogging over to Tyler and the paramedics. As soon as Matt arrived, one of the paramedics were yelling in shock, "what the hell?"

"What's wrong?" Matt quickly asked.

"His eyes," the paramedic mumbled in shock.

They stared down at Tyler, before suddenly the Lockwood took a deep gasp and woke up with a fright. Tyler looked around before focusing on his blonde friend in confusion, "what happened?"

Matt chuckled, "dude, don't scare me like that."

Suddenly a female voice yelled, "hey, we need some help over here!"

Matt glanced over towards the voice and saw Caroline and Elena both laying on the floor. He quickly ran towards the girls and saw they weren't awake. "Help!" Matt yelled.

* * *

Emily and Stefan were jogging down the crowded streets, when Stefan quickly pulled Emily to a stop, "wait, wait, wait." Stefan was silent for a moment before his eyes widened, "I can hear them. The building is on fire."

"What?" Emily questioned in shock.

"The building is on fire," Stefan told the young girl before he pulled her with him again.

"Wait," Emily told Stefan before pointing across from the street, where she saw her uncle/father. They quickly ran towards John and Emily growled out, "where is Damon?"

"With the rest of them," John told her simply before looking over at Stefan, "where he should be. It's over for Damon."

"You have right to being doing this!" Emily yelled out.

"Why?" John questioned. "Because I'm doing what should have been done a hundred and forty five years ago? This is the right thing, Emily."

Emily glared at John, "this is not a choice you get the right to make! You don't decide when someone gets to die!"

John shrugged his shoulders at Emily before glancing over at Stefan, who was staring at the building behind him. "Go ahead, you won't make it out. It'll save me the trouble of killing you myself," John told the vampire.

Stefan ignored John and turned to Emily instead, "you know the building well, is there another way in?"

Emily thought for a moment before she quickly nodded her head, "utility door, there's one around the side."

Stefan nodded his head before quickly jogging away. Emily went to follow him, but John grabbed her arm tightly. "You take one more step and I'll alert those deputies that they missed a vampire," John threatened.

Emily glared at John, "are you really going to threaten your daughter?"

John loosened his grip in shock, "you know," he mumbled.

Emily pulled her arm away from John, "I wasn't sure, but you just proved me right."

Emily quickly ran towards the side of her father's building and saw Bonnie standing out of an opened door. "Where's Stefan?" Emily asked the Bennett witch quickly.

"I'm so sorry," Bonnie mumbled to Emily.

"What did you do, Bonnie?" Emily asked in anger.

"I couldn't do it. I'm sorry I lied to you," Bonnie apologized.

"If they die, this will be all your fault, Bonnie," Emily glared at her friend.

Emily tried to run into the building but Bonnie quickly grabbed her arm tightly. "I can't let you go in there," Bonnie spoke she began to recite a spell, "Ex spiritum intacullum, in terrum incendium, fes matos salvis adisdum." Emily tried to pull her arm away but Bonnie held onto with all her might.

Suddenly, Bonnie stopped chanting and only just stared into Emily's green eyes. "Are they okay, Bonnie? Bonnie?"

But before Bonnie could say anything, there was loud coughing right behind the two girls. Emily quickly turned around and sighed in relief when she saw that it was Stefan carrying Damon. She quickly jogged to the two vampires, "oh, thank God you guys are okay."

* * *

Emily sat at one of the busy tables inside of Mystic Grill, while she waited for Stefan to walk in. Emily looked up when she heard someone coming to her, and saw that it was the Salvatore she was looking for. She quickly stood up and pulled Stefan into a hug, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"I'm okay," Stefan told Emily with a small smile.

Emily looked at Stefan carefully before nodding her head, "Jenna called and told me Jeremy is home so I'm going to go check on him before calling Elena to check on her. I'll give you call later," Emily told Stefan before leaving Mystic Grill.

* * *

Emily walked into the Gilbert house with a sigh, she was glad to be home but she still had to check on her siblings. Once Emily closed the door, she was shocked when she saw who was standing in front of her. "Hey, I thought you were going to stay at Tyler's until I called you?" Emily questioned her sister.

But Elena/Katherine was staring at Emily with wide eyes and an opened mouth. Emily looked at her sister weirdly, "what's up with you? And what's up with your hair and outfit, Lena? Black and curls, definitely not your style." Emily rolled her eyes, "I know I told you beauty is pain, but this wasn't what I meant."

Elena/Katherine quickly closed her mouth before chuckling, "I just got bored and decided to try something new."

Emily rolled her eyes and touched Elena's soft curls, "I like the straight hair better on you." Emily looked at her sister in remembrance, "you should give Stefan a call before he worries too much, okay?"

Elena/Katherine smiled up at the green eyed girl, "I will. I'm about to head to bed anyways."

Emily nodded and gave Elena a small smile, "good night, Lena," Emily called out before making her way to the living room with her dress.

Once she had sat her large dress on the couch, she made her way to the kitchen for a glass of water before she would check up on Jeremy. What Emily saw once she walked into the kitchen, shook the brunette to her core. It was John laying on the kitchen floor with blood coming from his side. Emily rushed forward and grabbed a dish towel before pushing it on John's stomach wound, which caused him to gasp in pain. Emily quickly grabbed her phone from her back pocket and dialed 9-1-1. "I need an ambulance to 2104 Maple Street, please hurry!" Emily yelped into her phone before placing it back into her pocket.

"Behind you," John whispered in pain with wide, scared eyes.

Emily leaned closer to John, having not heard him and questioned, "what?"

"Behind you!" John yelled as best as he could.

Emily gasped loudly and quickly turned around, but when she did, she couldn't see anyone. Emily glanced back at John and saw his scared expression, so she grabbed the bloody knife that laid on the ground before quietly standing up. She carefully began to walk towards the hallway, looking for anyone that shouldn't be in the house. Emily quickly turned around when she felt someone behind her, but when she looked, there was no one. Emily gasped in shock when the front door opened and quickly closed. She realized that it was a vampire that was in the house, so she dropped the knife on the floor before rushing upstairs. "Jeremy!" Emily yelled out.

Emily ran right up to Jeremy's room, where she found her brother on his bed. She quickly rushed to him and shook his shoulder, but he wouldn't wake up. "Jeremy! Come on, Jeremy!" Emily cried out. Emily sighed thankfully when Jeremy gasped awake. She leaned her head on Jeremy's chest, "oh, thank God!"

* * *

Emily leaned against the stairs with a heavy sigh while she watched a paramedic pull John on a stretcher out of the Gilbert house. Emily followed when her eyes to the door and quickly walked down the stairs when she saw an officer trying to keep Stefan out of the house. "He can come in," Emily smiled at officer.

The duo quickly walked up the stairs before Emily brought him to Jeremy's room. Stefan looked confusion, "what happened?"

"He said Anna gave him her blood and then he took these pills and now…" Emily trailed off as she explained to Stefan. Emily sighed, "can you make sure he's really okay?"

Stefan nodded his head before walking towards Jeremy and grabbing his face, "look at me," he commanded.

Jeremy tried to push the vampire's hands away and huffed, "I'm fine, okay? I feel exactly the same."

"Is he okay? Is anything happening?" Emily questioned Stefan in nervousness.

Stefan shook his head, "no, he's fine," Stefan spoke while staring into Jeremy's eyes.

"You mean I'm not a vampire?" Jeremy questioned sadly before growling, "damn it!"

"Jer, you don't want to have that life. Why would you want to?" Emily questioned in brother in shock.

"Did you hear about Anna, what happened to her tonight?" Jeremy questioned, but when Emily shook her head, he continued, "she's dead."

Emily closed her eyes with a sigh before looking into her brother's teared eyes, "oh, Jeremy, I'm so sorry."

"Jeremy, Jeremy. Come here, sit down," Stefan commanded the younger Gilbert quietly. Stefan in front of Jeremy and spoke seriously, "I am very sorry about Anna but it's very important that you listen to be right now. With every passing moment, Anna's blood is leaving your system. If you try to kill yourself right now, you could really die."

When Jeremy only looked away from the green eyed vampire, Stefan slapped his face, "hey! Do you understand me!?"

"Yeah, I understand," Jeremy mumbled.

"Good," Stefan told the young boy before walking towards Emily.

Emily continued to stare at her brother in worry, "what about the pills he took? Could they still do something to him?" Emily asked Stefan.

Stefan shook his head, "he didn't take enough to die so Anna's blood actually healed him."

Emily nodded her head but groaned when her cell phone began to ring. She pulled her cell phone from her back pocket before answering, not bothered to look at the number. "Hello?" Emily spoke.

"Emily, it's sheriff Forbes… there was an accident," the sheriff spoke softly.

Emily was confused, what more could happen. "What happened?"

"It's Elena… she was in a car accident and she got hurt, along with Caroline," sheriff Forbes spoke. "You should come to the hospital as soon as you can."

"Okay," Emily mumbled in the phone before hanging it up.

Emily didn't understand what was happening. She had saw Elena downstairs when she got home, what the hell was sheriff Forbes talking about? Emily then began to think back to when she came home, Elena was wearing different clothes then she was earlier, her hair was extremely curly - more than it was earlier that night, a vampire tried to kill John. But the vampire didn't kill John, instead the vampire played with Emily while she looked for the vampire. Emily's eyes widened in shock before she quickly turned Stefan, "I think I met Katherine."


	29. Chapter 29

The only thing on Emily's mind as she rushed through the entrance of Mystic Falls Hospital was if Elena and Caroline were okay. She hadn't been this afraid since the accident that took her parents away. Emily quickly jogged towards the receptionist desk once she reached the lobby and swiftly asked the older woman, "where is Elena Gilbert's room?"

The older woman looked up at Emily with a friendly smile before she began to type on the old grey desktop that was beside her. Emily could feel every emotion in her body as she tapped her foot impatiently as she waited. Finally after a few seconds, which felt like hours for the brunette, the woman responded politely, "Miss. Gilbert is in room 205."

Emily didn't bother responding to the older woman before she ran through the hallways as she looked for the three digit number. But as she was looking, so spotted two of her friends, so Emily knew she was in the right place. "What happened?" Emily breathed out as she ran towards Bonnie and Matt.

While Bonnie pulled the brunette into a bone crushing hug, Matt answered from a squeaky chair that was in front of the hospital room as he shook his head sadly, "it's not good, Emmie."

"What the hell happened?" Emily questioned as she looked at the blonde with her eyes widened.

Matt rubbed his eyes tiredly before he began to explain, "we were driving and Tyler heard this noise..."

"A noise?" Bonnie asked softly.

But Matt barely heard the brown eyed girl as he continued, "he got this migraine or something and he lost control of the car and... I thought Caroline and Elena were okay and then... and then they weren't."

Emily couldn't even think straight as Matt explained what happened to her sister and best friend. The only thought was that she needed to see the two girls that meant everything to her. Emily stood up from the chair that she was seated in and looked between Matt and Bonnie as she questioned, "where is Elena? I need to see her."

"Emmie..." Bonnie spoke softly.

Emily knew that tone of voice and it was never good. "Where is she, Bonnie? I need to see my sister!" She felt her heart rate speed up as she worried about her twin. Emily felt like she was in another world as she couldn't help Elena while she was hurting.

Bonnie grabbed the brunette's shoulders as she looked into Emily's eyes and spoke softly, "Emily, it's going to be okay. Elena and Caroline are both in surgery." She looked at her friend with glossy eyes as she added, "you can't see her right now."

Emily nodded her head silently as she felt her bottom lip tremble as she pictured her twin sister, her other half, laying on the operating table. Before Emily knew it, Bonnie quickly pulled her into a tight hug as she felt warm tears streaming down her face.

Once Bonnie felt the oldest Gilbert calming down, she grabbed Emily's hand as she turned towards Matt. "We're gonna go get some coffee, we're going to need it," she explained before the two girls walked down the hallway.

As they turned the corner away from Matt, Emily pulled her hand from Bonnie's and turned towards her friend. "Do you think you can do some type of spell to help them?" She questioned desperately.

But before Bonnie couldn't even open her mouth, a voice spoke from behind them. "She doesn't know how," Damon stated as he walked towards the two girls before he looked over at the Bonnie, "do you?"

"No," Bonnie mumbled, "I don't."

"No, you don't because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that," Damon stated as he glared down at Bonnie as he spoke about her ancestor.

"Well, I can take down a vampire, that spell was easy to learn," Bonnie commented with a small shrug.

Emily shook her head as the two continued to glare at each other. "There has to be something we can do," she spoke as she looked between the witch and the vampire.

"I can give both of them some blood," Damon suggested.

Emily looked over at Damon with her eyes widened, "no! Definitely not!"

Damon shook his head quickly as he explained, "no, just enough to heal them. They'll be in the hospital and it will be out of their systems in a day. It will make them better, Emily."

As Emily struggled internally as she thought about giving her sister and best friend Damon's blood, Bonnie responded quickly, "do it."

"Bonnie!" Emily gasped. She shook her head, "this could make everything worse!"

"Or it could make them better," Bonnie stated. She looked into Emily's green eyes as she spoke, "this is Elena and Caroline, we have to do it."

Emily stared at her friend for a moment before she turned to Damon as she nodded her head and spoke quietly, "do it." Emily didn't want to put the two girls in danger, but she knew Bonnie was right, this could save their lives, and what could possibly happen in 24 hours?

Damon nodded his head before he turned towards Bonnie and spoke, "if I do this, you and me, call a truce?"

"No," Bonnie stated. "But you will do it anyway, because it's Elena life that's in danger."

Before anyone could speak, Bonnie glanced over at Emily before she nodded her head and walked away. Emily didn't have time to think about what Bonnie meant, there was just too many things that were more important. So once Bonnie walked away, Emily turned towards Damon in a serious manner as she spoke, "we have a problem."

Damon rose an eyebrow at the oldest Gilbert girl, "and what problem is that?"

"A vampire problem," Emily mumbled quietly.

That gained Damon's attention quickly as he questioned, "when? What happened?"

Emily sighed, "well a vampire was in the house and tried to kill uncle dearest, and..."

But before Emily could finish explaining what happened, Jenna walked up quickly towards the duo. "Emily! I came as soon as I could. What happened? You only said to come down here as fast as I can."

Emily closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, she totally forgot about Jenna. She only called her aunt and told her that there was an accident as she rushed to the hospital. "Jenna," Emily spoke softly, "uncle John got hurt tonight at the house, but that's not the only thing that happened." She took a deep breath before she explained, "Elena got into a car accident earlier tonight, she's in surgery right now."

Jenna gasped as she looked at Emily in shock. She quickly pulled her niece into a tight hug before she pulled away in confusion. "That can't be right... because I saw Elena before I left for the fire department," she explained.

"The fire department?" Emily questioned confusingly.

Jenna nodded her head, "yeah, I told Elena to tell you."

Emily shook her head, "no, you didn't. She didn't say anything."

Jenna nodded her head, "yes I did."

Emily was about to argue back with her aunt before her eyes widened. She totally forgot about what happened before she received the phone call from sheriff Forbes. Emily tried to keep her cool as she gave her aunt a small smile, "I might have forgot." She furrowed her brows falsely as she looked at her aunt, "she must have gotten in the accident after you left."

"Oh, you got to be kidding me," Damon groaned out loud.

Jenna looked over at Damon in confusion before she turned back to Emily and touched her arm softly, "I'm going to go see if I can get any news."

As soon as Jenna walked towards the receptionist desk, Emily looked over at Damon and spoke quickly, "that vampire problem I was talking about, might be your problem."

Damon clenched his jaw as he nodded, "yeah, I kinda figured that out."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke the one name that no one wanted to hear, "Katherine."

* * *

Emily sighed once she unlocked the door of the Gilbert house as she and Damon walked through the entrance. But Emily froze in her spot when she saw Stefan slowly getting off the hard ground in the living room. "Stefan?" She questioned, "what happened?"

Damon looked around the room before he realized, "Katherine happened."

Emily rolled her eyes as she looked at the mess Katherine created in her living room. This woman was already causing so much trouble and it hasn't even been twenty four hours yet. As the two vampires and Emily moved towards the kitchen, Damon questioned his brother, "did she say what she wanted?"

Stefan shook his head, "no."

"Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance," Damon mumbled.

"She said she fooled one of us, at least," Stefan spoke as he look at his brother, "what does that mean?"

"She pretended to be Elena, too, when I showed up earlier tonight," Damon responded as he stared at his brother.

Emily's brows furrowed as she looked over at Damon. What was he doing here at the house with Elena? But that was honestly the last thing on her mind as she looked between the two brothers. "Katherine was here, she was invited in this house. What are we supposed to do?" She questioned in worry for her family.

Damon shrugged, "move."

Emily rolled her eyes, "thank you, Damon, that's so helpful."

"Katherine wants you dead; there's zero you can do about it; you would be dead but you're not," Damon explained, "so, clearly she has other plans."

Stefan nodded his head, "right and we need to find out what those plans are." He looked at Damon pointedly as he added, "and not provoke her in the process." Stefan continued to look over at his brother as he questioned, "what happened tonight when you thought she was Elena?"

Damon smirked before he shrugged lightly as he spoke, "to risk another frown line on a very crowded forehead. We... kissed."

Stefan glared at his brother as he questioned, "what do you mean you kissed?"

"Well, you know, when two lips pucker and they go," Damon explained before he puckered up his lips to demonstrated a kiss.

But before Emily could even blink, she saw Stefan rush towards Damon, which caused the older Salvatore to stand directly behind her. "Don't be obvious, Stefan," Damon smirked.

As Emily noticed that Stefan was about to rush towards Damon again, she quickly stood up and moved between the two brothers. "Enough!" She yelled. "We don't have time for this. Obviously Damon didn't kiss Elena since my sister is sitting in a hospital bed. We need to focus on Katherine," Emily stated.

Stefan nodded his head as he stared at Damon, "later."

Emily began to pace the length of the kitchen as she thought about everything that happened. She shook her head as she spoke, "John has to know something, the woman did try to kill him."

"She's Katherine," Damon stated, "she loves to play games and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's been up to before she wants you to know."

Stefan shook his head, "no, actually Emily is right, John could know something through Isobel." He looked down at Emily, "your mother, she was in touch with Katherine so maybe we can go the hospital and get him to talk."

Emily nodded her head, "I need to check on Elena and Caroline anyways."

"I've got a better idea," Damon commented.

Emily rolled her eyes, "and what's that, Damon?"

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch," Damon smirked, "see ya."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at Damon. "And you think that's going to work?" She questioned.

Damon shrugged, "if Katherine thinks she's being ignored, it will lure her out, she'll make a move."

"Yeah?" Stefan questioned, "then what?"

"Stake her, rip her head off, something poetic," Damon suggested before he walked towards the door, "we'll see."

Emily sighed as she slid down the wall as she watched Damon leave the Gilbert house. They was just so much stuff happening all at once, while someone was walking around Mystic Falls with the same face as her twin sister. If Damon is right about Katherine, Emily knew that they were in more danger than if it was just the tomb vampires.

"You okay?" Stefan asked softly as he bent down so he was eye level with the Gilbert girl.

Emily looked up at Stefan with a tiny smile as she shrugged and whispered, "I don't know."

Stefan reached for her hand and spoke softly, "everything will be okay." He pulled her up from the ground before he spoke again, "get some sleep. We'll go see Elena and Caroline in the morning and we'll find out what Katherine is planning."

Emily nodded her head with a small smile before she and Stefan made their way to the front door. Once Stefan left the Gilbert house, she sluggishly made her way up the stairs. But as Emily made her way to her bedroom, she paused before she headed for her brother's bedroom instead. She slowly opened the door, and saw Jeremy sound asleep. Emily quietly slid off her ankle boots and threw her jacket on Jeremy's desk before she softly laid next to her brother. She wrapped her arm around Jeremy's stomach as laid in peaceful silence. Emily just wished her siblings would be okay, with Jeremy trying to turn into a vampire and Elena getting into a dangerous car accident. But one thing Emily knew for sure was that tomorrow she had to be stronger than she ever had to be, there was no time to be weak with Katherine in Mystic Falls around her family and friends.


	30. Chapter 30 Part 1

Emily laid quietly next to her sleeping brother as she stared at the bright green numbers that shinned on Jeremy's alarm clock. But as soon as it read six, she slowly got out of Jeremy's bed and grabbed her black boots and jacket before she made her way to her bedroom. Emily could barely get an ounce of sleep with everything running through her mind, so she decided that there was no reason to even try to fall back asleep. Instead, Emily threw her boots on the ground before she grabbed her cell phone out of her jacket pocket. She sent a quick text message to Stefan, so they could go see Elena and Caroline and get the answers they needed from John.

Once the message was sent, Emily threw her cell phone on her bed, before she made her way to her closet. Emily quickly pulled on a simple red sweater dress and a pair of black ankle boots before she made her way to her vanity table. But before she could sit down, she heard her cell phone ring. Emily thought it was Stefan, but when she looked down at the screen, she saw that it was Tyler. She furrowed her brows instantly, not knowing why her best friend was calling her so early in the morning. "Hello," Emily answered simply.

"Emmie..." Tyler spoke in a broken voice.

"Ty, what's wrong?" Emily quickly questioned as she noticed his tone.

"It's... it's my dad. He's gone," Tyler uttered quietly.

Emily sat down on her bed as she questioned in confusion, "what do you mean? What happened?"

"There was an accident last night. I-I don't even know what happened, Emmie. H-he's just gone," Tyler spoke as his voice shook.

Emily pulled her cell phone away from her face as closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What the hell else could go wrong right now? It was like everything in the town was crashing down all at the same time. Emily placed the phone back to her ear as she spoke steadily, "I'm so sorry, Ty. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Tyler quickly spoke, "no, no. You should stay with Elena and Caroline." He sighed before he added, "but this afternoon my mom is hosting some crap for my dad so the town..."

But before Tyler could finish his sentence, Emily interrupted, "I'll be there, I promise. I'm going to visit Caroline and Elena then I will be by your side the whole time, Ty. It's going to be okay."

There was a long pause on Tyler's end of the phone before he spoke softly, "thank you, Emmie. I don't know what I would do without you."

A small smile made its way onto her face before Emily spoke one last time, "you're welcome, Ty. I'd do anything for you, you know that. I'll see you soon."

Emily sighed deeply once she had ended the call. There was just so much happening in such little time. Emily knew that she couldn't rest for a second, so she quickly grabbed her black purse before jogging her way down the stairs. But as soon as her foot reached the bottom step, the front door bell rang. She quickly made her way to the door and when she opened it, she saw that it was Stefan.

"Hey, are you -" Stefan began before he frowned as he looked at the brunette closely. "Are you okay?" He questioned.

Emily gave Stefan a sad smile as she shook her head before mumbling, "nope. I just found out Tyler's dad is dead, so there's that." Emily saw that Stefan was about to open his mouth, so she quickly added, "let's just go. I need to see my sister and best friend." Stefan only silently nodded his head before they made their way towards the vampire's shiny red car.

* * *

Emily made her way through the lobby of Mystic Falls Hospital with Stefan by her side. She didn't bother stopping at the receptionist desk, instead, she went straight towards the hallway where she knew her sister and best friend were located. Once they got closer, Emily noticed Bonnie walking out of one of the rooms with tears in her eyes. Emily quickly jogged up to Bonnie as she questioned in worry, "what's going on?"

Bonnie swiftly shook her head as she whipped the tears from her brown eyes. She chuckled softly, "they're okay. I'm just so happy."

Emily took a deep breath of relief as she nodded her head. She pulled the Bennett girl into a tight hug as a bright smile made its way onto her face. Emily knew the only reason why the two girls were okay was because of Damon's blood, so she was internally grateful for the vampire. Once Emily had pulled away from the Bennett girl, she looked between Stefan and Bonnie as she spoke, "I'm gonna go see Caroline."

Stefan nodded his head before he pointed to the door next to Caroline's as he stated, "I'll be in Elena's room."

"I'll be in there soon," Emily told Stefan before she slowly opened the door to her favorite's blonde's hospital room. She carefully peaked her head inside before she quickly made her way into the room. "Care," Emily spoke softly as tears began to form in her green eyes.

Caroline looked towards the entrance as she took her blue eyes off of the small TV. She smiled brightly as she slowly sat up in the hospital bed. "Thank God you're here! I'm so bored!" Caroline whined to her best friend.

Emily quickly rushed towards the blonde as she pulled her into a tight hug. She knew that Caroline was going to be okay, thanks to Damon's blood, but it was a different feeling having Caroline in her arms. Emily could now relax a little bit, knowing her best friend was going to be okay.

"Oh! Careful!" Caroline warned the brunette once she felt the pain in her side.

Emily quickly pulled away and looked at her best friend in worry, but Caroline only chuckled before tugging the girl into a much softer hug. After a few minutes had passed by, Emily pulled away and smirked as she sat on the edge of the bed. "So, do you have any hot doctors?" Emily questioned.

Caroline's eyes widened as she recalled, "there is a doctor here that looks just like McSteamy!"

Emily gasped, "are you kidding me?" She chuckled as she watched Caroline nod her head before she stated, "you lucky, lucky girl."

Caroline smirked as she began, "speaking of hot doctors," before she pointed to the TV above her as their favorite TV show, Grey's Anatomy, aired quietly.

Emily smiled brightly before she carefully laid next to Caroline and began to watch the drama unfold between the doctors. "I"m glad you're okay," Emily stated softly as she looked over at her best friend.

"Me too," Caroline whispered before she laid her head on Emily's shoulder and got comfortable on the hospital bed as they continued to watch the attractive doctors on the small TV.

* * *

It took two full episodes of Grey's Anatomy for Caroline to fall asleep. Emily stayed a few extra minutes to make sure her best friend was okay, before she quietly made her way out of the blonde's hospital room.

Emily took a deep breath once she had moved towards Elena's door. She never liked seeing her sister in bad condition, so she had to prepare herself. Emily sighed in relief once she had opened the hospital door. She saw her sister sitting up in her bed as she talked to Stefan with a smile on her face. "Lena," Emily called out softly as she moved closer towards her sister.

Elena turned her head and smiled when she saw her twin sister. "Hey," she whispered.

Emily quickly rushed towards her sister as soon as she heard Elena speak, and pulled her into a tight hug. Unlike with Caroline, Emily didn't let go when her sister called out to her. It took for Elena to stroke her back before Emily finally pulled away. Emily looked into her sister's brown eyes as tears crowded in green ones as she choked out, "are you okay?"

Elena nodded her head as she whipped the tears from Emily's eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," she chuckled as she stated, "now stop crying, you big baby."

Emily chuckled along with her sister before she placed a light kiss on the top of Elena's head. Emily felt better with knowing that Elena was okay. It felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. But as Emily heard Stefan clear his throat, she lost her smile as she remembered the other reason why they came to the hospital. "Lena, something happened last night," Emily stated as she stared at her sister.

Elena furrowed her brows as she looked between her sister and boyfriend, "what else happened?" Elena thought that Stefan had filled her in on everything that happened last night, that the tomb vampires were trying to attack the founding families.

Emily sighed as she moved and sat at in the edge of Elena's bed. "Well, long story short, John is in the hospital and Mystic Falls gained a bitch," she explained.

Elena quickly shook her head, "wait, wait, wait. John's in the hospital?"

Stefan nodded his head as he took over for the older Gilbert sister. "He got his fingers chopped off." He grabbed his girlfriend's hand as he continued softly to ease the blow, "and Katherine did it."

Elena's brown eyes widened in shock, "oh, my God. Katherine's here in Mystic Falls?"

Emily pointed her finger at her sister as she stated, "yep. That's the bitch I was talking about."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Elena questioned as she looked over at Stefan.

"John seems to know something, so we're going to go talk to him," Stefan told his girlfriend.

Elena nodded her head before she tried to push the blanket off of her as she spoke, "okay, let me just find some clothes."

"Oh, no, no, no," Emily quickly yelped. "You are staying right here," she commanded. Emily pushed Elena back down onto the bed when she saw her sister starting to pout. "You have vampire blood in your system, so you get to watch trashy movies all day and relax," Emily explained.

"Fine," Elena huffed as she laid her head back onto the soft pillow before she added, "but please tell me what you find out."

Emily smiled at her sister before she linked her pinky with Elena's, "I promise."

* * *

Emily looked down at her phone as she stood outside of another hospital room. She had texted Jenna for John's room number since her aunt had already visited the older man. Emily looked back at Stefan but once he nodded his head silently, she grew the strength she needed to push open the door to get the answers that they needed. "John?" Emily called out as she slowly moved inside the room.

The man on the hospital bed jumped in fright as he heard a familiar voice, but calmed down once he saw who it was. "K-Kath-" he tried to speak through his sore throat.

"Katherine," Emily stated as she noticed what John was trying to say. "We know she did this to you," she added.

"We need to know why she did this," Stefan spoke up as he looked down at John.

"Where is she?" John grunted.

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest as he commanded, "you tell us."

John shook his head, "I don't know."

The injured man tried to sit up in his hospital bed, but Stefan pressed down onto John's chest as he spoke, "you're a little too weak to play tough guy. Why don't you sit back and answer a few questions."

Once John quietly laid back on the bed, Emily slowly pulled out a familiar ring from her black purse and placed it on the table in front of John. "Tell us what you know. Why is she here?" Emily questioned.

But John didn't utter a single word, he only stared into Emily's green eyes with sadness in his own.

"She'll try again," Stefan stated once he realized John wasn't going to answer, "we can't help you if you don't confide in us."

"In you?" John questioned with his eyes widened in anger as he stared at the vampire, who he would never trust in his life.

"In your daughter then, while your other one is sitting in a hospital bed," Stefan corrected.

"Both my daughters should have driven a stake through your heart by now," John told Stefan before he moved his eyes towards Emily. "I never spoke to Katherine directly, she never trusted me," he explained. John moved his eyes back towards Stefan after a moment of silence as he glared at the vampire and stated, "so either kill me or get out because I can't stand the sight of you with either of my daughters."

Emily shook her head as she looked down at the man in anger. "You would rather protect your own ass than help your daughters. That's why you will never be mine or Elena's father," she growled before she stormed out of the hospital room.

Emily made her way out of the hospital once she had left John in anger and began to pace up and down the parking lot as she waited for Stefan. She couldn't believe that John wouldn't even help them. She thought if her life was in danger that he would help, but apparently not. Emily quickly looked behind her once she heard footsteps and saw that it was Stefan. "How'd it go?" She questioned.

"Uh... I asked him to leave town," Stefan responded quietly as the duo began to walk away from the hospital.

Emily smirked as she quickly moved in front of Stefan, "asked?"

Stefan chuckled, "there might have been a little threatening."

Emily's smirk grew, "I knew you had some bad in you!"

Stefan bumped his shoulder into Emily's as he stated, "I think you're rubbing off on me."

Emily rolled her eyes at the taller boy and chuckled, "shut up." She turned to Stefan as she grew serious, "listen, thank you for "asking" John to leave. I don't want him around Jeremy or Elena any longer. All he cares about is himself and that won't keep my family safe."

Stefan nodded his head silently before he stated, "I would never let anything happen to you or Elena." He pulled Emily into a surprising hug not even a second later. The hug caused Emily to sigh in relief. It was something that she needed at the moment with all the craziness piling up.

* * *

It was a little after one in the afternoon when Emily finally parked her black Honda in front of the Lockwood mansion. Emily sighed as she looked out her window and saw all the residents of Mystic Falls chatting together as they honored the fallen mayor. Emily knew she had to act as everything in Mystic Falls wasn't going to hell, so she fixed a bright smile on her face as she grabbed her black purse and made her way up the stairs of the large house.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or is that little miss Emmie Gilbert?" A voice spoke as Emily made her way inside the white mansion.

Emily looked up when she heard her name and was surprised when she saw Mason Lockwood. "Oh, my God!" She yelped, "Mason!" She fast walked towards the older Lockwood and pulled him into a tight hug. She hadn't seen the brunette since he left Mystic Falls when she was only twelve years old.

Once the two pulled away from each other, Mason grabbed Emily's hand and twirled her around. "Look at you, you're not the same little Emmie anymore!" Mason exclaimed.

Emily chuckled as she looked up at Mason before she rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully. Emily always thought of Mason as an older brother since she was best friends with Tyler at a young age and spent a lot of her time at the Lockwood Mansion. "That's what happens when you don't show your face around Mystic Falls for years, Mase!" Emily scolded the older man.

Mason smirked as he looked down at the brunette, "aww, did Emmie miss me?"

Emily folded her arms over her chest as she smirked right back at the older Lockwood. She shook her head as she stated, "no, I just missed the free milkshakes that you would buy me."

Mason rolled his eyes as he threw his arm over Emily's shoulder as they slowly began to walk through the Lockwood mansion. "Don't lie, Emmie. You know you missed my handsome face and my hilarious jokes," Mason uttered.

Emily chuckled as she patted Mason's chest lightly and commented with a smirk, "whatever helps you sleep at night."

"So, how's my favorite girl been since I left Mystic Falls?" Mason questioned as he looked down at Emily curiously. He smirked as he added, "any boyfriends that need their asses kicked?"

"You know I only have eyes for you, Mase," Emily joked.

Mason chuckled, "I always knew you had a thing for Lockwoods." He smirked as he saw his nephew across the room, "speaking of good looking Lockwoods, when are you and Tyler finally going to get together?"

Emily rolled her eyes and stated as they began to walk towards the younger Lockwood, "you know me and Tyler are only friends."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Mason smirked as he copied the brunette in a whisper once they grew closer to Tyler.

Emily once again rolled her eyes at the older man before she placed a gentle smile on her face once she was only a few inches away from her best friend. She quickly brought Tyler into a tight hug as she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Ty."

Tyler held onto the girl tightly as his life depended on it before he pulled away and stated, "thank you for coming, Emmie. I don't know what I'd do without you here."

Emily gave her best friend a small smile as she uttered, "well good thing you don't have to worry about that, because I'm never leaving."

A real smile grew on Tyler's face for the first time since he heard the news about his father as he looked at his best friend. But Tyler suddenly remembered who else was with them, so he turned towards his right at he looked at his uncle. "It's good to see you, Mason," Tyler stated.

Mason stared at his nephew with a bright smile. "It's been too long, you're so grown up now," he chuckled.

"That's what happens when you don't visit, uncle Mason," Tyler told the older man with a tiny smile on his face.

Emily chuckled as she looked over at her best friend, "that is exactly what I told him." She stuck her tongue out playfully as she stared at the older Lockwood, "see, Mase, even Ty agrees with me."

"Tyler!" A familiar voice suddenly yelled out along with the sound of heels clacking loudly against the marble floor. "There you are," Mrs. Lockwood sighed in relief as she walked towards her son. She turned to her left as she noticed the other male and spoke softly, "I'm glad you could make it, Mason. I know it's been a long time since you've been home."

Mason gave his sister-in-law a tiny smile as he nodded his head politely. "It felt like the right time to come home," he uttered.

Emily could see the sadness in Mrs. Lockwood's eyes as she looked at her deceased husband's brother, so she decided to break the silence that surrounded them. "If there is anything I can do, please let me know, Mrs. Lockwood," she stated as she stared at the older woman.

Mrs. Lockwood's eyes softened as she stared at her son's best friend. "Thank you, sweetie. I'll let you know if I do," she told Emily. She looked over at the two Lockwood boys as she stated, "speaking of help, I need to borrow you boys to help get some of the chairs up from the basement, it shouldn't take too long."

Emily nodded her head as she noticed that Tyler was looking her way. She placed her hand on his shoulder as she spoke with a smile, "I'll find you later," before she quietly walked away from the Lockwood's as she began to mingle around the mansion.

* * *

Emily sighed as she finally got away from everyone for a second. Ever since she walked away from Tyler, every person from the town kept on coming up to her. She didn't mind that everyone wanted to talk to her, but it was starting to be too much with everything going on. She just needed a small breather. Emily closed her eyes as she leaned against a desk in a small room that she had found empty. _Just a few more hours,_ she kept telling herself. Once she had calmed down, Emily slowly made her way out of the room and closed the two large doors behind her. But as she turned around to walk back into the crowd, she happened to bump into someone.

"I'm so sorry," Emily quickly apologized as she bent down to pick up her purse that she had dropped. But when she looked up, her eyes widened. "Elena, what are you doing here? You should still be in the hospital," Emily scolded.

"Hello, sister," Elena spoke as a smirk grew on her face.

Emily soon realized that it wasn't her sister standing in front of her as she noticed the smirk that didn't belong on Elena's face and the outfit she was wearing. It was something Elena would never wear; dark jeans with a dark low cut shirt. "Katherine," Emily growled as she stared at the girl that looked exactly like her sister.

Katherine slowly walked around Emily as she stated, "at least someone knows the difference between me and your annoying sister." She rolled her eyes as she added, "Damon surely didn't."

Emily had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't say what was on her mind as Katherine insulted her sister. She knew the women in front of her was dangerous and she didn't want to make her angry. "Leave my family alone," Emily ordered before she walked around Katherine as she hoped she could get away from the vampire.

But Katherine quickly sped in front of her and pushed Emily against one of the walls. She grabbed Emily's face lightly between her freshly done nails as she stared at the Gilbert girl. "Oh, Emmie," Katherine spoke with a smirk, "that's just something I can't do. The fun is just beginning."

Emily didn't get the chance to question the older vampire about what she meant before she heard a strong voice call out, "Katherine."

"Stefan," Katherine uttered softly with a small smile as she continued to hold Emily's face between her fingers as she stared over at the youngest Salvatore.

"Leave her alone," Stefan commanded as he flickered his eyes over towards Emily in worry.

Katherine smirked, "oh, don't be silly. I wouldn't do anything to little Emmie." She padded Emily's cheek lightly before she let the green eyed girl go as she took a step back.

Stefan swiftly grabbed Emily's arm as soon as Katherine moved out of the way and looked into her eyes as he ordered, "go find Damon."

Emily glanced over at Katherine, who was smirking, before she nodded her head as she looked directly at Stefan. She quickly walked away from the two vampires as soon as Stefan pointed his head towards the crowd of people. Emily knew that Katherine was dangerous, so she definitely didn't want to be by her any longer.

* * *

Emily's eyes roamed around the Lockwood mansion as she searched for the older Salvatore brother. But after looking all through the house, she sighed as she made her way onto the front porch. Emily had no idea where the blue eyed man could be so she just leaned against the railing as she hoped Katherine wouldn't find her again.

"You know the party is inside?" A voice spoke from behind Emily.

She quickly turned around at the voice, but rolled her eyes as she saw that it was the one person she had been looking for. Emily turned back to face the garden as she spoke, "it's not a party, you ass. It's a wake."

Damon shrugged as he leaned against the railing with bourbon in his glass, "same thing." It was silent between the duo before Damon questioned, "how's Elena doing?"

Emily glanced over at Damon with furrowed brows before she stated, "she's better, bored, but she's fine." She didn't understand what was going on with her sister and Damon. Emily and the older Salvatore brother were friends, but it was different with Elena and Damon. It was something she would talk to her sister about once she was out of the hospital.

Damon nodded his head silently before he downed the rest of the amber liquid.

"Are you good?" Emily questioned as she looked over at Damon.

Damon smirked, "definitely. I'm floating on sunshine, Emily."

Emily rolled her eyes as she noticed Damon's fake attitude. "Yeah, sure, let's go with that, liar," she muttered.

"What do you want me to say, Emily?" Damon questioned with a small growl. "I got doppel-jinks by the biggest bitch when I thought I was kissing Elena," he confessed.

"But why would you think Elena would want to kiss you?" Emily questioned with furrowed brows. "She's in love with your brother," she stated.

Damon chuckled humorlessly, "you are the last person I would think that would judge me for that."

Emily looked at Damon in confusion as she asked, "and why the hell would you think I would understand?"

"Seriously?" Damon questioned with an eyebrow raised. "Because you are in love with my brother and he's in love with you," he stated.

"Wow, Damon," Emily chuckled. "I know that you are hurt by Katherine but don't turn this around on me. That is all you." She shook her head, "just face the facts, Damon. Elena would never kiss you, she's in love with Stefan."

Damon stared at Emily in silence as he nodded his head before he stated, "I wasn't hurt earlier, but now I am."

Emily huffed loudly as she watched Damon walk away from her. What the hell was his problem? She didn't understand why he would say that, like she would relate to what he did. It wasn't like she has feelings for Stefan like Damon did for Elena. They already fixed that issue when Isobel had said the same thing. She and Stefan were just friends... right?

* * *

Emily needed a break from all the vampire drama that kept on piling up, so she made her way through the Lockwood mansion as she looked for her best friend. But Emily didn't want to look all over the house again, so she thought where Tyler could be. She remembered when her parents passed away that she would always be inside her mother's office or her father's medical building. It always helped being in a place where her parents would frequently stay, so Emily decided that she would check inside the mayor's office for Tyler first.

And sure enough, when she opened the door, Emily spotted Tyler lying on one of the couches in the large office. Emily softly closed the door behind her before she placed her black purse on the wooden desk. She rounded the leather couch and moved Tyler's legs out of the way before she sat down, which caused Tyler to place his legs over her thighs as soon as she got comfortable.

After a moment of silence passed between them, Emily looked over at Tyler as she questioned softly, "you hanging in there?"

Tyler shrugged his shoulders before he uttered, "I'm tired. I'm tired of people saying sorry, especially when they don't even give a crap."

Emily nodded her head in understanding before she stated, "I remember the wake being one of the hardest days. Just a day filled with people that don't really care as they offered their condolences. But honestly, you won't even remember all these people. The one thing you will remember is the people that did care and helped you move forward." Emily grabbed Tyler's hand softly as she added with a smile, "that's what I remember, you being there for me."

Tyler looked over at Emily with a smile, "thank you for being here today, it means a lot."

"Of course, I'll always be there for you, that's what best friends are for," Emily told Tyler before she questioned with an eyebrow raised, "what have you been doing in here anyway?"

Tyler smirked before he opened up his jacket pocket and pulled something out of it. He held it up for Emily to see and showed her a leather flask. "It was in his desk," he stated.

Emily shrugged her shoulders lightly as she thought there was nothing else better to do before she grabbed the flask from her best friend's hand and brought it up to her lips. But as soon as she took a large gulp of the amber colored liquor, the door opened.

"What's going on in here?" Mason questioned as he closed the doors behind him.

"We are drinking away our sorrows, uncle Mason," Tyler told the older Lockwood as he grabbed the flask from Emily's hand.

"Hand it over," Mason commanded as he stood in front of his nephew with a bank look on his face.

Tyler groaned loudly as he realized that he was about to get in trouble, before he handed the flask over to his uncle with defeat shining through his brown eyes.

But what shocked the two teenagers was that Mason took a large gulp of the liquor before he handed it over to Emily as he settled into the chair across from them. Mason smirked at the shocked faces as he spoke, "drink up, princess."

Emily shook her head as she chuckled, "I knew you were my favorite Lockwood for a reason," before she took a tip from the flask.

"Hey!" Tyler drunkenly pouted. "I thought I was your best friend and your favorite Lockwood!" He yelped as he grabbed the container from Emily's hand.

"Well, you know -" Emily began to speak before she was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

"We're closed!" Tyler yelled out before he chuckled to himself.

Emily rolled her eyes at her best friend before she also yelled out, "come in!"

The door slowly was pushed open and walked in Emily's little brother, Jeremy. He looked around the room awkwardly before he focused his attention on his sibling. "Jenna told me to come get you. She wants to head to the Grill for some dinner," Jeremy told Emily.

Emily moved Tyler's legs once again she turned to face the door. "I'll be right there," she told her brother, who nodded his head before quietly walking back out of the room.

"It looks like the party is leaving boys," Emily joked as she grabbed her black purse from the desk. She moved towards Mason and held her arms out, "well don't leave me hanging, Mase."

Mason shook his head as he chuckled before he got up from his chair and pulled the young girl into a tight hug. "It was so good to see you again. I missed my Emmie," he confessed.

Emily smiled bright once she had pulled away and ordered, "you better come see me before you leave town again."

"How about milkshakes before I leave town?" Mason questioned with a smirk as he knew the young girl wouldn't deny his offer.

Emily's eyes brightened, "yes! That sounds perfect!" Emily turned towards the other Lockwood once she saw Mason nod his head in agreement and pulled her best friend into a hug. "Give me a call if you need someone to talk to about all this or if you just want a drinking buddy, I'll be there," Emily told Tyler.

Tyler held onto Emily tightly for a moment before he finally let go and looked into her green eyes, "I will, trust me." He smirked as he continued, "because we need to talk about who is your favorite Lockwood."

Emily rolled her eyes as she chuckled, "whatever you say, Ty," before she swiftly walked out of the office with the sound of the two Lockwood boys laughing as she left and made her way out of the Lockwood mansion. She spotted her aunt and brother standing by hers and Jenna's familiar car as she walking down the long stairs. Emily was happy to get away from all the vampires and death to spend sometime with her brother and aunt for a while.


	31. Chapter 30 Part 2

The heavy oak door slammed shut as the oldest Salvatore brother made his way inside the boarding house. He threw his jacket on the back of an antique chair, before he headed straight towards the table that held his many sets of bourbon, where he quickly poured the amber liquid into a small crystal glass. Damon went to exit the large room once he had his glass in hand, but he paused as he suddenly detected someone else was in the room. "Very brave of you to come here," Damon stated as he looked towards his right, where he saw his ex lover's brown eyes staring straight into his blue ones.

"I wanted to say goodbye," Katherine spoke simply as she sat on one of the comfy couches that littered the boarding house.

Damon stared at Katherine for a moment before he questioned, "leaving so soon?"

Katherine twitched her head to the side as she uttered, "I know where I'm not wanted."

Damon moved towards the couch that Katherine was occupying before he stated, "don't pout. It's not attractive on a woman your age."

Katherine scoffed, "ouch."

Damon didn't say another word to the vampire, but he did down the rest of the amber liquid before he placed the glass on the wooden table and went to walk away. But as he turned the corner, Katherine quickly sped in front of him and questioned teasingly, "what, no goodbye kiss?"

Damon stared into Katherine's brown eyes as he muttered, "why don't I kill you instead?" But when Katherine only chuckled, he looked down at her in confusion as he questioned, "what are you doing here?"

"Nostalgia, curiosity, etcetera," Katherine uttered simply.

Damon shook his head, "I'm better at the enigmatic one-liners, Katherine." He smirked as he asked, "what are you up to?"

"Come on, Damon, when I'm up to something, you'll know it," Katherine stated. She walked closer towards the blue eyed man as she taunted, "come on. Kiss me. Or kill me. Which will it be, Damon?" She moved her mouth a few inches from Damon's as she whispered, "we both know that you're only capable of one."

But as her lips were about to touch Damon's, he quickly turned around to walk away. However, Katherine anticipated his reaction, so before Damon could even think, his body was on the hard ground with Katherine hovering right above him. "My sweet, innocent Damon," Katherine uttered softly as she stroked his chest.

It didn't last very long with Katherine in charge, before Damon quickly flipped her over and held her down by her throat. But as he stared into her brown eyes, he realized that she was right, he couldn't kill her. Damon decided that there was only one choice left as he swiftly slammed his lips against hers.

"That's more like it," Katherine breathed out as she felt Damon's lips leave hers after the intense kiss.

The lust began to be too much for the vampires as they stared into each other's eyes, before their lips found each other once more. As the make out continued, Katherine suddenly jumped up and slammed the both of them against a wall with her hand tightly wrapped around Damon's throat. But it didn't last very long before Katherine moved her hands down Damon's chest and ripped his shirt in half, causing all the buttons to go flying across the room. She scratched her hands up and down Damon's pale skin before she pulled him back into a heated kiss.

Damon shoved a stack of books off of the small table that was beside them, before he lifted Katherine onto the wooden furniture. He trailed his lips down her neck as he quickly ripped her shirt open as she did with his. But as Damon's mind finally caught up to what they were doing, he breathlessly pulled away and mumbled, "okay, wait, brief pause."

However, that only caused Katherine to roll her eyes in annoyance before she pushed Damon away from her and stood up straight. She walked in front of him and stared pointedly as she waited for Damon to speak.

Damon held his hand up as he began, "I have a question." He took a deep breath before he continued, "answer it and it's back to fireworks and rockets red glare. Answer it right and I'll forget the last one hundred and forty five years that I've spent missing you. I'll forget how much I loved you, I'll forget everything and we can start over." Damon moved closer towards Katherine as he added, "this could be our defining moment because we have the time. That's the beauty of eternity." He softly held Katherine's face in his hands as he uttered, "I just need the truth, just once."

Katherine closed her eyes for a second before she breathed out, "stop." She looked into Damon's eyes as she spoke, "I already know the question and its answer." She confessed after a moment of silence, "the truth is... I've never loved you. It was always Stefan," before she slowly pulled Damon's hands away from her face and walked away from the heartbroken Salvatore.

* * *

Emily sighed as she finally made her way out of the bathroom once she was done with the hot shower. She was ready to go to sleep for the night. It had been a long day and she knew that there was more to come tomorrow. However, as Emily walked into her bedroom, she jumped in fright as she noticed Damon was sitting on the edge of her bed. "What are you doing here, Damon?" Emily questioned once her heartbeat had steadied.

Damon looked up from his hands he was gazing at and uttered, "oh, you know, being the friendly neighborhood spider-man."

Emily shook her head as she chuckled, "wow, you must definitely be drunk." She watched Damon closely and noticed he was swaying as he sat on her bed. "Do you want me to call Stefan to come take you home?" Emily questioned lightly.

Damon groaned loudly, "oh, my God. Why is it always about Stefan?" He swiftly stood up before he stomped directly in front of Emily. "Elena picks Stefan and of course Katherine only loved my brother. Stefan this, Stefan that," Damon mumbled as he thought everything out loud.

Emily was silent as she listened to Damon rant about everything that was on his mind. But once Damon grew quiet, she grabbed his arm softly. "Come on, let's go downstairs and wait for Stefan," she spoke gently.

Damon was too blind with anger and hurt to even listen to the oldest Gilbert as he pushed her harshly against the wall. He grabbed Emily's face in his hands as he pouted, "I want someone to pick me." He stared into Emily's green eyes with intensity in his own as he whispered, "maybe you could pick me."

Emily tried with all her might to push Damon away from her. She knew that he didn't mean what he was saying, that he was only hurt by whatever Katherine had said to him. She didn't take anything he was saying to heart. He was drunk, so she just wanted to help him get his head straight so he could head home. "Come on, Damon. Just take a deep breath," Emily spoke as she tried to get him to focus.

Damon either ignored her or he didn't hear a word she was saying, because the next thing Emily knew was that Damon moved his face closer towards hers as he tried to kiss her. Emily's eyes widened in shock as she realized what he was doing, so she quickly yelled out, "Damon! Stop! You don't want to do this!"

But before Damon's lips could touch the brunette's, a voice suddenly spoke from the doorway. "Emily, what's going on in here?" Jeremy questioned as he stared at his sister in confusion.

As Damon was distracted by the youngest Gilbert, Emily quickly pulled herself out of Damon's strong grip and moved towards her brother. She definitely didn't want Jeremy around the vampire when he could barely think straight. "It's nothing, Jer. Everything's fine, just head off to bed," Emily calming told her brother.

"No, everything is not fine, Emily," Damon muttered as he glanced over at Jeremy. He looked back at Emily as he stated, "he wants to be a vampire."

"No!" Emily quickly yelped as her eyes widened in shock once she realized that her brother was in danger. It only took Emily to blink once before Damon had her brother by his throat against the wall like she had feared. "Damon, no! Leave him alone!" She yelled out in panic.

Damon ignored Emily as he squeezed the scared boy's throat and whispered, "you want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares just goes away, all you have to do is flip the switch and snap!"

"Dam -" Emily tried to warn the oldest Salvatore once again, but before she could finish saying his name, she saw Damon snap her brother's neck. Emily's voice got stuck in the back of her throat as everything happened in slow motion. It felt like hours passed by as she watched her brother's neck turn in away that it never should. But at the sound of her brother's body touching the ground, she was shaken out of her trance and gained her voice back. "No!" Emily yelled out as she quickly rushed towards her brother's side. She felt like her heart was just ripped out of her body as she tried to find Jeremy's heartbeat. Emily's hands shook as she moved her way around Jeremy's sweater. But when Emily couldn't find her brother's heartbeat, she looked up with tears running down her face as she glared at Damon. "Leave!" She yelled out in anger and in pain.

Damon stared at the crying girl for a moment with no emotion on his face, before slowly backed out of Emily's bedroom. Once the vampire was gone, Emily gasped in heartache and laid her head on her brother's chest. She grabbed Jeremy's hand off of the ground and brought it to her lips. However, Emily sat up once she felt something cold touch her skin. She gasped in relief as she noticed that Jeremy was wearing John's magical ring that would bring him back to life.

Emily shakily grabbed her cell phone from her desk once she had finally caught her breath and quickly texted Stefan about what had just happened only minutes ago. She sat her phone on the floor after she had seen that the message was sent before she pulled her brother's limp head into her lap.

Stefan arrived in Emily's bedroom a few seconds after he had received the message. He didn't make a single sound as he watched the sadden girl hold Jeremy close to her chest. Stefan didn't understand why his brother would kill Jeremy. He tried to think of an explanation as he spoke lightly, "he saw the ring, that's why he did. He knew."

Emily quickly shook her head as she kept her eyes on her brother, "he didn't see the ring."

Stefan sighed, "it's Katherine. She got under his skin. She undid everything that was good about him."

Emily scoffed, "there's nothing good about him, Stefan." She glared into the wall as she continued, "we were friends, but that is over. He can burn in hell for all I care." Emily felt tears in her eyes as she uttered repeatedly, "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him."

Stefan swiftly bent down to Emily's level as soon as she began to cry harder and rubbed her shoulder's gently. "I know. I know," he spoke softly before he kissed the top of her head.

Emily held her brother closely towards her chest as she cried, but she suddenly jumped in shock as Jeremy woke up with a deep gasp. "Oh, my God!" She yelped with her eyes widened. "Is he okay?" She quickly questioned the vampire.

Stefan grabbed Jeremy's face and stared into his eyes for a moment before he stated, "he's okay." As the youngest Gilbert continued to gasp as he looked around, Stefan quickly spoke to Jeremy softly, "shhh, you're okay."

"He killed me," Jeremy cried out as he searched around the room, "Damon killed me!"

Emily pulled her brother into her chest as a tiny smile grew on her lips with tears still streaming down her face. "It's okay, Jer. I'm right here. I got you," she tried to calm herself and her brother down. Emily couldn't be anymore grateful for John and that stupid ring as she held her very alive brother in her arms.

* * *

In the silent Mystic Falls Hospital, there was a tall brunette clicking her heels down the hallways as she headed towards a room with determination. She had a plan that she needed to follow and this was the first step to being finally free. Once the woman had made it to the hospital room, she stood with a smirk on her face at the edge of the bed as she waited for the right moment to strike.

The blonde girl on the hospital bed suddenly gasped as she was woken up and saw someone standing right in front of her. Caroline rubbed her eyes tiredly before she looked at the person closely. "Elena?" She questioned in confusion.

"Hey, Caroline," the brunette uttered as she twitched her head to the side with a smile on her face.

Caroline rubbed her temples sleepily as she mumbled, "why aren't you bed? It's late."

The brunette leaned over Caroline's bed as she began to speak, "my name is Katherine. I was hoping you could give the Salvatore brothers a message for me."

Caroline lifted her head from her hands as she looked at the girl in front of her in confusion. "What are you talking about? What message?" The blonde questioned.

"Game on," Katherine uttered simply.

"What?" Caroline began to question. But before she could think, Katherine was suddenly holding a pillow against her face. She fought with her might to get the pillow off her as she was beginning to lose her breath. But after a moment she lost as her body fell limp against the hospital bed.

Katherine slowly moved the pillow off of the blonde once she didn't feel any movement. She smirked as she realized that she was successful with killing the human. But Katherine knew that was only part of the plan as she threw the pillow onto the ground and strutted out of the hospital room and made her way to the next door, where she would face her annoying doppelganger.

Katherine slowly walked into the room and noticed that her doppelganger was asleep. But that was something she definitely didn't need, so she locked the door behind her and turned on the bright light. It didn't take very long for Elena to stir awake. Katherine sat in the small chair that was next to the bed and waited for the human to notice her carbon copy.

Elena slowly woke up as she felt the bright lights burning her eyes. She thought it was one the nurses bringing her some more medicine like they usually did, but she gasped as she turned towards her right. She couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at the brunette in front of her. It was like she was looking into a mirror. However, Elena suddenly remembered what her sister had told her about what had happened to John. Elena quickly looked for the emergency button on her hospital bed, but it was suddenly ripped from her hands.

Katherine tsked, "we don't need to bring anyone in here, now do we?" She smirked as she added, "unless it's a little snack of course."

Elena sat up straight in her bed as she quickly shook her head. She didn't want to be a reason for someone's death, even if she was scared out of her mind. "What do you want?" She questioned the vampire nervously.

Katherine stood up from the chair as she slowly walked around the room. "Well, there is a couple of things I want; you dead, Stefan in love with me again, world domination." She smirked, "you know, the usual." Katherine crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at her doppelganger, "but for now, you can help me with the first one."

Elena gasped in shock as she quickly jumped out of the hospital bed. She tried to make a run for the door, but Katherine swiftly grabbed her by her throat and slammed her against the wall. "Oh, Elena. You should know I always get what I want," she uttered teasingly.

"Please, you don't have to do this!" Elena cried out as she scratched at the vampire's hand that held her throat in place.

"You're right, I don't have to, but that is the fun part!" Katherine exclaimed. She patted Elena's head lightly as spoke, "sweet dreams," before she snapped her doppelganger's neck. Katherine caught her body before she fell to the ground and laid Elena on the hospital bed. She dusted off her hands with a smirk before she strutted out of the room and out of Mystic Falls Hospital as she was ready for the chaos to begin.


	32. Chapter 31

_I'm really excited for the next couple of chapters coming up! I also thought of a new concept for the whole sacrifice part of this season. I can't wait for everyone to read it! Thank you so much for supporting this story!_

 _xoxo_

* * *

In the silent and dark hospital, there was suddenly a large gasp as Elena Gilbert swiftly jumped up from the pillow that laid clumsily on her bed. She quickly grabbed her throat in pain as she shifted her eyes around the room. However, when she couldn't find what had woken her up, she slowly got out of the hospital bed and quietly exited the room.

The hospital was filled with nothing but darkness as the Gilbert girl left the comfort of her room. She looked around for a moment as her eyes adjusted to the dark, before she noticed one of the nurses and her blonde friend. She could see Caroline arguing with the nurse, so she slowly made her way towards the blonde as she called out, "Caroline?"

The nurse looked over at the brunette before she commanded, "you girls need to go back to sleep." She looked at Caroline sternly as she added, "and you can have food in the morning."

Caroline ignored what the nurse had said when something else suddenly caught her attention. She lifted her head up towards the ceiling as she took a deep breath. "What's that smell?" She asked.

"Back to sleep," the nurse commanded as she moved her eyes between the two girls, before she swiftly turned around as she walked away with a stack of folders in hand.

Elena sighed tiredly as she decided that she was going to listen to the nurse and go back to bed. But when she took a quick glance over at Caroline, she noticed the girl was going to another room instead of her own. "Caroline, where are you going?" Elena whispered as she quickly jogged up to the blonde's side.

However, Caroline didn't even react to Elena's voice as her blue eyes focused on the red liquid that moved through the small hospital bag as it pumped into the patient's veins. Caroline slowly walked towards the bag that was calling her name as saliva built around her mouth. She went to touch the bag with a shaky hand, but a booming voice suddenly called out, "what are you guys doing in here?"

Caroline swiftly turned around and stared at the nurse with her eyes widened before she swallowed thickly and mumbled, "I don't know."

"You need to go back to bed," the nurse told the two girls sternly.

Caroline quickly gave the nurse a condescending smile and grabbed onto Elena's wrist tightly as she stated, "we were just leaving," before she pulled Elena with her as she made her way back to her room.

"Caroline, are you okay?" Elena questioned worriedly when she noticed that Caroline was acting weird as she watched the blonde girl stare out of the small window by the door.

Caroline looked around the hallway from the small access window as she watched the nurse closely. Once she realized the nurse wasn't coming back, she turned to Elena as she slowly pulled out the red hospital bag that she had taken from the patient's room. Caroline quickly brought the bag to her lips as the smell was beginning to be too much for her and took a large gulp. But as soon as it slid down her throat, she began to choke which caused her to quickly throw the bag across the room.

Something suddenly snapped inside of Elena as she watched the red liquid slowly spill out of the plastic bag when it crashed onto the floor. She felt like in that moment she could smell everything clearly. She could detect the odor from the freshly washed bed sheets and the strawberry scent that was coming from Caroline's shampoo in the bathroom. But Elena could also smell something that her senses had never came in contact with before.

Elena felt like she was in a trance as she slowly made her way down to the bag on the floor. She couldn't help herself as she brought her hand to the substance and dipped her fingers into the red liquid before she brought it back up to her hungry lips.

"No, no, no, no," Elena cried out once she had quickly scooted away from the red liquid as she realized what she was doing. Elena's body was overtaken by shock as she looked down at her shaky hands that were covered in the substance. She knew exactly what the liquid was, but she just didn't want to believe it. Elena swiftly rushed towards the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She shakily pulled her bottom lip down as she stared at her teeth. But it wasn't her sparkly white teeth that shocked her, no, it was the fangs that were sprouting from her gums.

Elena yelped in agony as she felt pain all over her face. She watched her chocolate brown eyes turn dark red as black veins moved under her eyes. Elena knew exactly what was happening to her. She had watched the same thing happen to Stefan lots of times through their relationship. The only thought in Elena's mind as she covered the monster on her face with her hands as she cried out, was that she was the one thing she never wanted to be, a vampire.

"What's happening to us?" Caroline wailed as she stood at the edge of the bathroom door with blood dripping down her neck as she stared at Elena with her identical fangs poking out from her red lips.

* * *

It was about noon in the small town when teenagers and their families slowly made their way through the large parking lot of Mystic Falls High School, where there was a carnival beginning to take place. The big event was all because of Emily Gilbert and Caroline Forbes. But since Caroline was still in the hospital, Emily had recruited Bonnie to help her to make sure everything was running perfectly.

Emily and Bonnie were unloading stuffed animals for the prized games when Bonnie glanced over at the Gilbert girl as she recalled, "Katherine looked just like Elena, it was freakish."

Emily rolled her eyes and mumbled, "I know, it's annoying that she has Elena's face. It makes it difficult to hate her." She looked up at Bonnie when she felt her friend was still staring at her. Emily shrugged as she added, "I don't really understand how she looks like Lena, but somehow she is our ancestor."

Bonnie clarified, "your vampire ancestor." She twitched her head to the side as she stared at Emily for a moment before she thought out loud, "you know, she sorta looks like you too."

Emily shrugged her shoulders once again as she uttered, "maybe Katherine has a sister."

Bonnie chuckled as she suggested, "it would be so ironic if Katherine has a sister who is your doppelganger." She shook her head, "what would be the chances."

Emily rolled her eyes at her friend as she mumbled, "don't jinx me."

Bonnie bumped her hip into Emily's jokingly as they both laughed before she grew serious as she questioned, "how do you know she's not still out there pretending to be Elena while she's in the hospital?"

Emily sighed, "I don't." She shook her head, "I'm done thinking about Katherine for the day," before she swiftly grabbed a couple of the bags from the back of the large truck and made her way towards the booths.

Bonnie helped the Gilbert girl unload a bag of stuffed animals before she couldn't help herself as she questioned, "have you talked to Damon since he killed Jeremy or tried to kill Jeremy?"

Emily glared at the fluffy gray wolf in her hand before she turned to Bonnie as she snapped, "no. I have no reason to ever talk to him again. I don't want to be around him either." Emily sighed when she noticed Bonnie's eyes widened, so she quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you." She looked at her friend with a soft smile as she stated, "I just want a normal day. Everything has been all about vampires lately, I want to be human for just a couple of hours."

Bonnie rubbed Emily's left shoulder gently as she uttered softly, "of course." She grabbed a large bag of prizes as she stated with determination in her brown eyes, "now let's get down to business."

Emily gave Bonnie a bright smile before she stated, "I can't thank you enough for helping me." She smirked teasingly as she added, "but I want to apologize in advance if get over crazy trying to make sure this event is perfect."

Bonnie chuckled as she shook her head before she uttered, "I don't know how you and Caroline do all this stuff."

"It's a secret," Emily smirked at the Bennett girl.

"I'm starting to think you guys aren't human," Bonnie joked.

Emily rolled her eyes as she shoved Bonnie playfully before she stated, "come on, we have some serious work to do!" The two girls both grabbed more of the bags of prizes and began to make their way through the parking lot as they started to set everything up for the carnival. But what Emily didn't notice was her cell phone ringing in her back pocket as her sister called her multiple times.

* * *

In the continuously busy hallways of Mystic Falls High School, Stefan stood to the side of the youngest Gilberts' locker. Now that Jeremy knew about the existence of vampires, Stefan wanted to keep him safe for the sake of Emily and Elena. Stefan pulled out a small glass container from his pocket and held it in front of Jeremy. "It's the same as the bracelet your sisters gave you," he explained.

Jeremy grabbed the glass container from Stefan and looked at the clear liquid closely. "It protects me from compulsion," he concluded.

Stefan nodded his head in agreement before he added, "vervain is toxic to vampires."

"Like poison?" Jeremy questioned as he looked up at Stefan curiously.

"Yeah," Stefan uttered, "it's very poisonous." He pointed towards his temple as he stated, "it keeps them out of your head."

"But why vervain?" Jeremy questioned in confusion.

Stefan shrugged lightly and mumbled, "don't know," before he added his knowledge from his years of existence, "certain natural herbs and roots and other elements are just harmful to vampires."

"Like a stake to the heart?" Jeremy asked.

"Right," Stefan nodded his head before he added, "but it has to be wood."

Jeremy chuckled as he stared at the vampire. "You're pretty confident in yourself telling me all the different ways I could kill you," he observed.

Stefan shook his head with humor shining through his green eyes before he revealed, "Jeremy, if I thought you wanted to kill me, we would be having a much different conversation right now."

Jeremy silently nodded his head before he glared down at the ground as he uttered, "Damon is the one that deserves it."

Stefan stared at the young boy closely before he ordered, "I want you to forget about Damon, all right?" He continued once Jeremy's brown eyes focused on him, "he's a hundred times stronger than you and right now he's not stable. You got to try to move forward."

"I was killed by a vampire and brought back by a magic ring," Jeremy snapped. "How do you move forward from that?" He questioned angrily.

"Right," Stefan mumbled before he stated, "well, today we have a nice little distraction thanks to the ever so commanding Emily." The vampire swiftly turned to the side as he felt the aforementioned girl walk up to them. "Hello, Emily," Stefan greeted.

Emily gave Stefan a tiny smile before she moved her green eyes towards her brother. "Hey, did you..." She began to question.

"Yeah, yeah, I sat up the gold fish toss, all three hundred gold fish," Jeremy interrupted his sister. "It's going to be epic," he smirked before he slammed his locker shut and went to make his way out of the high school.

Emily quickly grabbed her brother's arm before he could get too far and uttered, "that's not what I was going to ask." Emily felt Jeremy and Stefan both look at her in disbelief, which caused her to roll her eyes before adding, "okay, yes. I was going to ask that, but I also wanted to know how you were doing."

Jeremy's brown eyes softened as he looked at his sister. "I'm fine, everything's fine. You don't have to worry," he stated before he quickly walked away as he made his way out of Mystic Falls High School.

Emily sighed as she watched her brother move swiftly around everyone with his eyes glued to the ground as he avoided eye contact. She knew that he was definitely not okay. No one would be fine after what he had to go through - thanks to the vampire that Emily was beginning to despise.

"He's gonna be alright," Stefan told Emily gently as he noticed the sunken look on her face. "He's just been through a little bit of an ordeal," he uttered as he tried to console the brunette.

Emily folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the row of lockers as she mumbled, "I know. I just want to help."

Stefan leaned against the locker next to Emily and uttered gently, "you can't always rescue everyone." He gave her a soft smile as he asked, "how about instead of you helping everyone, why not let me help you instead, Miss Gilbert?"

A bright smile slowly crawled onto Emily's face before she pointed at Stefan and mumbled, "you asked for it." Once Emily noticed that Stefan nodded his head, she continued, "firstly, no vampire talk today. We go to a human school, so I just want a human day."

Stefan did an invisible check mark in front of Emily's face with a cheeky grin, "done. What else?"

"Please tell me I can borrow you for a couple of hours to help place some of the prizes on the top racks," Emily wondered with a pout.

"Prizes on the top racks, you got it," Stefan told the Gilbert girl.

Emily felt her shoulders drop in relief, now that she knew the prizes would be all set up since she nor Bonnie could get the stuffed animals on the high racks. "Thank you so much," she told Stefan with a grateful smile, "you are a lifesaver."

Stefan chuckled lightly as he wrapped his arm around Emily's shoulder. "I'll always be your lifesaver," he uttered as he directed the Gilbert girl, who was beginning to be conflicted about her feelings, out of Mystic Falls High School.

* * *

The sun slowly began to disappear from the clear sky and welcomed the dark night as more and more people made their way through the grounds of the bright carnival. But in the middle of all the fun, was the main person that made all of it happen. Emily was walking through the carnival with a clip board in hand as she made sure everything was running smoothly.

Bonnie swiftly jogged up to the busy girl's side and told Emily, "hey, the ring toss is out of Bart and Homer dolls and also Team Jacob T's."

Emily looked over at her friend with a small nod and stated, "I can go run and get those real quick." She looked down at her list before mumbling to herself, "I still need to find out who's in charge of the speakers."

Bonnie quickly grabbed her friend's hand to get her attention as she spoke softly, "hey, take a breather. This is a huge success."

Emily looked around the crowd as she watched all the smiling faces and the laughter that carried all around the carnival. "You're right," she told Bonnie with a grin. She held her finger up as she stated, "I just need to do one more thing." Emily scanned the carnival before she noticed a familiar face fixing a machine. "Carter!" She called out.

The guy turned around at the voice and smiled when he saw the short brunette girl. "Well, if it isn't Emily," he uttered, "it's good to see you again."

Emily smiled politely and remarked, "you too." She twitched her head to the side as she questioned hopefully, "you know electrical stuff right?"

Carter nodded his head as he responded, "yeah. I'm working with the carnival."

Emily smiled brightly as she stated, "perfect." She turned to the side as she looked over at Bonnie with a smirk, "you see, my friend over here needs some help." Emily had noticed the way Bonnie was staring at Carter, so she decided to help the brunette a little bit.

Carter perked up as he turned his attention over to Bonnie. "What do you need, beautiful?" He asked with a charming smile.

Bonnie gave Emily a glare before she turned to Carter with a nervous chuckle as she asked, "what do you know about karaoke speakers?"

Carter looked Bonnie up and down in appreciation before he uttered with a smile, "why don't you show me the problem?"

Emily looked over at her friend with a smirk as she uttered teasingly, "yeah, Bonnie, show him the problem."

Bonnie ignored the teasing tone that came from Emily's mouth as she looked into Carter's deep brown eyes with a smile. She pointed her head to the left as she stated, "come on," before she directed Carter away from the crowd and towards the speakers.

Emily chuckled and shook her head as she watched her friend walk away with the cute guy. She had known Carter for years when she used to party all the time before her parents passed away. Carter was always a sweet guy, so she knew Bonnie was in good hands for the night.

Emily made her way through the crowd with a smile on her face as she watched all the happy people that surrounded her. Bonnie was definitely right. The carnival was becoming such a huge success. She couldn't wait to tell Caroline all about how everything went perfectly.

Emily continued to walk around the carnival before she suddenly felt someone strongly pull her around the corner. She was about to yell at whoever thought they could treat her like that. But her eyes widened as she looked at who was in front of her. "Elena?" She questioned in shock, "what are you doing here?"

Elena looked at her sister with urgency in her brown eyes as she interrogated, "why haven't you been answering your phone!?"

Emily looked at Elena in confusion before she pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and sure enough, she noticed twenty three voicemail's all from her sister. Emily shook her head, "I didn't hear it." She looked back at Elena and questioned, "what's going on?"

Elena didn't utter a single word, but she did close her eyes as she took a deep breath. But once she opened them her whole face transformed to the monster that had overtaken her body. "Katherine happened," she cried out with tears clouding around her dark red eyes.

Emily gasped in shock as she looked at her baby sister. "No, no, no, no," she repeated over and over. "Please tell me this is a joke," she begged.

Elena moved away from her sister as she slid her body down the hard brick wall that was across from Emily. She chuckled humorlessly, "I wish I could." She shook her head and mumbled, "I kept telling myself it was all just a horrible dream."

Emily paced up and down as she tried to wrap her head around what had happened. She couldn't understand why Katherine would turn Elena. Emily crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at her sister with sad eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked softly.

Elena glared at Emily as she growled, "no, I'm not okay. The only thing I can think about is drinking everyone's blood right now." Elena quickly covered her eyes with a groan before she apologized, "I'm sorry, Emmie. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just so confused." Elena sighed as she also added with a mumble, "and Caroline's angry that she is always hungry, plus that she has to follow an order that Katherine gave her."

Emily's eyes widened as she looked at her newly turned vampire sister. "Wait, wait, wait. Katherine turned Caroline too?" She swiftly questioned.

Elena nodded her head slowly before she furrowed her brows as she told her sister, "Katherine wanted Caroline to tell Stefan and Damon game on."

"Emily," a strong voice suddenly called out from behind the older Gilbert girl.

"Not now, Damon," Emily hissed as she glared over at the oldest Salvatore brother. She definitely didn't want to have to deal with Damon right now.

But before Damon could call out for Emily again, he spotted the youngest Gilbert girl against the wall. "Elena," he spoke softly.

"Damon," Elena spoke with the same softness in her voice before she went to walk towards the oldest Salvatore brother. She just felt some type of pull when she looked up at Damon; like she needed to be by his side.

Emily looked at her sister in confusion, but she quickly grabbed onto Elena's arm before she could walk too close to the devil incarnated.

"What are you doing?" Elena questioned as she looked back at her sister with sad eyes.

Emily glared at Damon as she told Elena, "he tried to kill Jeremy."

Elena swiftly moved her eyes towards Damon as anger took over her body. She glared at him as her fangs began to sprout from her mouth. She got out of her sister's grip easily and ran towards Damon. "What did you do?" She growled as she held the older vampire by his throat against the wall.

Damon looked at Elena with his eyes widened as he realized what happened to the girl he was starting to have feelings for. But that would have to wait as his throat was beginning to close. "I can explain. Let go of me, Elena," he choked out.

Elena quickly removed her hand from Damon's throat as soon as the words were out of his mouth and looked at him with sad eyes. But Damon ignored the tightness in his chest for the new vampire, and looked over at Emily as he commanded, "we all need to talk now."

Emily nodded her head silently as she agreed with the older vampire. No matter how much Emily didn't want to be around Damon, she knew that this was necessary. They all needed to talk about what Katherine's plan was and how they were going to stop her.

* * *

Emily sat on top of Alaric's desk in his empty classroom with Damon leaning against the wall and her newly vampire sister pacing up and down the floor as they waited for Stefan to arrive. Emily had texted Stefan a SOS message so they could go over everything that had happened in the past couple of hours.

Stefan rushed into the room no more than three minutes after the oldest Gilbert girl had sent the message. He scanned the classroom before his eyes widened as he spotted his girlfriend in a panic. He quickly rushed towards her and pulled Elena into a tight hug. "What are you doing here?" He questioned softly.

Elena pulled away from the hug with tears in her eyes as she looked up at Stefan's face. But she couldn't even utter a single word as her emotions were all over the place. However, with her feelings all rattled, her face began to transform to what she was trying to explain. "I'm a v-vampire," she whimpered.

Stefan quickly pulled Elena into his chest as he shushed her while hugging her tightly. "It's okay," he whispered gently in her ear. Stefan swiftly looked up at his brother and glared as he quietly questioned angrily, "what did you do?"

Damon raised his hands up in fake innocence as he stated with a smirk, "I didn't do anything."

Emily noticed that Stefan was about to rush at Damon in anger, so she quickly stood up from Alaric's desk and moved between the two brothers. "Enough," she commanded, "we don't have time for this right now." Once the Salvatore's calmed down, Emily looked at Damon pointedly as she stated, "now get to the point."

Damon rolled his eyes at Emily before he looked over at his brother. "Well, I fed her my blood and Katherine obviously killed her and A plus B equals..." He trailed off as he guessed what had happened to the younger Gilbert girl.

"That's not the only thing," Emily told Stefan, "she also turned Caroline as well."

"Why?" Elena whispered as she cried into Stefan's chest.

"Because Katherine is a manipulative, nasty, little slut," Damon stated angrily before his eyes softened as he looked directly at Elena.

Stefan glanced over at his brother with furrowed brows as he watched Damon look at his girlfriend in a way he shouldn't. But Stefan shook his head as he focused on the important issue as he questioned, "and she said, 'game on?' I mean, what does that even mean?"

"It means she's playing dirty," Damon stated, "she wants us to know."

Emily shook her head as she began to pace up and down the classroom like her sister had done. "But why would she turn Elena and Caroline?" She questioned in disbelief.

"I don't know," Damon mumbled.

Stefan rubbed Elena's hair softly as he spoke, "Caroline must be completely out of her mind, she doesn't even know what's happening to her."

Damon groaned, "oh, I think she does." He explained once he noticed the confused faces, "all of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

"We have to find her," Emily stated sternly. She didn't want her best friend to get hurt or kill anyone when she doesn't even understand exactly what's happening to her.

"Yep," Damon nodded his head in agreement before adding, "and kill her."

Emily glared at Damon, "we are not gonna kill Caroline."

"She knows who we are," Damon told Emily, "she's officially a liability, and we've got to get rid of her."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest as she continued to look at Damon with hatred in her green eyes. "Oh, so that means you want to kill my sister too, huh?" She questioned angrily.

Damon walked closely towards Emily as he glared right back at her and stated, "Elena's different."

"We aren't killing her, Damon," Stefan ordered as he glared at his brother.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan?" Damon questioned. He shook his head, "Caroline of all people, will not make it as a vampire. Her mother is a vampire hunter." Damon pointed towards the emotional Elena as he stated. "at least I can help her control it." But when no one uttered a single word, Damon continued, "guys, come on. We all know how this story's gonna end, just flip to the last chapter and..."

"It's not an option, Damon," Emily harshly told the older vampire.

"No?" Damon questioned before he glanced over at his brother. "Your silence is deafening, Stefan," he uttered. "Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki?" He asked before adding, "I never had a town where history repeats itself. You know I'm right."

Stefan glanced over at Emily, where he saw her sad eyes and couldn't help but fall under her spell. "We're not gonna kill her," Stefan commanded as he focused his attention on his brother, before grabbing Elena's hand as he pulled her out of the history classroom.

Emily went to follow after the couple but she paused when Damon stated, "it's the only way."

Emily glared once more as she looked over at Damon. "No, it's not," she disagreed, "if my sister can survive this crap, then so can Caroline," before she stomped her way out of the classroom as she continued to follow after Elena and Stefan.

* * *

Emily walked through the crowded carnival as she tried to find her best friend. It had already been fifteen minutes, and they still couldn't find the blonde girl. "Where could she be?" Emily questioned out loud. She glanced over at Elena and Stefan and noticed how they both stopped as they were lost in thought. "What is it? Do you hear her?" Emily interrogated nervously.

"Blood," Stefan stated, "I can smell blood." He quickly looked over at Elena as he uttered the one word that he knew his girlfriend was craving. Stefan went to open his mouth to control her hunger, but he was unsuccessful as Elena was already gone as she rushed towards the heavenly smell.

"Elena!" Emily yelled out for her sister.

Stefan quickly grabbed Emily's hand as he rushed after his girlfriend and the smell of fresh blood. But Stefan found Caroline first and in the worst position possible. He swiftly ran into his brother and knocked the wooden stake out of his hand when he noticed Damon was trying to kill the blonde.

"Stefan!" Damon growled out in frustration.

Once Emily finally made her way closer towards the four vampires, she noticed that there was so much going on. But the one thing that caught her attention the most, was her sister leaning over the ground. So, while everyone was busy arguing, Emily slowly made her way towards her sister. "Elena," she called out softly.

Elena swiftly turned around as she heard her twin sister's gently voice, but the monster inside caused her to growl loudly. However, that caught the attention of the two Salvatore brothers, and before Emily could even blink, Stefan had her firmly behind him. Emily tapped Stefan's shoulder lightly as she whispered, "we need to get them inside." Emily was scared out of her mind but she tried her best to hide it as she didn't want to be scared of her own sister.

Stefan nodded his head as he looked down at Emily with worry shining through his eyes before he made his way towards his girlfriend and carefully pulled her from the dead body. "Come on," he spoke softly before he moved her towards the crying blonde.

"She will die, it's only a matter of time," Damon told his brother as his blue eyes closely followed Caroline.

Stefan shrugged as he looked over at Damon, "yeah, maybe so, but it's not gonna happen tonight."

"Oh, yeah it is," Damon growled before he sped over to Caroline with the wooden stake in his hand.

However, Damon didn't get the chance to kill the blonde vampire. Elena had moved as quick as lightning as she stood in front of her friend. She wasn't going to let Damon kill someone she thought as family. "You will have to kill me first, Damon, and we both know you won't," Elena whispered as she stared into Damon's blue eyes.

Damon's whole body softened as he stared at Elena, which caused him to drop the wooden stake on the ground. He knew that Elena was right, he couldn't kill her and he wouldn't. Damon glanced over at Emily as he stated, "this was your idea, so whatever happens, it's on you."

"Caroline? Elena?" A voice suddenly spoke from behind all of the chaos.

"It's okay, come on," Stefan spoke softly as he tried to lead the two freshly new vampires away from the Bennett witch. He knew that this was not the right time for Bonnie to find out about Caroline and Elena.

However, Stefan wasn't quick enough, because Bonnie saw the blood dripping down her two friend's faces. "No, you're not, you can't be," she cried out. She grabbed both Elena's and Caroline's arm as she was pulled into a trance before she swiftly pulled away in shock when she got her answer.

"Bonnie?" Caroline whimpered as she looked at her friend.

However, Bonnie's attention was caught by something behind her two friends. She looked closely and noticed the body of the boy she had spent her night with. "Oh, God!" She gasped.

"Bonnie..." Elena trailed off as she tried to get her best friend to understand.

But Bonnie wouldn't even look at the two girls as she was scared and sad from what had happened. She felt she didn't even know them anymore. Emily saw her twin sister's sadden face, so she quickly gave Elena and Caroline a small smile as she directed them towards Stefan's direction.

Once the two broken girls had followed Stefan into the bathroom, Bonnie looked over at Emily with tears in her brown eyes. "I can't believe this is happening," she stated before taking a deep breath and questioning, "did you know about this?"

"I barely found out an hour ago," Emily responded softly. She pulled the Bennett girl into a tight hug as she stated, "hey, there are still the same girls." But Bonnie only shook her head into the crook of Emily's neck as tears ran down her face.

"Come on, don't pout about it," Damon called out as he saw the two girls huddled close together. "I got a body to bury," he stated as he moved towards the dead body with a shovel slung over his shoulder.

Bonnie's body was suddenly over taken by anger at how Damon was being so comical with Carter's death. She slowly began to walk towards the vampire with determination in her brown eyes, which caused Damon to swiftly drop to the ground as he clutched his head in pain. Bonnie moved her eyes towards the water hose once Damon was down and used her powers to make the water pour from the hose. "I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt," Bonnie growled.

"I didn't do this," Damon groaned.

Emily quickly shook her head at her friend as she stated, "Bonnie, it wasn't his fault. He didn't do this." As bad as Emily didn't want to defend Damon, it was the truth. He wasn't the cause of Carter's death.

"Everything that happens is his fault, Emily!" Bonnie yelled angrily, "you said it yourself, you can't even stand him!"

Emily watched the water Bonnie was controlling as it trailed towards Damon's body. But Emily's eyes suddenly widened in shock as she realized what the Bennett witch was doing. She had witnessed the same thing when she, Bonnie, and Elena were all kidnapped by Anna and Ben. "Bonnie, stop!" Emily quickly yelled out.

Emily began to panic even more when the clear water suddenly turned into a line of fire. She knew her voice wasn't going to be enough to pull Bonnie all the way out of her trance, so she quickly jumped in front of the Bennett witch. "Bonnie!" Emily shouted as she tried to get her friend to focus on her instead of the vampire.

"Why did you stop me!?" Bonnie yelled out in anger once her concentration was broken, which caused the fire to go completely out.

"Because we don't hurt people, Bonnie! You can't stoop to his level!" Emily told her friend as she tried to get her to understand, "we have to be better than this!" Once Bonnie grew silent, Emily took a quick glance over at Damon, who gave her a thankful nod. She gave him one back before Emily pulled the stressed out girl away from the vampire and the chaos that ruined the night.

* * *

Emily had Matt take Bonnie home after all that had happened. She only told the blonde male that Bonnie was tried and couldn't drive, so he wouldn't ask questions. That would only cause for more problems, and Emily couldn't deal with that right now. Once Emily made sure Bonnie was okay and that she would call her once she was home, Emily made her way to her locker one last time for the night. She was just ready for the whole day to end.

"Hey," Stefan spoke softly as he walked up to Emily. "Caroline and Elena are okay for now. I'll check on them later," he stated.

Emily nodded her head silently before she questioned, "where are they?"

"I took Caroline home and I put Elena in your car," Stefan answered.

Emily sighed as she closed her locker before turning to Stefan as she wondered sadly, "and what about Carter?" Emily didn't even get the chance to feel sorrow for Carter's death with everything going on, but it was now hitting her. She wished that she could have done something to stop it from happening. Emily's heart broke from Carter's family. He was a great guy that she would never forget about.

"It's taken care of," Stefan spoke gently.

Emily rubbed her eyes tiredly as she mumbled, "this isn't going to end well, is it?" She chuckled humorlessly, "it looks like Damon's right for once."

Stefan quickly shook his head as he promised, "no, I'm gonna make sure that he's wrong. I will protect Caroline and Elena. We will get through all this."

Emily leaned against her locker as she sighed, "I guess I didn't get my human day."

"Welcome to Mystic Falls," Stefan uttered lightheartedly as he leaned against the locker next to the young girl.

Emily shook her head, "I can't believe I actually thought I could have a normal day. I mean, my best friend and twin sister are now vampires. There is no normal days anymore."

"I'm sorry," Stefan apologized as he looked down at Emily with his green eyed softened.

Emily shrugged lightly, "it's just the way it goes. This is my life now."

"You gonna be okay?" Stefan asked gently.

"Probably not," Emily mumbled. But when she saw Stefan was about to open his mouth, Emily quickly added, "I'm going to take Elena home. You should come by later, she's going to need you," before she swiftly walked away with too many thoughts running through her mind and she didn't want to deal with her confused feelings for a certain vampire.

* * *

The two Gilbert sisters road in Emily's car silently as they made their way home. Emily knew that Elena needed to think bout what was happening to her alone. It was just something major that Emily couldn't understand. The only person that could help her was Stefan or Damon.

Once Emily had pulled in front of the Gilbert house, the two girls quietly made their way up to the front door. But while Emily went straight through the house, Elena was suddenly stopped by an invisible barrier. Elena looked at her sister in confusion as she questioned, "why can't I get in?"

Emily furrowed her brows for a moment before her green eyes widened in realization. She totally forgot that since Elena was a vampire, she needed to be invited into the house. Emily looked at her sister with soft eyes as she spoke gently, "come in."

Elena looked at the doorway cautiously as she slowly lifted her shoe over the threshold. She sighed once her body was inside the house. She had forgotten about the down side of being a vampire with everything going on today. It just made her feel worse. "I don't think I can do this," Elena uttered dishearteningly as she looked over at her sister.

Emily looked at Elena with sadden eyes as she grabbed her sister's hand tightly. "Yes, you can," she spoke sternly, "I might not understand what you are going through, but I will help you as best as I can. You are my sister, and I will not give up on you."

Elena stared silently at her sister for a moment as tears began to fall down her face. "I wish I could hug you," she whimpered out with a humorless laugh. "But I don't want to hurt you," she added with a mumble.

Emily took a step closer towards her sister and rubbed Elena's shoulders gently. "You will get control, I believe in you," she stated truthfully. Emily pulled her sister into a tight hug. She couldn't resist as she felt helpless, since she couldn't do anything for her sister. But as soon as Emily felt Elena's heavy breath on her neck, she quickly pulled away. Emily gave her sister a sad smile as she spoke, "I love you, Lena. Everything will be okay in the end."

"I'm scared," Elena whispered as she stared into Emily's green eyes.

Emily's heart broke as she watched tears stream down her sister's face. She wished she could do anything to help Elena, but there was no way out of this. She just had to be there for her as best as she could. Emily brushed Elena's messy brown hair out of her face and gave her a small smile. "You are my sister and I will die trying before I let anything happen to you. We're going to figure this all out." Emily kissed the top of Elena's head as she whispered, "you are never alone."

Elena's hand trembled as she brought her pinky up into the air as she asked in a small voice, "promise?"

Emily bit her bottom lip as she tried to keep her tears at bay. She nodded her head as she linked her pinky with her twin sister and uttered, "I promise."

The road was going to be a long journey with Elena and Caroline being a vampire, but Emily was willing to do everything she could. She would always protect her loved ones over herself, no matter how dangerous it was. They also had to deal with Katherine and whatever she was planning to do. But that would have to wait until the morning as Emily leaded her twin sister upstairs. Emily made sure Elena was okay before she headed to her own room to get some much needed rest. This was only the beginning and she needed to be ready for what was to come.


	33. Chapter 32

The next morning, Emily and Elena sat in the middle of the Salvatore boarding house as they waited for Alaric to arrive. Stefan and Elena had came knocking on Emily's bedroom door in the early hours, saying that they needed to contact Alaric so they could get some information from him. Emily wasn't really sure what they needed to talk about, but since Elena already knew what was going on, she decided to just follow along.

"Thanks for coming, Ric," Damon greeted as the man of the hour entered the living room. "Can I get you something to drink?" He questioned as he stood over the alcohol table, "coffee, bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?"

Alaric shook his head as he looked at Damon, "I'm good." He glanced over to the Gilbert girls and focused his attention on the new vampire for a moment longer before stating, "Emily said you needed my help."

"Yeah," Stefan sighed lightly as he held Elena's hand in his. "We were hoping you could shed some light on the Lockwood family," he explained once Alaric had sat across from them.

Emily looked over at Stefan in confusion as she questioned, "wait, why do you want to know about Tyler's family?" She didn't even know there was anything to suspect; especially if it involved the supernatural part of life.

"Your bestie's family is hiding some secrets," Damon smirked at Emily as he made his way over to the toasty fireplace.

"But why would you think I'd know anything about the Lockwood's?" Alaric questioned as he stirred the conversation back on topic.

"Well, you wouldn't," Damon drawled out as he looked over at Alaric, "but your dead, not dead vampire wife might."

"Isobel's research from when you guys were at Duke together," Elena clarified.

"You said that she spent years researching this town," Stefan added.

Alaric looked down at his lap as he played with the ring that the aforementioned woman had gave him years ago. "Isobel's research here in Mystic Falls rooted in folklore and legends," he explained once he had looked up at the faces that were watching him closely, "but at the time I thought much of which was fiction."

"Like that amazing vampire story," Damon uttered with a smirk.

Elena cleared her throat awkwardly as she was not used to that word being something to describe her. "Aside from vampires, what else?" She questioned lowly.

Alaric furrowed his brows as he racked his mind before he responded simply, "the lycanthrope."

While the three vampires confusingly glanced at each other, Emily looked at the history teacher with her green eyes widened. "You're telling me there are werewolves here in Mystic Falls?" She questioned in astonishment.

Damon quickly shook his head and denied, "no way, impossible, way too Lon Chaney."

"Is it?" Stefan questioned.

Damon rolled his eyes at Stefan before he began to explain, "I've been on this planet for one hundred and sixty some odd years, and never came across one." He looked at each face around the room as he challenged, "if werewolves exit, where the hell are they?"

Alaric looked at the older vampire with uncertainty in his eyes as he interrogated, "why do you suspect the Lockwood's?"

Damon sighed tiredly before he recalled, "because vervain didn't affect the mayor at Founder's Day, but the Gilbert device did and it also affected his son, Tyler."

"And at the school carnival, his uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought with one of the carnival workers," Stefan added to his brother's explanation, "it suggests to some sort of supernatural entity."

Emily moved her eyes between the Salvatore brothers and her sister as she questioned, "so, you guys really think the Lockwood's could actually be werewolves?"

Elena looked at Emily with a small shrug and stated, "it's worth a shot to find out." She moved her brown eyes to Alaric as she continued, "we were hoping that Isobel's research could help us figure it out what it is."

"Well, all her things are still at Duke," Alaric stated before he cleared his throat and corrected himself, "I mean her office is still there." He glanced over at the vampire that had turned Isobel as he declared, "she's technically still missing."

"So, can we get access to it?" Damon questioned eagerly.

However, Damon groaned loudly when he noticed the history teacher wasn't going to give him an answer. "Ric, we need to know what we are dealing with," he stressed. "If this wolfman thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good," Damon uttered as he tried to convince Alaric, "it means Mason Lockwood is a real life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney junior, which means Bella Lugosi, meaning me, is totally screwed."

* * *

Emily huffed as she threw a ray of different colored tank tops into her large black duffel bag as she packed for Duke University. If she was going to the famous university any other time, she would've been so excited. But now she was just annoyed since she had to go with the one person she couldn't stand lately.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Stefan questioned lightly as he stood by Emily's desk. He didn't really like the idea of the older Gilbert girl going away with Damon when he couldn't be there.

Emily glanced over at Stefan before she sighed, "well, it's not like I really have a choice." She shrugged her shoulders carelessly and stated, "we need answers and this is the only way we can, so I guess I will just have to stick it out with Damon." Emily mumbled under her breath as she continued packing, "hopefully I don't have to kill him."

"Please don't do that," Elena begged as she strolled into her sister's bedroom.

Emily ignored the tension she could definitely feel from Stefan as Elena walked into the room. Instead, she sighed dramatically as she looked over at her twin sister with a smirk and muttered jokingly, "I guess I can try."

Stefan cleared his throat once the room grew painfully silent and looked over at Emily as he questioned curiously, "so, how are you feeling about having to go through Isobel's things?"

Emily bit down on her bottom lip nervously as she busied herself with zipping up her bag, before she uttered quietly, "I don't really know how I feel." She rose an eyebrow as she wondered, "it's weird, right? I mean, I don't even like this woman and now I'm going to go through her life's work."

Elena jumped onto her sister's bed before she suggested, "maybe I should come with you. We could go through Isobel's things together."

Emily quickly shook her head as she gave Elena a reassuring smile. "No, no. You should stay here so Stefan can teach you and Caroline about the whole vampire thing," she exclaimed. Emily grabbed Elena's left hand as she subconsciously rubbed over Elena's new daylight ring, "I want you to be okay, so you should only focus on that. You don't have to worry about me."

"Even though I'd rather go too, Emily's right," Stefan told Elena, "I need to focus on you and Caroline to make sure you both can get control before we can go any further."

Elena huffed out a sigh but nodded her head in agreement. She swiftly shifted her eyes towards her sister and ordered, "you have to tell me everything you find out. We need to know how we are connected to Katherine."

Emily rolled her eyes playfully at her sister, "yes, I know, Lena." She gave the stressed out girl a small smile, "I promise I will find out as much as I can and I will tell you everything."

Elena groaned as she threw herself onto Emily's soft pillows. "I hate this. I wish I could just come with you. I don't like being left out," she complained.

Emily chuckled, "oh, come on, you big baby." She pulled her sister from the bed as she stated with a smirk, "we will come back together and I'll give you all the details and you can tell me all about you killing cute little animals."

Stefan shook his head and snickered as he watched Elena's face turn to one of disgust. "Come on, we should get going," he told the two girls before leading them out of Emily's bedroom with her bag thrown over his shoulder.

Emily and Elena followed after Stefan and made their way down the stairs as they joked and shoved each other playfully. Emily was happy that their relationship didn't change after Elena became a vampire. They were as close as ever, maybe even more. Once they reached the front door, Emily noticed a frown on her aunt's face. "Hey, are you okay?" She questioned softly. Emily knew Jenna wouldn't exactly be happy with seeing Alaric again after she had just learned about Isobel.

Jenna gave her oldest niece a tight smile with a shrug as she uttered, "yeah, just men with their baggage."

Emily rubbed Jenna's right shoulder gently as she stated softly, "I'll be back in a day or two, but maybe we can go get some ice cream and talk about whatever you want when I get back."

Jenna nodded her head with a real smile before she suggested hopefully, "or maybe we could go to the Grill and spend our time at the bar and be irresponsible for a few hours."

Emily chuckled, "or that." She knew her aunt didn't mind her drinking as long as it was with her. It's how they got closer over the last couple of months. Emily gave her aunt a tight hug as she stated, "I'll see you soon," before she followed after Stefan and Elena out of the Gilbert house as they made their way towards Alaric's SUV.

"Sorry you can't come too, Stef," Damon sassed once he had seen the trio make their way towards him as he leaned against the black car.

Stefan ignored his brother and threw Emily's large bag into the backseat before he turned to the young girl. "Call me if you need anything," he told Emily as he pulled her into a tight hug.

Emily hugged Stefan back just as tightly and whispered softly, "I will."

"Oh, don't you worry, Stef. I'll make sure to take good care of our girl here," Damon smirked.

Emily rolled her eyes in annoyance as she looked at the older vampire before she exclaimed, "I'd rather drop dead."

Damon placed his hand over his dead heart playfully as he mumbled, "ouch. You wounded me."

"Good," Emily stated as she glared into his blue eyes.

Damon pouted at the older Gilbert girl before his lips turned into a smirk as he looked straight at Elena and requested, "make sure you eat a bunny for me."

"Goodbye, Damon," Emily deadpanned as she pushed Damon towards the inside of the black car before she walked up to her twin sister. "I hope you have fun," she told Elena with a teasing smirk. But when Elena rolled her eyes, Emily grew serious, "no, but honestly, I hope you learn everything you need, and I love you, Lena."

Elena's brown eyes softened for a second before she swiftly pulled Emily into a tight hug as she whispered, "I love you too." She knew her sister meant well, and it made her feel better that Emily didn't treat her any differently with her being a vampire. She was glad that she still had her twin sister by her side.

Emily gave Elena and Stefan one last smile before she jumped into the back of Alaric's black SUV with a huff. She knew she had to push her hatred for Damon to the side as best as she could, so she could focus on getting the information that they all needed.

* * *

Emily played with her silver and red necklace that hung around her neck as she watched the fields and trees pass by from the backseat window. They still had an hour and twenty five minutes until they would reach Duke University. The first hour on the road was filled with Damon's annoying voice as he sung horribly to a rock station. But Alaric had finally turned off the radio all together before Emily had the chance to knock the vampire out, or at least try to.

"How you doing back there?" Damon questioned as he took a quick glance at the brunette girl. But when Emily only glared at him before looking back out the window, Damon uttered, "you know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly."

Alaric scoffed at the vampire before he exclaimed, "I don't think she's pretending. You did kill her brother."

Emily crossed her arms over her chest as she stated dully, "point one goes to the vampire hunter." Emily didn't like talking about how her brother basically died. It just made her even more angrier and upset when she thought about it.

"There is a huge asterisk next to that statement. He came back to life," Damon remarked as he defended his actions.

"No thanks to you," Emily mumbled. "The only reason he is still walking around Mystic Falls is because of John's ring that you obviously didn't see," she added bitterly.

"Why are you so sure I didn't see it?" Damon wondered.

Emily rose an eyebrow at the vampire as she questioned, "did you?"

Damon took a long pause before he finally looked back at Emily and responded quietly, "yes."

Emily rolled her eyes, "yeah, right."

"Emily, I saw the ring!" Damon exclaimed, "it's a big tacky thing, hard to miss."

Emily didn't bother saying another word to Damon. There was no point to even argue about it. Her mind was set, and there was no changing it. She had seen the horrible event transpire for herself and there was no denying what she had seen. Instead, Emily took a deep breath as her eyes focused on the colorful flowers they passed and counted down the seconds until she could get away from the vampire that had caused her distress.

* * *

Emily's green eyes brightened as she, Alaric, and Damon walked through the inside of Duke University. Before Emily even knew about Isobel, she had always dreamed of going to the famed institute. Everyone that she knew that went to college have always gone to a state school, but Emily was someone who shot for the stars. Emily guessed that she had gotten that from Isobel.

"So, Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department, given that most paranormal phenomenon is rooted in folklore," Alaric explained as they walked into the Friedl building, where Isobel used to spend her human life studying. "Excuse me," he uttered politely as they walked up towards an occupied desk. "Hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman, I called earlier," he stated once the woman had looked up at him.

The woman smiled, "yes, of course." She shook Alaric's hand as she introduced herself, "I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant, comparative folklore." She glanced over at the two other people in the room, before she quickly looked away and mumbled nervously, "uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."

Alaric had noticed the way Vanessa kept on eyeing the two people with him. He thought she was just curious, so Alaric introduced them, "I'm sorry. These are my friends Damon and Emily. I hope this isn't too much of an imposition."

Vanessa chuckled as she waved her hand lightly and uttered, "oh, please." She pointed to the room behind them as she stated, "Isobel's office is right through there." She went behind her desk and grabbed a set of keys as she explained, "Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was brilliant, and one of the reasons why I went into folklore." Vanessa glanced down at the keys in her hand as she questioned anxiously, "has there been any news?"

Alaric shook his head and mumbled, "no, I'm afraid not."

Vanessa frowned before she quickly uttered as she walked, "it's this way."

Emily was the first one to enter the room once Vanessa had unlocked the door. She could tell no one had been inside the room for years. There was dust covering every little thing that occupied the room. It almost felt like no one had cleaned in here since Isobel was still human. Emily walked towards a large bookcase as she heard Vanessa mutter behind her, "I'll grab the light."

It was quiet as they all looked around the room before Damon spoke puzzledly, "where did she go?"

Emily looked away from the book she was gazing at with furrowed brows as she heard Damon's question. But her eyes suddenly widened in shock when she spotted Vanessa. The older woman stood by the door as she held a crossbow pointing directly at Emily. "Damon," she whispered. Emily didn't like Damon at the moment, but she'd like to think he would save her if he had the chance. But Emily still closed her eyes as she waited for the pain to run through her body, if by chance she was wrong. However, when Emily opened her eyes, the only thing she could see was Damon's dark grey shirt.

Emily sighed in relief once she realized that Damon had taken the arrow for her. She couldn't be anymore thankful for Damon, even though she was currently not on good speaking terms with the vampire. But at least she knew for certain that she was safe with him. "Are you okay?" She whispered as her green eyes nervously went to Vanessa, who was held against the wall by Alaric.

"No," Damon groaned as he fell to his knees, "you need to pull it out of me."

"What? No!" Emily gasped as she looked at the weapon that was covered in blood as it was embedded into Damon's back.

"Emily, I took an arrow for you, so the least you can do is pull the damn thing out!" Damon yelled with a mixture of anger and pain in his voice.

"Oh, this is gross," Emily moaned as she wrapped her pale hands around the dark arrow.

"Pull it out now!" Damon growled in frustration.

"Stop yelling or I won't do it!" Emily commanded as she grew more nervous as she stared at the long rod. Once Emily realized that Damon wasn't going to yell at her again, she gripped the arrow tightly in her hand, before she took one large yank. She fell back with a huff. "Ew," Emily mumbled briefly as she threw the bloody arrow to the side.

"That bitch is dead," Damon snarled as he stood up from the hard ground.

Emily quickly ran in front of Damon and pushed his shoulders back. "No, no, no," she swiftly uttered. But when Damon glared at her, Emily continued, "look, I agree that she should die. I mean, she did almost kill me. But we need to find out what she knows first, right?"

Damon stood there for a moment as he thought it over, before he silently nodded his head. "Fine, after she is no use to us anymore, I get to kill her," he compromised.

Emily held her hands up in innocence and stated, "whatever you do when I'm in the car, is your business."

Damon smirked, "this is starting to be a beautiful friendship."

Emily rolled her eyes and mumbled, "don't push it," before she walked towards the room Alaric had pushed Vanessa into. She needed to know why this woman wanted to kill her so badly.

"Please, I freaked out, okay!?" Vanessa yelped as she was pushed harshly into a desk chair. "Alright, you would have done the same thing, it's not possible! Damon Salvatore died in 1864 and Darina Petrova died in 1492!" She quickly explained.

"Wait, who's Darina Petrova?" Emily questioned in confusion once she walked into the small office as she was listening to the woman's explanation. She had never heard that name a day in her life, and Vanessa thinks she's this Darina person?

Vanessa swiftly moved her crazed eyes towards Emily before she calmed down and revealed, "she's Katherine's twin sister. She never made it to Mystic Falls in 1864 with Katherine though." She swallowed thickly before stating, "and you look exactly like her."

Emily's brows furrowed as she questioned, "so, does that mean I'm a doppelganger?"

"Well, if you aren't Darina Petrova, then yes, you are her doppelganger," Vanessa stated cautiously.

Emily couldn't believe that she was also a doppelganger like Elena was. She honestly had never heard Darina's name or that Katherine even had a sister. That was just another thing to add to the list that she needed information about. "My name is Emily Gilbert, not Darina Petrova," she introduced herself as she watched the woman closely. She pointed behind her as she felt the blue eyed vampire walk into the room, "and this is Damon Salvatore, who you just shot."

Damon stared at Vanessa in anger and stated, "I'd be extra nice to me right now."

"Look, we don't want to cause any problems," Emily began as she tried to convince the older woman to help them, "we just need to see Isobel's research, especially anything to do with Mystic Falls."

Vanessa watched the short brunette closely. But when she believed that the girl in front of her wasn't Darina Petrova, she took a deep breath and muttered, "what do you want to know?"

Emily's lips twitched up into a tiny smile as she knew that they had the anthropologist's attention. "What do you know about doppelgangers?" She questioned curiously before adding, "obviously you know I'm apparently Darina's doppelganger, but my twin sister, Elena, is Katherine's."

Vanessa bit down on her bottom lip for a moment before she nodded her head as she stated, "I think I can help you with information about the two sisters."

* * *

Vanessa grabbed a small box from the very top of the wooden bookshelf before she walked back to Emily, who was sat at the table as she read through articles and paperwork about her hometown. "Here is the information on Katherine Pierce or Petrova, we never knew exactly which last name - we figured she changed it before appearing in Mystic Falls. This box contains about her arrival in April 1864."

Emily looked through the box and noticed there was only a couple of pages about Katherine in Mystic Falls. She rose an eyebrow as she looked up at Vanessa, "is this all of it?"

Vanessa nodded her head and stated, "all that I'm aware of."

Emily sighed quietly as she stared at the very small stack of papers about Katherine. This was definitely not what she wanted. How was she supposed to figure out the connection between Katherine with the small amount of documents? Emily decided that she would look around Isobel's office a little while later, see if there was anything Vanessa missed. But for now, she looked back up at Vanessa as she wondered, "you said Darina Petrova died in the 1400's, do you have anything on her?"

Vanessa nodded her head without hesitation, as she was waiting for that question. "Isobel actually has a journal in her desk that belonged to Darina. It's addressed to her next doppelganger," Vanessa stated, "so, I guess that means its for you."

"Could you show me it?" Emily questioned hopefully. It must've been important if Isobel didn't even keep it with all of her other anthropology findings. She was also curious to why Darina would write to her doppelganger that she didn't even know.

"Yeah, of course," Vanessa uttered, "just let me go get it real quick," before she dashed away to the desk the group had found her at earlier.

While Vanessa ran to get the journal, Emily looked over the documents about Katherine. There was nothing they could use that they didn't already know. It only stated about Katherine arriving in Mystic Falls and then her disappearance not to long after. Isobel had to have something else about Katherine, this couldn't be it.

"Here you go," Vanessa stated as she held the old brown journal out to the Gilbert girl. "I never personally read it, but Isobel always mentioned that it should always be kept safe, so I suppose it's important."

Emily nodded her head and gave Vanessa a small smile, "thank you for this," before she sat back at the table. She looked at the brown cover carefully and noticed small specks of blood and how the journal bent; as if someone held it closely. Emily slowly opened the centuries old journal and began to read the first page,

 _Dear future doppelganger,_

 _I may not know of you or if you will exist or if you will ever get these words; but I wish to protect my own. You see, you are very special. But, you must know, danger is coming for you. I write to you as my demise is close to be met. I would be lying to say I was not scared. But I would rather protect someone than to be frightened by the monster that looms over my very head._

 _Our blood and soul is quiet different from anyone else. I was the first protector, but you are the next one. There was no one ever like me. But because you are my doppelganger, as they like to say, you have the contents of my blood, that was spelled, inside of you. You see, as I learned around the troubles that would come for me, a witch helped me._

 _You might have felt the need to protect everyone over yourself as you grown, and that is because of the spell that was placed over me. But I must warn you, you must not tell the man who is after you that you have the blood of the protector. The man you shall never tell is called, Nik -_

Emily paused what she was reading as she suddenly felt something fall to her feet. She bent down and picked up a small rectangular piece of paper. Once she turned the paper around, Emily noticed that it was a painting. Emily's eyes quickly widened as she looked at the picture of Darina and Katherine in the 14th century, that looked exactly like her and Elena.

Emily looked up at Vanessa as questioned, "hey, what do you know about doppelgangers?"

"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures," Vanessa began to explain, "but typically a doppelganger is a living, breathing double of oneself."

"Did Isobel have anything that explained the connection between Darina and I and Katherine and my sister, Elena?" Emily continued to question.

Vanessa shook her head as she stated, "that stack of papers is the only thing she had on Kathrine and the journal is the only thing she had about Darina." She added after a moment, "but I can tell you that doppelgangers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting."

Emily bit her lip as she thought it over. "Obviously Darina didn't follow that as she seems to want to help me, but that sounds right about Katherine," she commented. Emily sighed heavily, "looks like we are back to square one and no luck on the Katherine front." She was tired of coming up short when they needed the information about the older vampire and the connection that they all shared.

"Head scratcher, isn't it?" Damon questioned as he leaned against the far bookshelf with his arms crossed over his chest.

Emily rolled her eyes and mumbled, "do you know something or are you just trying to piss me off?"

"Well, if i did find anyhing, I'm not gonna tell you, certainly not with that attitude," Damon uttered with a smirk.

"That's real nice, Damon," Emily stated with a glare. "I'm sure my sister would love to hear how you didn't help to find out something that's important to her," she added before she walked away in annoyance.

* * *

Emily had decided that they should split the workload so they could go home quicker. So, while Alaric focused his attention on the lycanthrope and the Lockwood's, Emily focused on finding anymore information on doppelgangers, Katherine, or Darina. But, of course, she wasn't getting any closer to finding anything useful.

"Any luck?" Damon questioned as he walked up to the frustrated girl.

Emily groaned, "nope. There is nothing here that could help us understand the connection with Katherine and her sister."

Damon clicked his tongue before uttering, "well it's too bad that you still hate my guts, because I might have found something interesting."

"Are you trying to manipulate me?" Emily questioned as she rose an eyebrow at the vampire.

Damon rolled his eyes, "oh, don't act like you didn't manipulate me when you mentioned Elena. You are just as manipulating as I am."

But before Emily could say anything, Alaric suddenly called out from the main room, "hey guys, check this out."

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls," Vanessa began to explain before she scanned the old book that Alaric had passed to her, "but here are some records of some lesser-known legends. Everything from Scandinavian skin-walkers to the Maréchal de Retz."

Vanessa placed the book onto the table for everyone to see. She pointed to an ancient drawing as she stated, "Tonartsliitsii Metslii, which roughly translates into the curse of the sun and the moon."

"It's Native American," Alaric commented.

Emily shook her head as she corrected, "no, this is definitely Aztec."

Vanessa nodded her head as she looked over at Emily, "that's correct." She glanced at each face as she continued, "it explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia. The short story; 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming and hunting impossible." Vanessa pointed towards a colorful drawing before adding, "until an Aztec shaman cursed them, making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night and werewolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, who's ever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns into a wolf."

"Can they control the transformation?" Damon questioned.

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse," Vanessa stated. When the room grew silent, she continued the story, "werewolves will attack humans but instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice; vampires."

As soon as the shocking words fell from Vanessa's mouth, everyone's attention went straight towards the vampire. "Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it," Damon uttered with a smirk as he tried to convince himself and everyone that there was no werewolves.

"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive," Vanessa countered, "hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"Why would they try to get rid of each other?" Emily questioned curiously.

"To protect themselves," Vanessa answered before adding, "legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."

Emily's eyes widened as she glanced between the vampire and hunter. "That is not good," she mumbled under her breath before she quickly pulled her cell phone from her jacket pocket. She went to her contacts and pushed the familiar name as she tapped her foot against the floor nervously.

"Hey, are you okay?" Stefan questioned after only two rings.

"Listen, we found something important and we don't know if it's real or not, but it would be better to be safe than sorry," Emily quickly began.

"What is it?" Stefan wondered.

"Okay, so the legends says that a werewolf bite could cause harm to a vampire," Emily explained. "I know it sounds crazy, but after what you saw Mason do, it could be true," she added.

Stefan nodded his head before he stated, "I'll be careful."

"Stef, there's a possibility that the bite can kill a vampire," Emily mumbled into her phone. "Please tell me you have eyes on Elena and Caroline right now," she begged nervously. She definitely didn't want anything to happen to her sister and best friend when they barely started their vampire lives.

It was silent on Stefan's side of the phone as she heard lots of movement before Stefan exclaimed, "uh, I gotta go, we'll see you soon."

Emily stared at her phone with her eyes widened as she heard the dial tone. That didn't make her feel any better, not knowing for certain if her sister and best friend were safe at the moment. Emily hated that she couldn't be there right now to help. But they were two in a half hours away from Mystic Falls. Emily just hoped that nothing bad would happen to the three vampires back home.

* * *

After another hour of researching through the anthropology department, they decided to call it quits and head back to Mystic Falls. Even though Emily didn't necessarily get everything they needed, it was at least something that they found information about werewolves like they originally planned. But Emily was grateful that she also found something about Katherine's sister, even if she didn't plan to learn about her. She just hoped the journal would give her some insight on Darina, Katherine, and the troubles that were apparently coming her way.

Emily was the last one to make it out of Duke University. She was constantly amazed by the whole campus as she could still picture herself attending. Once outside the building, Emily waited for Damon and Alaric to go to the SUV before she turned to Vanessa. She pulled out the plant of vervain that she had found in one of the boxes. "Here, you might have tried to kill me, but you should take this," Emily told the older woman.

Vanessa carefully took the plant before she looked up at Emily in wonder, "so, this stuff really works?"

Emily nodded her head as she pointed to her necklace. "It's filled with vervain. So as long as you wear it or ingest it, they can't get into your mind," she explained.

"Thank you," Vanessa uttered softly before she apologized, "I'm really sorry for trying to kill you. I hope you can understand."

Emily nodded her head lightly, "I didn't understand at first, but you were just doing what you thought was right. You were trying to protect yourself. I can understand that. I would have done the same thing if it kept my friends and family safe."

Vanessa gave the Gilbert girl a small smile as she stated, "I hope you found whatever you were looking for today."

Emily responded with a smile as she pointed towards the journal in her hand, "I think I found a start, so thank you."

"Honestly, it was nothing. It was yours to begin with. You just needed the push to find it, I suppose," Vanessa stated. She came to a stop as she turned to the brunette, "it was nice to meet you."

Emily gave the older woman a smile as she uttered, "you too, Vanessa." She pulled her into a hug as she added, "stay safe," before she made her way towards Alaric's SUV. But Emily rolled her eyes when she noticed that Damon was blocking her door. "What do you want, Damon?" She groaned tiredly.

"I have a little present for you," Damon sung before he pulled out a thick book from behind his back.

Emily furrowed her brows as she looked up at Damon before she grabbed the book from his hands. She studied the large book carefully and noticed the familiar name on the spine; Petrova. "Where did you find this?" She questioned.

Damon shrugged lightly, "you didn't dig deep enough. It was on the back shelf."

"Petrova is Darina's last name," Emily stated before questioning, "how does Katherine connect to this?"

"Katherine originally came from Europe," Damon explained, "Petrova was her real name. Katerina Petrova to be exact."

Emily nodded her head as she thought out loud, "so she was a Petrova in 14th century when she was still in Europe with Darina before changing it when she came to Mystic Falls." She looked up at Damon as she wondered, "how did you know that?"

"Back when, I saw it engraved on an old heirloom," Damon explained before smirking, "men snoop too, you know." He glanced down at the book as he added, "let me know what you find, I'm very curious myself."

"I'm sure my sister will tell you all about it," Emily muttered before she moved around Damon to get inside the SUV.

However, before Emily could get into the car, Damon quickly grabbed onto Emily's arm as he stared into her green eyes. "Look, I get you don't like what I feel for Elena. But I do have something for her, like you have feelings for Stefan." Damon held his finger up as he saw Emily was about to argue and added, "don't try to deny it, not to me." He sighed lightly as he stated, "I hope you can somehow forgive me for what I did to Jeremy. I truly believe we have become friends over the last couple of months, and I'd hate to lose you as a friend."

"You killed my baby brother, and just suspect me to just forget about it and become best friends with you again. It doesn't work like that," Emily mumbled before she finally got into Alaric's car. She was just ready to go check on her twin sister and best friend. She was beyond tired and done thinking about these feelings she had been having lately.

* * *

Emily huffed out a sigh once she had closed the front door of the Gilbert house as she made it inside. They had spent over four hours on the road and almost a full day looking through Isobel's research. But as Emily closed her eyes to relax, she suddenly remembered what had happened. She quickly dropped her duffel bag to the ground before she pushed herself up the stairs and ran to her sister's bedroom.

Emily opened Elena's bedroom door and sighed thankfully when she saw her sister sitting at the head of her bed as she wrote in her light green journal. "Hey, are you okay? Nothing bad happened did it?" She quickly interrogated as she down on Elena's bed, "no one was bitten, right?"

Elena chuckled lightly before she stated, "well there was some bumps in the road, but other than running from a real werewolf, it went pretty good." She suddenly scrunched up her nose as she added, "and I fed from a bunny today!"

"No way!" Emily giggled. "Did you think about Snowball when you did it?" She wondered teasingly.

Elena's brown eyes instantly widened in shock. She slapped Emily's arm with her pillow as she yelped, "why did you have to go and say that!? You knew Snowball was always my favorite animal that I ever gotten!"

Emily smirked as she shrugged her shoulders lightly, "I thought you would have already thought about her as you were eating her cousin."

Elena groaned loudly, "ugh, you're the worst," before the two sisters began to laugh together. But after they had calmed down, Elena questioned, "so how did it go with finding stuff on Katherine?"

"Well, it seems like you are not the only doppelganger anymore," Emily told her sister. She then began to explain everything. Emily told Elena all about Darina and the journal that now belonged to her. However, Emily decided that she would leave out about how she was in danger. There was no reason to worry her sister until she read more into the journal. Instead, she pulled out the Petrova book that Damon had found. For the rest of the night, the two Gilbert sisters sat up together as they tried to read through the Bulgarian book that told the story of their true ancestors


	34. Chapter 33

**LOCKWOOD MANSION 1864**

 _The small town of Mystic Falls was holding the first ever Founder's Ball. It was an event where everyone who lived in the town would come to the mayor's mansion to dance the night away in their best gowns and suits as they celebrated the town's success._

 _The main ballroom was filled with people dancing and chatting along each other. But in the middle of all the festivities, there was one female who caught the attention of both men and women by her simple beauty. It was none other than Miss Katherine Pierce._

 _"Look who found his dancing shoes," Katherine commented with a bright smile as she held her right hand up and slowly moved around in a circle with her date, Stefan Salvatore. However, when the man tried to lean in for a kiss, Katherine quickly took a step back and scolded the brunette playfully, "no touching, Mr. Salvatore. Those are the rules."_

 _Stefan chuckled at the young girl and uttered, "I thought you didn't believe in rules," before he lifted his hand back up as they continued to dance correctly. They twirled around the room gracefully before Stefan caught the eye of his older brother. He looked back to Katherine and stated, "my brother is still upset that you chose me to escort you."_

 _Katherine took a quick glance over to the sad Salvatore before she focused back on Stefan and declared, "well, Damon needs to concede that his younger brother is a better dancer."_

 _The couple continued to dance around the room like everyone else as they raised both of their hands and smoothly moved in a perfect circle. However, when Katherine glanced around the ballroom, something instantly caught her attention. "Oh, looks like he found someone to occupy his time," she mentioned as she stared over at the oldest Salvatore brother with a mischievous glint in her brown eyes._

 _Stefan didn't really think anything of who is brother was dancing with since he had the girl of his dreams in his own arms. But Stefan's body froze once he and Katherine traded places and saw who was with Damon. He felt an uncomfortable sensation run through his chest as he watched the green eyed girl glance over at him as she was being held by his brother. "Emily," Stefan called out strongly before he moved to walk towards the brunette girl._

 _However, before he could take a step, Katherine placed her white gloved hand on top of Stefan's black coat as she pleaded, "Stefan, don't."_

 _Stefan shrugged off Katherine's hand without a second thought and pushed his way through all of the happy people as he tried to catch up with Emily, who was leaving the ballroom with Damon's arm wrapped around her waist. He couldn't let Damon sweep Emily off of her feet. That's not how it's suppose to be, it should be him._

 _"Emily!" Stefan yelled out as he rushed through the door that the girl had just went through. But as soon as Stefan walked through the entrance, he realized he was no longer inside the Lockwood mansion in a itchy wool coat. Instead, he felt the warm heaters inside of Mystic Grill and the light blue Henley and jeans that hugged him tightly._

 _Stefan didn't bother to worry about how he traveled through centuries in a matter of seconds. The only thought on his mind right now was finding a certain brunette girl. Stefan carefully looked at each face around the busy restaurant for a minute or two, before he finally found the girl he was looking for. Emily was standing by one of the pool tables with a cue stick in her right hand. "Come on, it's your turn, Mr. Salvatore," Emily smiled brightly as she looked in Stefan's direction._

 _Stefan grinned at the brunette as he began to make his way towards the pool table. Stefan guessed he must have been day dreaming about the past. However, he quickly came to a stop once he noticed someone walking up to Emily. He stood there for a moment as he watched the scene play out._

 _"Be prepared to lose," Damon smirked as he carried two glasses of bourbon towards the young girl._

 _Emily grabbed her glass from the oldest Salvatore's hand and placed it onto the table beside her. "In your dreams, sweetheart," she smirked right back before wrapping her hands loosely around Damon's neck, where they both reached each other's lips at the same time for a sweet kiss._

 _"It hurts, doesn't it?" Katherine questioned in a whisper as she stood behind Stefan while still in her large dress from the nineteenth century. She watched Stefan's reaction to seeing Damon with Emily. "You know you are with the wrong twin now, don't you?" She asked as she noticed the frown grow onto Stefan's face._

 _Stefan didn't even bother looking over at Katherine as he felt frozen as he kept his eyes only on Emily and his brother. He watched Damon stand behind the young girl as he helped her shoot a ball into one of the pockets before kissing her cheek. Stefan's frown deepened as he saw the bright smile that adored Emily's face in happiness that Damon was responsible for instead of him._

 _"Now you know how I feel," Katherine stated as she noticed the tears building up in her ex lover's eyes. "Don't fight it, Stefan," she commanded as she placed her gloved hand on Stefan's cheek softly, "you loved me once. You can love me again."_

 _However, when Stefan went to pull away from Katherine and look back to the girl he had feelings for, he suddenly noticed he was now back at the Lockwood mansion as he felt the chilly air and the uncomfortable clothing. "I love you, Stefan," Katherine whispered as she stared into Stefan's green eyes. "We will be together again, I promise," she added before pulling Stefan into a slow and passionate kiss._

* * *

Stefan jumped up in his bed with a slight jolt as he was woken up from a very realistic dream. He glanced down when he felt a body laying next to him, and sighed once he saw that it was Elena. He felt guilty dreaming about Emily in that way when his girlfriend was right here. But it was only a dream, right?

"Hey, are you okay?" Elena wondered quietly as she slowly rubbed her long fingers down Stefan's chest.

"Yeah," Stefan mumbled. "Yes, bad dream. Just go back to sleep," he whispered as he calmly played with Elena's brown hair. But as the minutes ticked by, Stefan began to feel like something wasn't right. He remembered that Elena had told him last night that she was going to stay home and wait for Emily. So, there was no possible way that this was -

Stefan was out of his bed and across the room in a matter of seconds as he realized who was really with him. "Katherine," he growled.

"You have to admit, I am getting better at this," Katherine smirked as she sat up in the king size bed. "It was easy to get inside of your head," she stated before she pouted and added, "but I am surprised that you were dreaming about sweet little Emmie instead of my dull doppelganger."

Stefan's anger spiked when his past lover mentioned the oldest Gilbert girl. He disliked when the vampire was around Emily, nonetheless mentioning her in conversation. Stefan ran towards Katherine to attack her, but he didn't get far enough before Katherine pushed him onto the ground harshly.

"Are we really gonna do this again?" Katherine questioned drearily as she jumped out of the bed. "We both know I could rip you to shreds and do my nails at the same time," she stated.

"What do you want?" Stefan wondered as he slowly got up from the ground.

"I wanted to see you," Katherine uttered sweetly, "I missed you, Stefan." She pouted before she continued, "indulge in me for a little while, please?"

Stefan ignored Katherine's flirting as he questioned, "why are you back in town?"

"3 reasons," Katherine began as she held her hand up and counted as she listed, "you, you, and you."

Stefan looked at Katherine in amusement as he explained, "you see, I can't quite get that down. It just kind of gets stuck in my throat."

"You know it's the truth," Katherine stated as she disregarded the male's rudeness and slowly moved closer towards Stefan. She ran her finger down his chest as she added, "deep down inside that gorgeous body of yours, there's the Stefan that fell in love with me too."

* * *

In the midst of the very busy Mystic Grill sat Emily Gilbert as she began to read through Darina's journal with a basket of fries and a vanilla milkshake on the table. Emily and Elena had woken up early to read more about the Petrova family, but a couple hours later Emily complained about being hungry. Emily decided to go the Grill so she could eat but also to read through Darina's journal privately. She still didn't want to tell anyone about what Darina wrote, not until she was sure that there was danger really coming like her doppelganger mentioned.

Emily started on the very first page, since she didn't get the chance to finish it while she was at Duke University. She wanted to make sure that she reads every word carefully. It has to be important if it's been save and in good condition for centuries.

 _... You might have felt the need to protect everyone over yourself as you have grown. That is because of the spell that was placed over me. But I must warn you, you must not tell the man who is after you that you have the blood of the protector. The man you shall never tell is called, Niklaus. He is to be never trusted. He is the most feared man of them all._

 _But I promise you, I will try my very best to protect you from Niklaus as I stand on the other side. This is why I am going to tell you about the witch that helped me. The witch was called Maria Radkova. She belonged to_ _защитник на невинността, which in English means The Protector of the Innocence. It was a special coven in the southern part of Bulgaria. Their duties were to protect those who could not protect themselves. It was not just the vampires and werewolves they protected people from, it was from any danger that would arise to our country._

 _That is why you feel very protective over your family and friends. It was how I felt after Maria placed the spell over me. I had to drink a mixture of her blood and herbs, so I would be protected by her and couldn't be used for the sacrifice Niklaus needed me for._

 _I need you to remember the name Maria Radkova, because when the times does come, someone very close to my heart will deliver something to you that belonged to Maria. You must take what is given to you. It will help you survive the supernatural world and the wrath of Niklaus._

Emily placed the brown journal onto the wooden table with a heavy sigh. There was just so much information that she was trying to absorb from Darina. Who is this Niklaus person and what did he want? Was Emily part witch since she has Maria's blood in her system? There was just so many questions that Emily had and didn't know how she was going to get the answers quick enough.

Emily reached for a fry from the small basket as she thought about everything, but grew confused when she only touched the table. She looked up and groaned instantly when she noticed Damon eating her fries with a smirk on his face. Emily ripped the basket from his hands before questioning in annoyance, "what do you want?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders carelessly with the same smirk on his face as he responded, "oh, you know, just seeing how my best friend is doing."

Emily rolled her eyes, "well, I'm surely not your friend, so you must be mistaken." She swiftly closed the journal and placed it into her black and white purse. Emily smirked at the vampire as she mumbled, "remember, Damon, I'm not my sister. I don't like you," before she got up from the wooden table and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Damon questioned as he quickly followed after the fast Gilbert girl. He decided to ignore the flutter in his stomach when she mentioned Elena as he focused on getting Emily as his friend again.

Emily swiftly turned around and glared at the blue eyed vampire. "We are not friends, Damon. I only put up with you because you are Stefan's brother and Elena has a soft spot for you," Emily stated, "I don't want to talk to you unless it's necessary for the safety of my family and friends."

"Okay," Damon muttered before he added dismissively, "see you at Jenna's barbecue."

Emily looked at Damon with furrowed brows as she questioned, "how did you know about the barbecue?"

"It was my idea," Damon stated as it was obvious.

"Of course it was," Emily mumbled under her breath as she rolled her eyes in annoyance. Emily thought she was just going to have a normal day with her family. But no, Damon has to ruin it by having some sort of a sneaky plan.

"Jenna went to high school with Mason Lockwood so I figured a social gathering would be a good way to get to know the guy," Damon explained with a smirk before trailing off, "so I told Ric to tell Jenna..."

Emily rose an eyebrow at the vampire as she stated, "you know, Jenna and I are very alike." She gave Damon a condescending smile as she continued, "we both don't like you."

However, before Damon could open his mouth to speak, a blonde waitress suddenly walked up to the vampire and handed him a white container. "Perfect. Thank you," Damon uttered as he smiled at the waitress. "I'm hoping this peach cobbler will at least change aunt Jenna's mind about me," Damon told Emily once they were alone.

Emily rolled her eyes and mumbled, "doubtful," before looking at the vampire as she wondered, "what are you planning?"

"I'm just gonna put some silver into Mason Lockwood and prove he is a werewolf," Damon whispered to the brunette. He moved passed Emily as he added, "I'll see you at the barbecue, best friend," before he walked out of Mystic Grill with the dessert in hand.

Emily watched Damon leave the restaurant with furrowed brows. She didn't like what Damon was up to. Mason Lockwood might be a werewolf, but he was still family to Emily and she didn't want him to get hurt.

* * *

Katherine Pierce laid lazily across a long leather couch in the center of the Salvatore's living room as she read through one of Stefan's many journals. The one she was currently reading was when Stefan started eating on the animal diet. Katherine found it amusing that Stefan wastes his talent on drinking blood from small hopeless animals.

"You shouldn't read someone's journal," Stefan uttered as he walked into the living room and spotted the familiar journal in his ex lover's hands.

"I know. I'm sorry," Katherine apologized with a pout. "It was just too tempting. All of your inner thoughts and feelings, laying there on your desk for me to read," she explained teasingly.

Stefan silently grabbed the journal from Katherine's hands. He didn't feel like entertaining Katherine and listening to her antics all day. Instead, he held a crystal glass in front of her hungry brown eyes. "Damon's private stock," he mentioned as he handed Katherine the red liquid. He hoped that it would at least get her off his personal life for awhile.

"That's right!" Katherine exclaimed as she remembered, "you don't do human, I read that." She took a large gulp of the warm blood and added, "I also read about your recent werewolf sighting. That must have come as a surprise."

"What do you know about werewolves?" Stefan questioned the older vampire. He realized she must know something if Katherine wasn't all that surprised by the sound of her voice.

Katherine played with her long curly hair as she mumbled, "I know not to pet one." Once she heard Stefan huff out a sigh, Katherine continued but seriously this time as she warned him, "their bite kills, Stefan. It's best to stay clear of them during a full moon."

"And how do you know this?" Stefan interrogated.

Katherine stood up from the couch and looked around the boarding house as she questioned him back, "who do you think was responsible for ridding this town of vampires in 1864?"

"The founding families," Stefan responded easily.

"And spearheaded by..." Katherine trailed off as she waited for Stefan to understand what she was saying.

Stefan thought for a moment before he nodded his head as he realized what she meant. "The Lockwood's," he stated.

Katherine smiled pleasingly at Stefan before she wondered, "you remember the Founder's Ball, don't you?" She smirked before adding, "the one that you were dreaming about?"

Stefan glanced down at his hands as he muttered, "I was your escort."

"That was before you and Damon knew about my little secret," Katherine stated before she was pulled into the memory of that very night.

* * *

 **LOCKWOOD MANSION 1864**

 _The very first Founder's Ball was in full swing as everyone danced and laughed with each other. The Lockwood mansion was filled to the rim with chatter and smiling faces. However, the large mansion grew silent when there was a sound of metal hitting against glass. "Everyone will you please join me in raising your glasses to my good friend, George Lockwood," Damon Salvatore exclaimed as he stood in the middle of the room beside the guest of honor. He turned to his friend as he continued, "George, thank you for so bravely defending the south."_

 _George Lockwood grinned at his friend and raised his glass in appreciation before stating, "my honor, Mr. Salvatore." He smirked as he spoke to the whole room in a joking matter, "after all, someone has to do it." Once the two men clinked their glasses together, everyone else joined in before cheers and laughter fell all through the room as the residents of Mystic Falls continued to celebrate._

 _Only a few feet away from the toast, was the youngest Salvatore and the beautiful Katherine Pierce. They clinked their own glasses together with smiles on their faces before they brought the gold liquid to their lips. However, they were soon interrupted by a male walking quickly up to Katherine. "Can we have a word, Miss Katherine?" He questioned politely as he bowed his head to the female._

 _"Grab a glass, Henry," Katherine ordered as she dismissed what he needed to speak to her about. She smiled brightly and stated, "it's a celebration."_

 _"Please, Miss Katherine," Henry begged as he stared into her brown eyes with seriousness in his own._

 _Katherine realized it must be important by the expression on the male's face, so she gave Stefan a sweet smile and uttered, "please excuse us for a moment," before she walked away with Henry._

 _They walked through the Lockwood mansion until they were in a quite area but the stairs. Henry glanced around as he made sure no one would be eavesdropping on their conversation. Once he was sure it was safe, Henry moved closer towards Katherine and whispered, "I looked into those attacks from the other night." He shook his head, "and it wasn't vampires."_

 _Katherine smiled happily but quickly frowned when she saw the look on the male's face. "That's good news, Henry," she explained, "that means we have nothing to worry about."_

 _"I'm afraid you do not understand," Henry whispered nervously, "those folks were torn apart in ways I have never seen before."_

 _Katherine's whole body turned rigid at the revelation. "Then..." she trailed off as she realized what would happen, "it will not be long before the founders drop an investigation."_

 _"We will leave town immediately," Henry hastily told Katherine, "I will tell the others."_

 _"Relax, Henry," Katherine ordered with an easy smile. "This town is our home and the vampires are my family. I will not let anything happen to us," Katherine reassured him as her eyes focused on someone in the corner of the room._

* * *

"From the moment I met George, I knew he'd be a problem," Katherine stated with annoyance in her voice as she remembered the man.

"So, you're saying that all the Lockwood's are werewolves?" Stefan questioned.

Katherine shook her head as she slowly walked around the room. "The werewolf gene runs in the Lockwood family," she corrected, "not that they're all wolves."

"How many werewolves are out there?" Stefan wondered, "I mean, is it just limited to the Lockwood's?"

"No," Katherine denied, "there was others. Not many. They're practically extinct. They mainly exist now in books and really bad movies." Katherine gulped down the rest of the warm blood before she placed the crystal glass onto a small wooden table. She turned to Stefan with a smirk, "now it's my turn to ask a question."

Katherine quickly swiped Stefan's journal from his hands with a small giggle and began to look through the book for a certain page. Once she found it, Katherine pulled out a picture of herself and showed it to Stefan as she questioned, "why did you keep this picture?"

However, when Stefan didn't utter a single word, she continued to taunt him, "hmm? Why not burn it? Tear it up?" Katherine closed the journal as she slowly moved in front of Stefan, "you wanna know why I came back? Well, I have a better question; why did you? For Elena? For Emily?" She shook her head, "no. You came back here to fall in love with me all over again, didn't you?"

Stefan looked anywhere but at his ex lover, before he was suddenly right in front of her in a blink of an eye. He grabbed Katherine's face softly in his left hand and whispered, "what is it about you that makes me still care?"

Katherine's eyes softened as she believed every word that was coming out of Stefan's mouth, just like the Salvatore wanted. She moved her lips to Stefan's and pulled him into a passionate kiss. However, the loving kiss didn't last very long before Katherine suddenly pulled away in pain.

Stefan had stabbed Katherine in the back with a vervain dart. He knew this was the only way he was going to get the answers he needed. So he silently watched the older vampire fall back onto the couch in pain as a heavy glare settled on his face. Stefan just waited for the right moment to grab her and set his plan in motion.

* * *

It only took Stefan about two minutes to carry the weakened vampire down to the basement once she had passed out on the couch. He placed her into a hard chair before chaining her ankles and wrists to the floor and to the chair. Once Stefan made sure Katherine was secure, he took a step back and looked at her as she began to gain awareness. "Now, where were we?" Stefan questioned as he looked at his ex lover. He watched Katherine squirm before uttering amusingly, "that's right. You were going to tell me why you came back to Mystic Falls, weren't you?"

"You didn't have to do this," Katherine moaned as she fought the chains.

"Answer the question," Stefan commanded as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I came back for you," Katherine stated tiredly.

Stefan stood up straight as he uttered, "we're gonna play by my rules now." He grabbed a pair of gloves and placed them over his large hands before he moved towards Zach's stash of vervain. He ripped off a small strand of the plant before walking back to Katherine.

"What are you doing?" Katherine quickly whispered once she noticed the toxic plant in Stefan's hand.

Stefan ignored Katherine's question as he swiftly placed the vervain across her cheek and listened to her cry out in pain. "Answer the question," Stefan growled once he pulled the plant away from Katherine's skin.

"Y-You're going to torture me now?" Katherine croaked out as tears streamed down her face.

Stefan held Katherine's throat tightly in his gloved hand and stated angrily, "I'll do whatever it takes to get you to tell me the truth."

Katherine took a deep breath once Stefan had let go of her throat, before she tried to explain, "later that night at the Founder's Ball -"

"No!" Stefan growled, "I don't wanna hear anymore stories about the past."

"Yes, you do, Stefan," Katherine mumbled, "that's exactly what you want to hear."

* * *

 **LOCKWOOD MANSION 1864**

 _"She's all alone," George Lockwood noted with a smirk as he walked up to Katherine Pierce. "Does this mean I can finally have you all to myself?" He questioned teasingly._

 _"Your father has outdone himself," Katherine complimented as she glanced around the room in amazement before she looked back at George with a charming smile._

 _"Knowing father, he will want to throw a Founder's Party every year," George muttered as his eyes focused on the beautiful brunette._

 _Katherine chuckled lightly before revealing, "I must admit, I am rather surprised that you would come looking for me."_

 _"Because you are the rope in the Salvatore brother's tug-of-war?" George questioned as he rose an eyebrow at the young girl._

 _Katherine giggled before she corrected the man easily, "no, because I am a vampire who could kill you in your sleep."_

 _The playfulness was washed from the Lockwood's tan skin as he stared at the girl in shock. "I beg your pardon?" He choked out as he hoped he didn't hear her right._

 _Katherine rolled her brown eyes in annoyance as she noticed the man was looking anywhere but at her. "Relax, George," she muttered, "I know you know my secret."_

 _George glared at the female and stated, "this conversation is over," before he turned to walk away._

 _However, before George could fully move away from Katherine, she quickly grabbed onto his arm tightly. "And I know your secret, too. And I know that you are extra strong, only not as strong," she revealed with her own glare._

 _George yanked his arm out of Katherine's grip before he quickly whispered, "how do you know who I am?"_

 _Katherine chuckled humorlessly, "you think I would settle into a town without knowing my enemies?"_

 _George swallowed thickly before he asked, "what do you want?"_

* * *

Emily walked into the kitchen of the Gilbert house, where she found her twin sister and aunt preparing for the barbecue. She had called Caroline earlier to invite her to the event. After Damon had mentioned he was going to try something at the barbecue, Emily decided to have Caroline join as well. Emily thought the more people that came, the less Damon would try and do something stupid that would put the people she loved in danger.

Emily made her way to the kitchen table and sat down as she grabbed a couple of chips from the bowl. But she was instantly stopped when Elena quickly slapped her hand away. Emily glared at her sister before she looked at Jenna with a smile when her aunt walked towards them. "Hey, thanks for letting Caroline come to the barbecue. She's been having some problems with her mom lately, so I thought this could help with her being surrounded by family," Emily told Jenna.

Jenna waved her hand carelessly as she stated, "Caroline is always allowed in our house, no matter what." She glanced over at Elena and added, "she's not the one I'm worried about. Why is Damon coming?"

"Alaric invited him," Elena explained before she pleaded to her aunt, "come on, Jenna, be nice."

Jenna scoffed, "I'll be nice when Damon learns to keep his paws off of you."

But before Elena could defend the oldest Salvatore like she wanted, Mason Lockwood walked into the room with a bottle of liquor and glasses. "Good news!" He exclaimed, "I found the shot glasses!"

"That would be my exit," Elena mumbled before she looked over at her sister and questioned, "are you coming?"

Emily eyed the clear liquid in Mason's hand before looking at Elena with a smirk, "I'll be there in a second."

Elena rolled her eyes playfully at Emily before she commanded, "you better, or I will drag you out of here."

"I promise!" Emily yelled as she watched her sister walk out of the kitchen and make her way towards the front door.

Jenna threw her arm over Emily's shoulder as she looked at Mason with a chuckle. "You're here for 10 minutes and I'm already back under the bleachers at the pep rally," she stated.

"It's just like old times, huh?" Mason laughed before he began to pour a couple of shots. "Only I didn't swipe this bottle from my old man and the beautiful Emily is joining us," he uttered as he shot the young Gilbert girl a wink.

Emily smirked at Mason as she muttered jokingly, "you got that right, Mase. Now it's even better."

"Oh, the expensive stuff!" Alaric hollered as he walked into the kitchen with a plate full of steaks. "I like you already," he told Mason as he eyed the liquor.

"Just happy to be invited," Mason expressed.

Emily rolled her eyes as she moved and hugged the Lockwood's waist, "you're always welcomed here, Mase."

Jenna chuckled at her niece before she looked at Mason and stated, "thank Ric, it was his idea."

"Really?" Mason questioned doubtfully.

"Yeah, you know I thought it would be nice to meet some of Jenna's high school friends," Alaric explained. "Dig up a little dirt," he whispered as he looked at Jenna in amusement.

"Oh, I've got dirt," Mason stated with a smirk.

"So do I!" Emily yelped as she glanced at her aunt teasingly, "thank you alcohol for letting Jenna spill her secrets."

"I have no secrets," Jenna denied before grabbing a shot glass and mumbling, "only dirty shame."

"To dirty shame," Alaric toasted as he clinked his shot glass with Jenna's, Mason's, and Emily's before they all downed the strong tequila.

"Hey," a voice suddenly spoke from behind them after they had sat their shot glasses on the kitchen counter.

Emily twirled around with a smile on her face before it was instantly turned into a frown when she saw who it was. Her mood was quickly ruined when she noticed it was Damon. Now she knew she had to be on guard with the vampire around her loved ones.

"Damon," Jenna deadpanned as she glared at the blue eyed man.

Alaric detected the tension in the room, so he looked at Damon and stated, "we were just doing shots. Let me give you a shot glass, buddy."

"Here. Use mine," Jenna growled as she slammed the glass into Damon's chest before she quickly walked out of the kitchen and away from the oldest Salvatore.

Emily glared at the vampire as she muttered, "I need to go check on MY best friend," before she copied her aunt as she made her way out of the kitchen and began to look for Caroline and Elena.

* * *

Stefan leaned his elbows on his knees and huffed out a heavy sigh as he watched Katherine closely. He was tired and annoyed as he waited for the older vampire to tell him the truth about George. "You know, we can sit here as long as you want," he stated, "and when you start to desiccate, there's a tomb with your name on it."

"I've been doing all the talking," Katherine uttered in a raspy voice, "it's your turn." Once Stefan stared at her quietly and impatiently, Katherine asked her question, "do you pretend to be human when you're with her?" She twitched her head to the side as she added, "and I'm not talking about Elena. I'm talking about the girl you really love, Emily."

Stefan didn't utter a single word, he only glared at the girl in front of him that kept bringing up Emily in conversation. He didn't bother denying his feelings for the oldest Gilbert. There was no point when it was the truth and his relationship with Elena was spiraling everyday. But Stefan didn't like when Katherine brought Emily up, he felt more protective over her when the older vampire did, it made him feel like she was in danger.

Katherine smirked as she watched Stefan glare at her. She knew she was getting to him. "We all know Elena isn't the one you truly love. You are only dating Elena because it's the easy choice. The only reason you are with my dull doppelganger is because she reminds you of me," Katherine exclaimed. Her brown eyes softened as she wondered, "does Emily make you question yourself? Does Emily make you feel like a better person?"

Stefan glanced down at his fingers as he played with his daylight ring. He finally looked back up at his ex lover after a moment and mumbled lowly, "I don't have to pretend to be anything when I'm with her. I am just me."

Katherine nodded her head silently as her mind compared Emily with her own twin sister. _They are very similar,_ Katherine thought. She looked up at Stefan and questioned, "does Emily know you are in love with her?" Katherine rose an eyebrow as she continued, "do they both know that you love me?"

"I don't," Stefan growled at the last question. He jumped out of the chair in frustration for his feelings for his girlfriend's sister and annoyance for Katherine's mind games.

"That's where you're wrong, Stefan," Katherine mumbled with a sigh. "Don't you remember bringing me home that night? Your family taken me in," Katherine added as she tried to get Stefan to feel for her again.

* * *

 **SALVATORE ESTATE 1864**

 _"I had a lovely time, Stefan," Katherine stated with a smile as she followed him up the stairs of the Salvatore estate._

 _Stefan turned to Katherine as he helped her up the last step before he questioned, "how long do you plan on staying in Mystic Falls?"_

 _"As long as I'm wanted," Katherine responded softly. "Your father has been very kind to give me shelter," she added as they walked along the narrow hallway._

 _"How could we not?" Stefan questioned the young girl. "Losing your family in the fire, thankfully you made it out of Atlanta," he spoke with a grateful smile._

 _"So," Katherine trailed off as she turned to fully face Stefan before continuing, "I gather I am wanted?"_

 _Stefan nodded his head as he muttered, "very much so." He chuckled nervously before staring into the beautiful girl's brown eyes. Stefan took a silent deep breath as he readied himself for what he was about to say. "I know we have only known each other for a short while and I know I am in competition for your affections, but I have never met a woman quite like you," Stefan confessed._

 _Katherine's eyes slightly widened as she listened to Stefan's confession. If she was being honest with herself, she was feeling the exact same way as she stared into the young man's bright green eyes._

 _"I look at you and I see an angel," Stefan whispered gently. "I touch your skin," he trailed off as he brought his white gloved hand to Katherine's tan cheek before continuing, "and my entire body ignites." Stefan watched the girl in front of him fall under his words before ending his heartfelt speech, "I kiss you and I know that I am falling in love."_

 _Katherine glanced down at Stefan's pink lips as her own parted in desire. She knew he was only human and it wouldn't last, but her dead heart was pleading for the young man in front of her. She needed and wanted this to happen._

 _Stefan and Katherine both glanced down at each other's lips in excitement before the Salvatore boy lowered his lips to Katherine's. The kiss was slow but passionate. They both had craved the taste of each other since the moment they laid eyes on one another._

 _But as soon as Katherine realized what she was doing, she quickly pulled away from Stefan's lips with a heavy sigh. Her brown eyes saddened as she knew they could never happen because of what she is._

 _"I am in love with you," Stefan stated as he stared into Katherine's eyes. He didn't noticed the turmoil that was running through the beautiful brunette's mind. Stefan just wanted the girl to understand how he felt._

 _Katherine closed her eyes briefly before mumbling sadly, "there is so much you do not know about me, Stefan."_

 _"More to learn and love," Stefan uttered with a small chuckle as he tried to reason with the young girl._

 _Katherine looked down at her hands nervously as she spoke, "I must say good night."_

 _"I have upset you?" Stefan questioned worriedly._

 _"No," Katherine quickly denied. "You have not upset me. You have just surprised me," she explained in a small voice. "Until tomorrow," she stated before quickly turning away from the youngest Salvatore as she made her way into her room._

 _However as soon as she closed the door to her room, she gasped in shock. In front of her was another guest who was also competing for her heart. She didn't want to deal with the oldest Salvatore brother at the moment. She was still trying to comprehend that Stefan had confessed his feelings and kissed her. "What are you doing here?" Katherine whispered to Damon once she pushed him away from her lips that had just touched his brother's._

 _"I told you I would come," Damon uttered as he furrowed his brows at the young woman._

 _"Well, I am tired," Katherine told the man dismissively, "you should go."_

 _"Did my little brother's confession overwhelm you?" Damon smirked as he brought Katherine's gloved hand to his lips._

 _Katherine quickly pulled her hand away and scolded the man, "you should not eavesdrop."_

 _Damon watched Katherine avoid his gaze before he asked dishearteningly, "is my love not enough?"_

 _"I told you. I am tired," Katherine uttered before she looked straight into Damon's blue eyes as she compelled him, "I wish to be alone tonight. Please leave."_

 _Damon blinked his eyes a couple of times before he looked up at the young girl with a bright smile. "Good night, Katherine," he stated before he quietly exited the brunette's room._

 _Katherine waited for the door to shut fully before she pressed her fingers to her lips as she thought about the kiss with Stefan. She didn't understand how a human boy could make her feel this way. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like this, and that is what scared her the most._

* * *

"Go ahead, Stefan," Katherine mumbled from the Salvatore basement as she revealed the story to the youngest brother. "Torture me, keep me captive, drain me of my blood until my body turns to dust," she listed before insisting, "it'll never change the truth."

Katherine watched Stefan closely for a moment, but when he wouldn't even look at her, she laid her head against the brick wall in disappointment as she stated, "I never compelled your love. It was real and so was mine."

* * *

In the middle of the Gilbert's living room, there was a loud game of Pictionary being played. It was Damon's turn and he was drawing some sort of animal with a small piece of clothing, from what Emily could tell. She decided to just watch the disaster unfold instead of attempting to join in.

"Dress! Ballerina!" Jenna yelled out as she tried to guess what Damon was drawing. But she honestly was just throwing out guesses now after not understanding the drawing the first time.

"Puppy! Puppy with a tutu!" Caroline shouted as she tried to guess with Jenna. She never had this much fun with her mom, so she was just so excited to be a part of the entertainment.

"No, no!" Damon shook his head and rounded his hand in a circle as he tried to give them a clue.

"Dog! Hound dog!" Jenna continued to yell before stating with confidence, "you ain't nothing but a hound dog!"

"Dances with wolves," Mason uttered without a second thought, causing everyone's eyes to look over at him. Jenna and Caroline were just annoyed that he got the right answer on the first try, but the other three people in the room knew that it wasn't good.

"Mason wins... again," Damon mumbled as he stared at the man who he thought was an actual werewolf.

"How is that a wolf!?" Jenna whined as she stared at the drawing in disbelief.

Emily chuckled as she watched Jenna complain about Damon's drawing for a couple of minutes. She could definitely tell the drawing was a wolf now but her aunt's drunk mind wasn't seeing it. Emily stood up from the couch and grabbed Jenna's arm as she stated, "come on, let's go get you something to eat, drunkie."

"Yes!" Jenna yelped. "Let's get lots and lots of food! Ooh! How about candy?" She questioned as she hung her arm around the amused Emily's neck.

"Whatever you want, Jennie, as long as it's not alcohol," Emily joked as she led her aunt into the kitchen.

"There you are!" Jenna uttered in excitement as she saw her other niece with Damon. "Isn't this fun?" She questioned drunkenly.

"Yes," Damon grinned, "thank you so much for inviting me."

"Did I have a choice?" Jenna deadpanned as her hatred for the oldest Salvatore was still there, no matter how much alcohol she consumed.

Emily couldn't help but chuckle at her aunt. She knew when Jenna drinks she always spills nothing but the truth and it was always fun to watch unfold.

"I know what you must think about me," Damon began as he stared directly at the strawberry blonde.

"No, you don't," Jenna quickly interrupted him with annoyance dripping from her voice.

"Do tell, Jenna," Emily smirked as she leaned against the counter.

Jenna pointed and shook her finger at Emily for a moment before she turned to Damon with a glare, "you've never dated you, I have dated many you's."

Damon shrugged, "well, I'm a work in progress."

"Yeah, right," Emily mumbled as she grabbed the cake server from Elena's hand, who glared at her for the jabs she keeps making to Damon. Emily just gave her sister a sweet smile before handing Jenna the silverware for the peach cobbler.

"Ooh!" Damon exclaimed once he saw the silverware in Jenna's hand before he moved towards the rest of the collection on the counter, "these are fancy."

"Thanks," Jenna uttered before adding, "they are my mother's silver set."

Emily and Elena instantly glanced at each other as soon as the words fell from Jenna's mouth before they both looked over at Damon. He gave the Gilbert sisters a smirk before opening a drawer on the box and pulled out a large silver knife. Emily definitely didn't like the look on Damon's face. She knew this wasn't going to end well if Damon was really going to stab Mason with the silver knife.

* * *

"Hearing the truth after a century and a half of denial must be overwhelming," Katherine muttered in amusement as she watched the frown on Stefan's face while she played with the long necklace around her neck.

"It wasn't real," Stefan quickly denied, "I remember you compelling me."

"Only after I showed you who I really was," Katherine explained desperately, "you were so scared of me. I had to take away your fear."

"Well, whatever feelings I had back then..." Stefan began in a whisper before he growled, "they've all turned to hate."

Katherine scoffed, "love, hate. Such a fine line." She shook her head as she stated, "I can wait." Katherine huffed out a sigh as she turned back to the story, "anyway, George Lockwood was causing all sorts of trouble. He used the vampires to cover his own tracks. He told the founding families about us. But he was willing to strike a deal."

"What kind of a deal?" Stefan mumbled out the question.

"A deal to rid the town of vampires," Katherine responded simply as she was pulled into another memory from the past.

* * *

 **SALVATORE ESTATE 1864**

 _Katherine Pierce and George Lockwood slowly strolled across the bright green grass that laid in front of the Salvatore estate. It was to look like they weren't planning anything, just two friends catching up. But in reality, that wasn't how the conversation was really going._

 _"I just spoke to Giuseppe Salvatore," George told the brunette vampire, "the round up happens tonight."_

 _"Good," Katherine nodded her head before ordering, "insist that they do a body count before the church is set ablaze."_

 _"I will," George promised._

 _"27 vampires," Katherine reminded the werewolf._

 _George chuckled lightly before stating, "once the flames create chaos, crawl to the exit under the choir loft. I will be there to set you free."_

 _"Make sure you are not followed," Katherine requested before adding, "I need everyone to believe that I perished in that fire."_

* * *

Stefan swiftly stood up from the hard ground as he glared at Katherine and questioned, "you knew that they were going to burn the vampires in the church?"

"I practically lit the match," Katherine responded easily.

"They were your friends. They were your family. You just sold them out?" Stefan growled. He couldn't believe that this woman could just do something like that.

Katherine nodded her head without a second thought and stated, "without blinking."

* * *

Emily helped Caroline clean up the living room from the game they played with her sister as everyone else was in the kitchen eating peach cobbler. There was just so much of Damon Emily could stand, even though she'd like to be hanging out with Mason before he left town again.

"Would I be the worst friend and sister in the world if I abandoned you guys and went to Stefan's?" Elena questioned as she glanced between the brunette and blonde pleadingly.

While Emily mumbled to her sister with a small smile, "no, not at all," Caroline had a very different reaction. The blonde's eyes widened as she looked up at Elena and questioned nervously, "you want to leave?"

"It's just that he hasn't gotten back to me," Elena explained with furrowed brows, "and I'm starting to get this bad feeling."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Elena," Caroline told the brunette.

Emily glanced over at her best friend in confusion before looking at her sister as she stated, "I'm sure everything is fine now, so you can leave if you need to."

"Take it from me," Caroline quickly spoke once she saw Elena walk away, "there's nothing worse than a clingy girlfriend."

Elena glared at the blonde girl as she corrected her, "I'm not being clingy, I'm just concerned." She looked towards her sister and uttered, "come on. I know you want to get away from Damon," before the two Gilbert girls began to walk to the front door.

"How about I drive?" Caroline swiftly called out.

While Emily couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right, Elena didn't really think anything of it as she nodded her head at the blonde. "Yeah, okay. That'd be great, thanks," Elena told Caroline before the three girls made their way out of the Gilbert house.

* * *

"What did George get in return?" Stefan questioned as he stared at Katherine before elaborating, "for giving you your freedom."

Katherine scoffed as she mumbled, "something he wanted desperately."

"So, you sent 26 of your friends to their death just to fake your own?" Stefan questioned in disbelief. He watched Katherine closely and noticed how silent she went. Stefan shook his head as he corrected himself, "no. You were running from something. What was it?"

"Everyone has a past," Katherine stated. She rolled her eyes, "mine needed to stay far, far away. But thanks to you, my plan nearly failed before it even began." She took a moment as she remembered what had happened before explaining, "once George told me that the round up was imminent, I made sure I could see you one last time." Katherine's brows furrowed in anger as she continued, "but your father used your love for me against you. He poisoned your blood. Then Damon, being Damon, nearly ruined everything."

"We came for you. We tried to save you," Stefan stated as he tried to defend his brother's actions.

"I didn't want to be saved," Katherine snapped.

"So then Damon and I died for nothing. For nothing!" Stefan yelled out in anger. He couldn't believe that after all these years Katherine was never in danger, she just only took care of yourself, no one else.

"No, Stefan," Katherine quickly denied. "You died for love!" She exclaimed.

* * *

Caroline's black car was silent as the three girls made their way to the Salvatore boarding house. But Emily could still feel that something was up, she just couldn't figure out what was wrong. All day Caroline had been acting weird and Emily wasn't going to give up until she found out what was going on.

"Thanks for this," Elena spoke softly as she looked towards the driver's seat, "I appreciate this."

"Here we come," Caroline uttered before mumbling under her breath, "to the rescue."

"Caroline, what's going on with you?" Emily questioned in confusion. The blonde has never been this rude to Elena before.

"That's my own drama," Caroline muttered as she kept her blue eyes glued to the road. She took a quick glance over to Elena before she commented with sarcasm dripping from her voice, "I'm sure you two will beat the odds. I mean, it's not like he will ever get bored of you. You guys have forever together!"

"Caroline, that's enough!" Emily commanded. She didn't know what was up with her best friend, but she wasn't just going to let her talk down to her sister like that.

"Sorry," Caroline mumbled as she looked back at Emily before focusing on the road.

The car went back to silence as the tension grew between the younger Gilbert and the blonde. Elena huffed out a sigh before she began to mess with the radio. She turned the volume up to see what was on before she stated, "I love this song."

Caroline didn't say anything to Elena as she pushed a button on her steering wheel before questioning out loud, "what's playing?"

"We Radiate by Goldfrapp," Caroline's car system responded after a short moment. The blonde girl glanced over at Elena with a smirk and stated, "ta-da!"

Just when Emily started to think that the trip to the Salvatore boarding house was going to go smooth sailing, Caroline's car suddenly made a strange noise as it slowed down. "Crap!" Caroline yelled out not even a second later. Emily huffed as she threw her head back in annoyance. This trip just got way worse.

* * *

It was now pitch black dark in the town of Mystic Falls as the three girls stood outside of Caroline's car. It had been over three in a half hours since Caroline called AAA and there was still no one to be seen. Emily leaned her head against Caroline's car in boredom and tiredness. Why were they talking so long to get here?

"Are you sure the tow's coming?" Elena questioned as she had the same thought as her sister. "We've been waiting forever," she muttered.

"I know, it's weird," Caroline commented as she glanced down at her phone, "they said they'd be here by now."

"My back is starting to hurt," Emily moaned before stating, "I think I'm just gonna call Jenna."

"No!" Caroline quickly yelped. She pulled up the AAA number on her phone as she muttered, "just let me try the tow people again, and I'll use my aggro voice this time."

Elena shook her head, "you know what, I'm just gonna walk there. I just remembered since I'm a vampire, I can get us there before the stupid tow people even show up." She looked over at her sister and questioned, "you ready?"

"I can't just leave my car," Caroline whined.

"We'll come back for it," Elena stated as it was obvious.

"Just give me a minute, Elena," Caroline begged.

"Caroline what part of I'm worried about Stefan didn't sink in?" Elena questioned in annoyance.

"What's the rush?" Caroline questioned right back, "why are you hurrying to get to a relationship that will never work?"

Elena's brown eyes widened in shock as she stared at the blonde. "Okay. Look, I know that you're upset over Matt, but will you stop projecting it on my relationship?" She wondered with a glare.

"I'm not projecting anything!" Caroline yelped. "Stefan will get tired of you! It's so obvious he doesn't feel the same way about you like when you first starting going out! Ever since you transitioned into a vampire, you have changed and your relationship has been doomed!" Caroline ranted.

"Where is this coming from?" Elena mumbled lowly as she stared at the blonde vampire.

"I'm just trying to be your friend," Caroline muttered.

"Okay. Well, do me a favor and stop trying," Elena ordered before she grabbed the silent Emily's left hand and began to walk away.

"No, Elena, don't!" Caroline quickly yelped as she grabbed onto the closest arm, which happened to be Emily's right arm.

Emily looked at the blonde with furrowed brows and whispered, "Caroline, you're hurting me."

Elena felt something flick inside of her as she saw the blonde holding her sister in a tight grip. She quickly pushed Caroline against the black car with her hand wrapped around the blonde's neck. "Touch Emily like that again and I will have to end you," she growled.

Emily rubbed her arm and noticed a red mark from where Caroline had grabbed her. She sighed before looking up at her sister and noticed that Elena was holding onto Caroline's neck tightly. "Lena," she whispered softly, "it's okay. I'm fine."

Elena looked over at her twin sister to make sure she was okay before she swiftly dropped the blonde to the ground. "Are you ready? We can get there faster if I just run," Elena told Emily as she made her way over to her.

Emily stared at her sister for a moment as she tried to understand what just happened. She just thought that maybe she was Elena's anchor since they were close, so Elena felt the need to protect her from anything now that she's a vampire. Emily gave her sister a small smile before she stated teasingly to ease the tension, "just don't drop me."

Elena chuckled with a smile as she rolled her eyes playfully before she easily pulled Emily onto her back. She took a brief look over to the blonde vampire, who was scared for what was to come, before she finally took off in a sprint to the Salvatore boarding house.

* * *

Stefan walked slowly around the dark Salvatore basement as he questioned his ex lover, "so, are you going to tell me why you came back here or are you just playing another game?"

Katherine was starting to become annoyed with the younger vampire. She felt like she had been repeating herself all day. "Have you not heard a word that I've said?" Katherine groaned. "I've answered that question 5 times over now," she mumbled.

"All right, good," Stefan nodded his head, "now make it six."

Katherine sighed before she uttered simply, "I want what I want, Stefan and I don't care what I have to do to get it." She gritted her teeth and stated, "my list of victims is a long one. And I have no problem adding one more name to that list."

"Come on, Katherine," Stefan mumbled as he rolled his neck tiredly. "If you wanted Elena and Emily dead, you would have done it by now and you wouldn't have turned Elena into a vampire."

"I don't want to kill Emily," Katherine denied before adding, "but I will snap her sister's neck as many times as I want for as long as I want."

Stefan felt something snap inside of him as his patience had finally broke. He was tired of playing her games for hours. Stefan quickly ripped a leg from the wooden chair that he was sitting on and rushed towards Katherine, where he held the stake over her heart. He growled as he stared into her brown eyes before throwing the stake down in frustration.

Katherine chuckled, "I guess you don't hate me as much as you thought you did." She stared at Stefan for a moment before stating, "I don't want you seeing Elena anymore. If you don't remove her from your life, I will kill everyone that she loves, except for Emily, while she watches, and then I will kill her while you watch." Katherine smirked before she added, "then I will tell Emily all about how you didn't save her poor family which will cause her to hate you forever."

Stefan rushed towards Katherine and grabbed her throat tightly, causing her to gasp in shock as her airway was closing up. Stefan didn't take lightly to the threats Katherine was making. He placed the stake right above Katherine's heart and growled, "don't you ever think for one moment that I will not kill you."

However, Stefan was caught completely off guard when Katherine swiftly threw him towards the brick wall. She ripped the chains off of her wrists and ankles before she slowly got up from the uncomfortable chair. "I've been sipping vervain every single day for the last 145 years," Katherine growled. She walked closer towards the shocked Stefan before she continued, "you caught me by surprise once, I wasn't going to let it happen again. It doesn't hurt me, Stefan."

"What? Why?" Stefan questioned in disbelief as Katherine stood in front of him without a single look of pain on her face. He didn't understand what was happening.

"I told you," Katherine whispered as she bent down to Stefan's level, "I missed you. I just wanted to spend some time with you."

The two vampires stared at each other for a moment before a voice suddenly called through the Salvatore boarding house, "Stef! Stefan Salvatore! You better be here! Elena and I just walked forever to see you!"

Katherine smirked instantly once she recognized the voice. "Sorry, Stefan," she mumbled and stabbed him with the stake before she sped away to the voice of Emily Gilbert and to see her dull doppelganger for some fun.

* * *

"Stefan?" Elena called out as she walked into the living room of the Salvatore boarding house with her sister by her side, "hello?"

"He better be here," Emily mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest. She was beyond tired and she did not wait three hours on the side of the road for nothing. Emily turned to head up the stairs to look for Stefan but froze mid-turn. "Elena," Emily whispered as she tried to warn her sister about who was in the room with them.

"Vampire Elena suits you well," Katherine smirked as she spotted her doppelganger's wide eyes on her. She turned to Emily and muttered, "it's lovely seeing your face again."

Elena quickly moved to her sister's side before she looked up at Katherine with her eyes still widened. She remembered when Katherine had killed her, but she still couldn't believe that they looked like each other. "How is this possible?" Elena questioned, "how do we look exactly alike?"

Katherine didn't bother responding to her doppelganger, instead she looked over towards Emily. A soft smile made its way onto her face as she slowly walked around the oldest Gilbert. Katherine carefully stared at Emily's every feature and compared them to her own sister's. "Elena, you are asking all the wrong questions," Katherine muttered as she glanced over to her doppelganger.

"Maybe I should be asking why I look like Darina, right?" Emily questioned as she rose an eyebrow at Katherine.

A smirk grew on Katherine's face as she stared at Emily. "So, I'm guessing you've been to Duke University and received my sister's journal?" She wondered.

"What do you know about the journal? Do you know what happened?" Emily interrogated as she furrowed her brows. If Katherine knew about the journal, so that would mean that she knows the truth about what happened to Darina.

However, before Emily could get her answer, there was suddenly a large shout coming from the youngest Salvatore. "Emily!? Elena!?" He yelled out as he rushed into the living room.

Emily watched Katherine give her one last smile before she sped out of the Salvatore boarding house. Emily bit down on her bottom lip as she thought about how Katherine knew about the journal. She was convinced that Katherine at least knew about the sacrifice.

"Are you okay?" Stefan suddenly interrupted the turmoil that was running through Emily's mind as he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Emily nodded her head in Stefan's neck as she watched her sister closely. She could see the hurt in Elena's brown eyes as Stefan went straight for her instead of his own girlfriend. Emily didn't really know to say and it wasn't her place to say anything. So she pulled away from Stefan before walking towards Elena. "How are you feeling?" She questioned softly.

Elena briefly glanced over at Stefan before looking back to Emily as she mumbled, "I don't know."

Emily's eyes softened before she pulled her sister into a hug. "Hey, everything will be okay. It will all work out, I promise," she whispered. Emily honestly didn't know what was going to be okay. If it was Elena's relationship with the Salvatore brothers or with Katherine in town, but she had to believe everything would be fine in the end.

* * *

Emily huffed out a sigh once she finally walked back into the Gilbert house for the last time for the night. She was so tired and ready for bed. Emily had Stefan and Elena drop her off at the house before they left for Mystic Grill to confront Caroline. Elena had the idea that the blonde was hiding that she was working with Katherine, but Emily wasn't really sure what was going on with her best friend.

However, before Emily could walk up to her bedroom to fall asleep, Jenna came up from behind her. "Hey, Emmie. You got something in the mail earlier. It doesn't say who it's from," Jenna informed Emily as she handed her an envelope.

Emily gave her aunt a smile and slipped the letter into her black and white purse. "So, did you have a fun day barbecuing with Ric?" She wondered with a smirk.

Jenna chuckled as she glanced down when she felt her cheeks reddened. "Yes, it felt nice with him cooking in the house," she confessed.

"Well, I'm happy that you're happy," Emily revealed with a bright smile before stated, "I'm tired, so I'm heading to bed." She made her way up the stairs and yelled down to her aunt, "love you, Jennie," before she sluggishly walked into her bedroom.

Emily closed the door and took her boots off before she fell onto her bed with a huff. But before she could close her eyes, she suddenly remembered the unknown letter. Emily slowly sat up and pulled the envelope from her purse. She looked at the cover and only saw her name and address with a small 'K' in the left corner.

Emily couldn't think of who it could of be from, so she just shrugged and pulled out the letter. She noticed that it was half a page long and the edges looked like they were ripped out of something. But Emily's brows furrowed once she recognized the type of paper. She quickly dug into her purse and pulled out Darina's journal before she held the letter up to one of the pages, and it was an exact match to the journal. Emily didn't understand why she was sent a letter from a ripped out page from a centuries old journal, but she decided not to think too much of it. Instead, she began to read the letter carefully.

 _Dear Emily Gilbert,_

 _My name is Maria Radkova, and I know you have heard of me if you had began to read Darina's journal. I did not want you to get this letter unless it was absolutely necessary. But the person who gave you this letter, was following mine and Darina's orders._

 _You may are wondering how I know your name. But as you know I am from a very special coven and I had to opportunity to look into the future for you. It was the last spell I used as I am on my death bed. I must tell you what happened to Darina after I spelled her blood._

 _You first should know of my relationship with Darina Petrova. You see, I always thought of Darina like a daughter ever since I met her when she was only fifteen years old. Once her mother passed away from a illness, I met Darina when she came through my shop. She was a sweet young girl that I took under my wing when her father worked a lot. I took care of her and trusted in her as I told her about my coven._

 _You might have figured out that my plan did not work. I was only trying to keep Darina alive. That is why I helped Darina when I found out what Niklaus wanted with her. He needed to use her blood for a sacrifice. The sacrifice was to make him a hybrid; a werewolf and a vampire. But I could not let that happen to Darina, so I gave her a potion that contained my blood. Since I am the protector of the innocence, this was my way to protect her from the monster that is Niklaus. You will later learn about my coven when the time is right._

 _But for now, I will tell you what happened to Darina. You see, I was so headstrong on protecting Darina, that I did not think of the possibility of a loophole. However, Niklaus thought of that. Instead of using her from the sacrifice, which of course he could not since her blood was not pure, he ripped her heart out in a heat of rage and said he would use Katerina or the next doppelganger if he had to wait._

 _This is a warning, my dear. Do not trust anyone. This is your life that is in danger and I wish to help as much as I can, like Darina tried to do. Just know, do not let the knowledge of you having the blood of the protector get to the wrong person. It will only cause more danger to your life. I do not wish for your life to end like Darina's did. I promised her I would help her doppelganger and I wish to complete her dying wish. You will hear from me soon. Stay safe._

Emily covered her mouth with her eyes widened. She couldn't believe that this Niklaus person actually killed Darina. She could tell from the words that Nikalus wasn't someone to be played with. He was and is dangerous. Emily looked at the letter closely before she checked the other side. She furrowed her brows instantly when she read the small note.

 _This is what happened to my sister. I just want to help you._

 _\- Katherine_

Emily was definitely in shock now, knowing that the ripped out page was from Katherine, the devil herself. She still had so many more questions. How does Katherine know about her sister's journal? Why was this page ripped out and what is Katherine's motive for giving it back to her?

Emily huffed out a sigh and placed the ripped out page back into Darina's journal. She at least got her answer about how her doppelganger died, but more questions kept piling after every word she read. It felt like it was never ending. But Emily wasn't going to stop until she got all the answers. She just hoped that she will find out the truth before danger comes for her.


	35. Chapter 34

It was around seven in the morning when Emily finally woke up from a dream about a tall guy with curly dirty blonde hair. She couldn't remember ever seeing his face before, but she just pushed it away as she thought she must've seen him on TV or around town.

Emily glanced down at the alarm clock that was next to her warm bed and noticed the time read '6:35' in big block green letters. Emily sighed tiredly, knowing she still had at least twenty-five minutes until she had to get ready for the day.

Emily reached over and opened her bedside table and grabbed the brown journal that originally belonged to her doppelganger. She decided that she had enough time to read another page. Emily flipped past three entries that she had already read and pulled out the small picture of Katherine and Darina that was used as a bookmark. The young Gilbert girl yawned once before she was engrossed into the writing.

 _Dear doppelganger,_

 _It has been a week since I learnt about what Niklaus needs me for. I know my end is near. I thought it is a good idea to document my last days with the protector spell over me. Maria said I would begin to feel some changes within myself._

 _I feel very powerful after drinking the potion that Maria gave me. I can hear more clearly. I can hear the birds chirping, the ones that reside at the top of the mountain that is behind the small village we live by in our new home of England. Maria says I have really good hearing now and that it is one of the effects of the spell. I can hear everything in our small village. It makes my head hurt most of the time, but Maria says I need to focus to be able to cut the noise out._

 _I feel very protective over my sister, Katerina. I do not like when she leaves my side. My heart hurts when I do not know if she is safe or not. Maria says that it is the protective spell. Since I always protected her as children, it just gets more powerful with the spell._

 _My reflex's have gotten stronger and faster. I can hear every footstep that comes towards me. I almost broke a metal plate when Katerina tried to scare me. I do not know if I should tell my sister about the spell. I feel sad that Maria would not place the same spell on her. But I know it is because Maria never liked my sister. I just hope Niklaus does not go after her._

 _My heart and head hurts a lot more. I think it is because I can feel the end coming. I do not want to tell Maria that the end is near. She has always been like a mother to me. I feel in control now but I know we will not win. I can feel death creeping in the back of my mind. I am not sure, but it could be apart of the spell, maybe I can predict death and Maria did not tell me, like the stories my mother used to tell me about the banshee's._

 _Maria says I should warn you; if Niklaus does comes for you, if our plan does fail, your experience might be different from mine. Maria told me that she has something different for you when the time comes. I am not sure what that means, only that in due time you shall know. I think Maria does not want to worry me. She only tells me that your experience will be much stronger than mine. I do not know if me writing down what happens to me will help you, but it shall give you an idea what you might have to go through._

Emily laid back onto her pillow and closed her eyes once she had finished reading the new page of Darina's journal. She always felt like she knew her doppelganger more after every personal word she read. Emily's nerves were all over the place as she thought about what Darina went through. She could only hope that this Niklaus person doesn't come for her. Darina's experience was scary enough, but she had said Emily's experience would be more powerful. That made the Gilbert girl extremely nervous of the future.

Emily jumped in fright and out of her own thoughts when she suddenly heard her alarm clock blaring loudly. Emily sighed as she shook her head before she pushed the off button and slowly got out of her safe haven that was her bed.

Emily slowly made her way to her large closet with her feet dragging against the cold floor. She finally got dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a simple green-blue tank top once she gained her bearings. Emily was never one to wake up early, even though that's all she has been doing lately.

Once she was happy with her outfit, Emily moved to the bathroom, where she began to put on her jewelry. But as she was pushing the silver earring through her right ear, she suddenly heard fast footsteps coming from behind her.

"I can't believe Tyler Lockwood is a werewolf," Jeremy ranted to his sister as soon as one of his old sneakers crossed over the threshold of the silent bathroom that all three siblings shares.

Emily rolled her eyes as she looked at Jeremy in the mirror and stated, "we don't know if Ty is a werewolf yet, we are only sure about Mason." She turned around and leaned against the clean sink once she had pushed the point of the jewelry into her ear. "Who told you about the werewolf thing anyways?" She wondered.

Jeremy shrugged his shoulders lightly and muttered, "I heard Elena on the phone with Damon. He said the Lockwood's are werewolves, so I just put two and two together."

"You know, you really shouldn't be eavesdropping on other people's conversations," Emily reminded her brother with a small teasing smirk shining on her pale pink lips.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and exclaimed, "like you don't do the same thing." The youngest Gilbert noticed the glare his sister was now giving him before he joined in as they stared into each other's eyes. It was something they used to do when he was about six years old. They would gaze at each other as they were in a staring competition until someone would break the connection. It only took a few minutes before they both lost as they broke into laughter. "I can find out if Tyler is a werewolf," Jeremy declared seriously once they had calmed down and silence overtook the bathroom.

Emily's eyes widened at her brother's statement before she quickly shook her head. "Oh, no, no. I don't want you involved in all this stuff, Jer. It's too dangerous," she stated. That was the last thing Emily wanted for her brother, to be wrapped in the troubles that comes with being around the supernatural.

Jeremy lifted his hand lazily which caused Emily's green eyes to focus on the large silver and blue ring that shined on his point finger. "By definition of being in this family, I'm involved," he explained with a huff.

Emily knew her brother was right. Anyone who gets involved with the Gilbert's, always gets in the middle of the supernatural world. Well, except for Jenna, which Emily couldn't be anymore grateful for.

Emily sighed before she expressed her concern, "listen, I know you want to help out, but it's just not safe. Please promise me you won't go digging through things that doesn't affect you." She definitely didn't want her brother looking into werewolves, especially when they barely knew anything about them.

Jeremy stared at his sister for a moment before he silently nodded his head and mumbled, "I promise." He could never disagree with Emily. Jeremy always felt like he was disappointing her and he hated that feeling.

Emily went to open her mouth to voice her gratification, but was soon interrupted by her cell phone ringing in her back pocket. She quickly pulled it out and noticed a new text message.

 **From : Mrs. Lockwood**

 **Hello, Emily! I hope you are as excited for the Historical Society Volunteer Picnic as I am! I just wanted to remind you that I will need you here in 20 minutes as you know we need everything to go perfectly. I will see you soon, dear!**

Emily looked up at her brother with a small smile once she had finished reading the text message from the mayor. "Duty calls," she stated before she swiftly walked back into her bedroom and began to search for some shoes. Emily dug through the bottom of her closet for a few seconds before she found a pair of sneakers that matched her top. She quickly slipped them on before she sped down the stairs and dashed out the front door for another busy day.

* * *

Emily made her way through the large park that the founder's committee thought would be the perfect place for the volunteers to help out their community. She had to agree that the committee was right. It was a nice public area that everyone would pass everyday and see the work they did to help better the small town.

Emily's thoughts were soon stopped when she saw a smiling Mrs. Lockwood walking straight towards her. "Oh, lovely! You're here!" The mayor exclaimed once she was about a foot away from the young girl. She handed the brunette a clipboard as she spoke, "this is yours. It has everything we discussed during the committee meeting."

Emily smiled politely at the older woman before she uttered, "thank you, Mrs. Lockwood. I promise you I will make sure everything goes perfectly like you planned."

Mrs. Lockwood touched Emily's lower arm briefly as she expressed, "oh, please. You know that this is as much as your baby as it is mine. I trust everything will go exceptionally well in your hands."

The mayor was right. Emily was very excited for the volunteering event, even with all the supernatural drama happening. Her mother, Miranda, always taught her the ways of the committee ever since she could remember. She taught the brunette to care and respect the small town like it was a child that needed nurturing. So anything Emily did involving the town, she always took it seriously and placed her whole focus on it. Emily always tries her hardest every time because she wants her mother to be proud of the work she does for the community, just like Miranda did when she was still alive.

Mrs. Lockwood smiled at the young girl and stated, "now, if you excuse me, I have a speech to give," before she swiftly turned around and made her way to the center of the public park to get the event officially started.

Emily chuckled as she watched Mrs. Lockwood walk away - being the ever so commanding and excited person she was. But after a moment of standing in silence, Emily took a deep breath, knowing that it was going to be a long day, before she looked down at the clipboard Mrs. Lockwood had gave her and began to read over the couple of pages.

Emily decided that she was going to start at the very top of the list. She had to go through all of it anyways, so might as well start at the beginning. The first thing on the list was re-painting all of the wooden archways that surrounded the park. Emily had talked to Caroline prior to the event and she agreed that she would help paint them. The Gilbert girl looked up from her clipboard and instantly smiled when she spotted her twin sister and blonde best friend doing exactly what was asked of them.

Emily made her way towards the two girls, just to make sure that they knew what needed to be done. "Hey," she called out as she walked up to them. But as Emily grew closer, she noticed the heated looks and whispers that were going back and forth. She furrowed her brows as she questioned, "is everything okay?"

The two female vampires quickly twirled around with their eyes widened like they had been caught when they heard the distinct voice of the one and only Emily Gilbert.

"Emmie!" Caroline yelped once she laid her frantic blue eyes on the brunette. "How's your day going? Isn't this so much fun?" The blonde vampire rambled as questions flew out of her mouth at rapid speed.

Emily rose an eyebrow at Caroline as she questioned teasingly, "have a little too much coffee this morning, Care?"

Caroline quickly looked over at the younger Gilbert sister nervously before she muttered to Emily, "uh, oh, yeah! I might have had too much." She chuckled awkwardly, "you know me."

Emily squinted her eyes as she silently nodded her head at her best friend. She could definitely tell something was up with Caroline. Emily knew from all of the years that she had known the blonde, that Caroline only rambles when she's hiding something. But Emily decided to push that thought to the back of her mind. She needed to focus on the event right now, not on worrying about whatever Caroline wasn't tell her. Emily turned her attention to her twin sister as she wondered, "hey, where's Stef? He promised he would be helping out today."

Elena quickly avoided Emily's green eyes as she looked down at the paint brush in her hand like it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Uh, I don't know where he is," she muttered lowly.

Emily's brows furrowed as she watched now both girls avert their eyes from her. She could definitely tell they were hiding something. They were being too quiet and not speaking to her like they usually would. Emily sighed in annoyance, knowing she wasn't going to get anything out of them at the moment. "Well, I'll just let you guys get back to work," she stated before glancing down at her list and added, "and if you finish up here, could you please help plant some flowers? We need to get a lot done today."

The two female vampires nodded their heads together with smiles on their faces, which were both equally strained as they finally looked at the oldest Gilbert. "We will get right to work!" Caroline yelped before she and Elena quickly turned around and began to paint so they wouldn't have to look into Emily's bright green eyes that no one could ever resist.

"Alright, thanks," Emily mumbled lowly. She gave the two strange girls one last look before she walked away to continue to run the event. Emily promised herself that she would find out what was going on later, but now wasn't the right time with the busy day ahead of her.

* * *

Emily walked around the large park as she glanced between the clipboard in hand and all of the work being done. She had been here for over five hours already and they were almost finished. Emily was very pleased with how everything was going. She knew her mother would have been proud.

"Hey, Emily!" The brunette suddenly heard as someone called out to her. She looked up from the clipboard and smiled when she saw the Good brothers, Joe and Colby, making their way towards her. They were a couple of years older than her, but she was still very close with them.

"Where do you want the benches, boss?" Colby questioned with a smirk on his tan face as he pointed behind him, where some men were unloading multiple wooden seats from a large white moving truck.

Emily rolled her eyes playfully at the younger brother and scolded, "don't call me that. It makes me feel old." However, not even a second later, Emily grew serious as she focused at the task at hand. She looked around the area for a moment before pointing to the center of the park, where a large oak tree stood with smaller ones surrounding it. "I think they would look good around the trees over there. But make sure that they are spread out," she ordered.

"Aye, Aye, Captain," Joe spoke up as he sent the girl an identical smirk like his brother's.

Emily couldn't help but chuckle as she rolled her eyes once again. "Just get to work, you two," she commanded with her own smirk as she looked at the Good brothers. Once she saw Joe and Colby walk back to the men that were unloading the benches, Emily turned her attention back onto the clipboard and also got back to work herself.

"You know, Miss Gilbert, you are far too serious for your own good," Stefan declared as he walked up to the very busy Emily and saw the furrowed look on her face.

Emily swiftly looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. She smiled brightly when she saw it was Stefan. "I was wondering when I'd see your face," she commented as she gazed into his forest green eyes.

"Well, I didn't want to have an angry Emily after me, so I thought I'd better show up," Stefan explained as he gave the young girl a teasing smile.

"That was probably a good idea," Emily joked as she bumped her hip into Stefan's before she walked away and continued her journey around the large park as she made sure everything was going perfectly.

Stefan quickly caught up to Emily's pace and questioned with an easy smile, "so, what can I do to help?"

Emily sunk her teeth into her bottom lip as she looked down at the clipboard. She had checked everything off that was supposed to be done. Emily looked back up at Stefan with a smile before it instantly turned into a frown once she saw what was happening behind Stefan's back. "You can tell me if Damon is stupid enough to even think about talking to a werewolf in a very public place," she muttered as she watched the oldest Salvatore talk with the resident werewolf, Mason Lockwood, by a small lemonade stand.

Stefan quickly turned around at Emily's statement and saw exactly what she had mentioned. He watched and listened to them closely with his vampire hearing. But once the werewolf walked away, Stefan subconsciously laced his fingers with Emily's and stated, "let's go see what he's up to," before he pulled the brunette with him without a second thought.

Emily was in complete shock when she felt Stefan's warm fingers fit perfectly between her own. Her mind was running a mile a minute as they made their way to Damon. It was a weird feeling for her seeing as it was her sister's boyfriend. Emily couldn't understand why Stefan would do that though, he had never done it before. It was like it was a reflex for the younger Salvatore.

Emily didn't have much time to comprehend the feelings she was having before Stefan swiftly released her hand as he spoke to his brother. "Please tell me that you were just bonding," Stefan muttered.

Damon only gave his brother a smirk before he looked out to the crowd as he questioned curiously, "so, what's up with the drama in your relationship?"

Stefan took a nervous glance over at the very confused Emily before he mumbled, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Damon rolled his eyes, "oh, come on, Stefan." He gazed over at the brunette beside his brother with a mischievous glint as he mentioned, "you and Elena don't fight, especially not when it's over me and a certain someone."

Emily quickly held her hand up and exclaimed, "wait, wait, wait. What are you guys talking about?" She furrowed her brows as she looked up at Stefan and interrogated, "you and Elena are fighting?"

Stefan ignored the Gilbert girl as he glared at his brother and growled, "drop it, Damon."

Damon's eyes brightened in amusement as he grinned, "you know what, I think I don't want to drop it, Stefan. Would you like to tell Emily why you and Elena have been fighting, or should I?"

Emily was baffled at the information she was getting as the brothers bickered. She didn't understand why her sister didn't even tell her that she was having problems in their relationship. However, before Emily could jump back into the conversation to question more about what was going on, a small girl came over and asked shyly, "would you like some lemonade?"

Damon accepted the plastic cup that was filled with the light yellow colored drink and gave the small girl a grateful smile, "thank you, sweetie." He turned to Stefan with a smirk before he brought the cup to his lips and took a large gulp. But before the liquid could go down his esophagus, Damon quickly spat out the lemonade as he began to choke harshly.

Stefan furrowed his brows once he realized that Damon was actually choking, instead of playing a stupid prank like he always did. "What's wrong?" He questioned in a whisper as he moved closer to his brother with panic shining through his eyes.

Damon shook his head as he continued to cough with his hands gripping onto his jean clad knees while he was hunched over as he tried to get the burning taste out of his mouth. He whispered lowly but the two people close to him had heard him clear as day as he said one word, "vervain!"

Stefan and Emily glanced over at each other as they stood on each side of Damon with both equally worried looks. If there was vervain in the lemonade, that would mean someone put it there on purpose and knows about the vampires in Mystic Falls.

* * *

Emily sat on top of a wooden table as she watched Damon switch from pacing up and down to gargling water and spitting it out. It was an endless cycle that the oldest Salvatore kept going through. Emily closed her eyes briefly as she thought about who could have put the vervain into the lemonade. She knew there was only one person who could have done it. Emily just wished it wasn't true, that Mason would do something like this. But she knew without a doubt that it was him. He is the only one in town that knows of the Salvatore's real identity.

"I'm gonna kill him," Damon growled once he spit out another round of fresh water from his burning mouth. He moved to rush after the werewolf, but was instantly stopped before he could even lift his foot off of the green grass.

"No! No!" Stefan quickly shouted as discreetly as he could without anyone looking over at them. He pushed onto Damon's shoulders to hold his brother in place before his anger got the better of him. "Listen to me! Sit!" Stefan commanded as he slammed Damon onto the wooden seat of the table that the Gilbert girl was sitting on top of.

"I'm not listening anymore of your 'give peace a chance' crap," Damon grumbled as he fought Stefan's grip, "he's dead!"

Stefan held onto Damon's shoulders until he heard his brother beginning to calm down. "Okay," Stefan uttered with a sigh. He shook his head tiredly and confessed, "I don't like it. He's making threats." Stefan glanced around the park as he whispered, "he could expose us. We need to put him down."

Damon grinned pleasingly at his brother before he commented, "that's more like it. Let's do it."

Emily looked at the two brothers with her eyes widened in shock. "Woah, woah, woah. Are you guys serious?" She questioned before she shot up from the table and shifted her eyes between the Salvatore's. "This is a bad idea," she stated before muttering quietly, "and he's like a brother to me."

Damon rolled his eyes and grumbled, "well, he's a threat to your twin sister, who is actually blood, so he needs to be put down today before he kills us all."

Emily pushed the heels of her palms into her eyes as she thought everything over. That was definitely not what she wanted to hear. She knew if Mason was willing to expose the vampires, then that would mean Elena would also be in danger and her twin sister always comes first. But Mason was someone she had always loved like her own family. However, Emily knew what needed to be done for the sake of her real family.

Emily looked back up at the Salvatore brothers as she mumbled, "okay."

Damon smirked at the Gilbert girl as he praised, "good girl." He moved his blue eyes around the large park before stating, "woods. Trash duty." Damon began walking as he muttered, "come on," as his eyes stayed glued on the werewolf.

Emily went to follow after the oldest Salvatore, so they could put an end to the werewolf, even though she loved the aforementioned hairy beast. But before she could get too far, Stefan swiftly grabbed her wrist and twisted the brunette so she was facing him. "No, no, no," he quickly dismissed. "I don't want you coming with us. You could get hurt and I wouldn't forgive myself if that happened," he whispered as he moved his fingers to link into Emily's instead of holding her wrist.

Emily glanced down at their linked hands before looking back into Stefan's worried green eyes. She couldn't think about how her heart was pounding against her rib cage or how her feelings were sparking every second she was alone with the youngest Salvatore. She needed to focus on what was important at the moment.

Emily knew that Stefan wasn't going to let her come with them. She knew that look in his eyes, there was no arguing with him. Instead, Emily had a plan. She looked up at Stefan with a disappointed aura surrounding her as she nodded her head and whispered, "be careful." Once Emily saw Stefan run to catch up with Damon, she swiftly turned around to set her plan in motion. If Stefan wasn't going to allow her to come, Emily was going to get back up.

Emily took off in a jog as she looked for her twin sister and best friend. She didn't care about how her clean sneakers were getting dirty as mud began to form around them while she searched for the two girls. Emily only cared about checking on the Salvatore brothers. Even if she wasn't friends with Damon, she still cared.

Emily sighed in relief once she finally spotted the two female vampires. She found them on the edge of the woods as they stared through the trees in silence. "Thank God I found you guys!" Emily gasped out of breath. She was beginning to think that she needed to start working out with Tyler again if she was going to be around all these fast vampires.

"What's wrong?" Elena swiftly questioned her sister worriedly as she laid her hand gently on Emily's bare sweaty shoulder.

Emily took a large gulp of fresh air before she quickly explained without taking a single breath, "Stefan and Damon went to kill Mason." She shook her head, "and I have this feeling that something bad is going to happen."

Elena's eyes widened in horror before she quickly controlled herself as she didn't want to spook her sister. She took a deep breath before stating, "come on," as she grabbed onto Emily's hand. They quickly jogged through the woods with the blonde catching up as the two vampires tried to listen for the Salvatore brothers.

The three girls made their way through the deep woods before Caroline suddenly called out as she came to a complete stop, "wait!"

"What is it?" Emily and Elena hurriedly questioned in unison as they watched the blonde girl bend down to the ground.

Caroline looked between the two sisters as she slowly lifted her hand up that was covered in fresh blood. "They've been here," she whispered.

However, before the panic could fully set into the Gilbert's, a voice suddenly called out from behind them as the person questioned strongly, "what are you girls doing out here?"

Emily swallowed thickly when she recognized the voice. If Mason was in front of them right now, that would mean something happened to the Salvatore's. "Where are they, Mason?" She questioned as she stared nervously into his brown eyes. Emily could feel Mason wasn't someone she could trust anymore if he was willing to hurt the people she's close to.

Mason looked around the woods with a small smirk on his face before he turned back to the brunette and stated, "oh, I think they are around here somewhere."

"Please, Mase," Emily begged desperately, "if you ever cared about me, you will tell us where they are."

Mason twitched his head to the side as he told the young girl, "you don't need me for that. I'll let your sister and bestie sniff them out." Mason moved his eyes to the blonde vampire and questioned, "does your mother know what you are?" However, he didn't give her a chance to respond before he glanced to Elena and continued, "I'm sure Jenna doesn't know either. I'd be happy to inform them both."

The thought of anyone knowing about her spiked the anger that resided inside of Caroline. She wasn't going to let anyone tell her secret, nonetheless a werewolf. Caroline growled at the man before she moved to attack him. However, before she could even walk halfway towards Mason, he swiftly grabbed the very human Emily from behind.

Mason wrapped his thick bicep around Emily's throat in a semi-tight choke hold before he whispered faintly, "I'm sorry," into Emily's ear that she thought she imagined it. The werewolf turned his attention back to the vampires as he growled, "don't be stupid! Necks snap easy around here!"

Emily knew she must look like a scared little girl to her sister and best friend. She was having a feeling of déjà vu with Mason's arm wrapped around her throat. It reminded her of when all those months ago when Damon had held Elena in the same position when he was searching for Katherine. However, Emily felt a little better knowing that Mason wasn't actually going to kill her, but it still hurts that he would even put her in this situation.

Caroline glanced over at Elena nervously before she grew confident as she faced the werewolf and stated, "we can take you."

Mason rose an eyebrow as he taunted, "you wanna bet?"

"Yeah, in fact, I do," Elena suddenly growled at the werewolf with anger shining through her brown eyes. The only thing she wanted was Emily by her side and out of danger. She wasn't going to let anything happen to her sister. Elena glanced over at Caroline, where the two vampires silently nodded their heads before they both rushed towards Mason. While Elena grabbed Emily from Mason's arm, Caroline swiftly pushed the werewolf harshly against a large tree.

Caroline held Mason in place against the rough bark with her right hand wrapped around his throat in a tight grip as she muttered, "I told you." Mason only had the chance to groan once before Caroline kneed him in the groin and slammed him to the ground. She huffed out a sigh once she was finished with the werewolf and flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder before she moved her eyes to the sisters and ordered, "come on, let's go."

Elena ignored the blonde vampire's command as she placed her hand on the side of Emily's face, who was breathing hard, and questioned worriedly, "are you okay?"

Emily nodded her head silently before her green eyes shifted to the groaning Mason on the leaf-covered ground. She still couldn't believe that he would put her in that place where she feared for her own life, even though he did apologize for it - still doesn't make it okay.

Elena followed her sister's eyes before anger instantly flared all through her body once again. She swiftly moved away from Emily and made her way to Mason, where she kicked him in the ribs three times as hard as she could. Elena promised herself, ever since she transitioned, that she would never let anything happen to her family.

Elena took a deep breath as she calmed down before she turned towards the two girls and stated seriously, "come on. We have some Salvatore's to save."

The three girls ran through the woods for a couple of minutes before Elena and Caroline quickly came to a stop in front of a set of stairs that led to an underground building. Emily knew exactly what it was. She and Tyler used to go down there when they got bored of the mansion when they were children. Emily looked over to her sister and best friend and noticed their furrowed brows. "What's going on?" She questioned worriedly.

Caroline quickly placed her hand over her mouth in horror from what she heard with her vampire hearing. She turned to the Gilbert sisters as she whispered in disbelief, "my mom. She's killing them."

"What?" Emily gasped. "Well, what are we waiting for!? We need to get down there and do something!" She exclaimed before she moved to make her way down the stairs with Elena in tow. However, before she could get too far, Caroline swiftly grabbed onto her arm lightly.

"No, no, no!" Caroline repeated quickly as she stared into her best friend's green eyes. She couldn't risk her mom finding out about her. Caroline didn't know how her mom would react, but she knew it wouldn't be good.

"We have to stop her!" Elena shouted as she stared at the blonde with determination shining through her brown eyes. She didn't care for Caroline's reason when she needed to get down there and help them. She wasn't going to let them die.

"No, I can't," Caroline cried out. She moved her eyes back to Emily as she tried to get her to understand. "She's gonna find out about me," Caroline explained desperately.

"She doesn't know about me either but that is not going to stop me," Elena told the blonde strongly. "If you change your mind about the danger of your friends over your own fear, then come help," she ordered before Elena quickly grabbed onto Emily's hand as they rushed down the steep stairs.

The two girls came to a stop when an old metal gate blocked them from the sight of the sheriff. Emily looked at her sister before she slowly opened the gate without making a single sound. However, that was swiftly thrown out of the window, because not a second later, the metal gate made a loud creaking sound that she knew everyone heard. Emily decided there was no point in stopping now, so she quickly pulled it all the way open before she and Elena slowly continued to walk through the dungeon-like building.

Elena suddenly pulled Emily to a stop once she heard footsteps coming straight towards them. She pushed the brunette behind her as she closed her eyes and waited for the right moment to strike. Once there was only silence in the room, Elena flung her eyes open and shot her hand out as she pushed the deputy against the wall and quickly disarmed her. Elena looked over at her sister and ordered, "go," as she held the older man in place.

Emily quickly rushed into the room once she heard her sister's command. She knew Elena could handle the deputy alone. However, when Emily stormed into the small area, her eyes widened instantly once she noticed the steel black gun pointed right in the middle of her face.

"Emily! What are you doing?" Sheriff Forbes gasped. The blonde woman's arms slacked as she pointed the gun to the ground when she saw the girl, who was like a daughter to her.

Emily's eyes flickered around the room before she spotted the two Salvatore brothers behind the sheriff's shoulder and noticed the blood covering their bodies. "I can't let you kill them," she spoke strongly once she looked back at her best friend's mother.

However, before anyone else could speak, there was suddenly a loud sound that rung through the small tense space. The sheriff looked at the Gilbert girl as she raised her gun back up. "Who else is with you?" She questioned nervously.

The sheriff's question was quickly answered when the deputy she had sent out was pushed onto the ground as he withered in pain with blood oozing from his neck. There was a sound of two people speeding around the room, not a second later, before the human's finally saw the destruction of the other deputy on the ground in the same pain as his partner with a bloody Elena standing protectively in front of her sister, while an equally bloody Caroline stood in the corner of the room.

The blonde vampire stared at the other Forbes woman with blood dripping from her mouth and sadness in her eyes. She waved her hand lightly as she mumbled, "hi, mom."

* * *

Emily sat on the hard ground with all of her body weight on her knees as she was on one side of Stefan while Elena was seated between the two brothers. Emily was rubbing her hand up and down Stefan's back smoothly. She didn't know what else to do but to comfort him while he tried to get his energy back.

The oldest Gilbert had convinced the sheriff to stop her plan to kill the Salvatore's. It also helped that her own daughter was now like the monsters that she hunts, so the sheriff's mind was definitely elsewhere and not exactly focused on the two male vampires.

The room was tensely silent, besides the sound of Damon slurping the warm blood from the dead deputy that the blonde vampire had killed. Everyone had their own issues on their minds to even think anything of the loud, disgusting sound. However, the noise came to a stop once Damon felt power streaming through his veins.

Damon groaned as his bones cracked before he focused on the task at hand as he crawled on his hands and knees to be in front of his brother. "You need to drink some deputy blood," he ordered as he placed pressure on Stefan's neck.

Stefan slowly shook his head before he closed his eyes when he felt the room spinning. He took a deep breath before he whispered shakily, "no. I'm gonna be fine. It's just gonna take a little bit longer."

Caroline furrowed her brows as she watched the ill vampire. "Damon's right, you know," she muttered from the corner of the room as she hid from her mother's eyes. "If there's ever a time to break your diet..." Caroline trailed off.

Emily continued to rub Stefan's back gently as she whispered, "you don't have to if you don't want to." Once the vampire looked up at her with pain in his eyes, she gave him a tiny smile. Emily could tell he was miserable, so she offered the one thing she could think of. "You can drink from me," she suggested with a small shrug.

"NO!" Elena and Stefan both yelled out in unison.

Stefan's voice wasn't as strong as Elena's, seeing as he could barely hold himself together. But no matter how weak Stefan was, he would never drink from Emily. It hurts his soul to even think about drinking from the girl he has feelings for. "I will be fine," Stefan whispered to the brunette in a deep hoarse voice.

Emily glanced over at her twin sister, who's attention was now on Damon, once she realized Emily wasn't going to give her blood up. The oldest Gilbert looked back to Stefan with her brows furrowed in worry before she slowly nodded her head and mumbled, "okay." She wasn't going to pressure Stefan into drinking her blood if he didn't want it, even though she hated to see him in constant pain.

The healthier Salvatore slowly stood up from the ground after a moment of silence with the help of Elena as his eyes focused only on the sheriff. He straightened his body as he wrapped his arm around the brunette's shoulder. "This is a most unfortunate situation," Damon uttered, "two deputies and you." He twitched his head to the side as he wondered out loud, "what am I gonna do with you?"

Caroline looked at her mother with hope in her blue eyes as she questioned, "you won't tell anyone, will you?" However, when the woman wouldn't even look at her, Caroline grew worried for her mother's life. "Mom? Mom? Please," she begged.

The blonde vampire covered her eyes with her bloody hands as she thought of a way for her mother to understand. "Look, I know that we don't get along and that you hate me, but I'm your daughter and you'll do this for me, right?" Caroline spoke quickly with desperation in her voice. The blonde looked over to the vampire who she knew would kill her mother, before focusing on the older woman as she begged once more, "mom, please. I don't want you to die."

Sheriff Forbes tore her tear filled eyes from the ground and up to the angry vampire and uttered as she accepted her fate, "then kill me."

"No!" Caroline quickly yelped in horror as she stared at her mother with tears in her identical blue eyes. She couldn't let her mother die. She wouldn't allow it.

"I can't take this," sheriff Forbes stated before she begged for her death, "kill me now." She didn't know what else she could live for with knowing her daughter was now dead.

Damon slowly walked closer towards the blonde human on his own before he bent down to her level and growled, "but you were gonna drag it out so painfully." He swiftly grabbed the sheriff from the ground in a tight grip, which caused everyone to freeze instantly.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Caroline cried out. She was scared out of her mind at the thought of losing her mother. Caroline didn't know how she would live without the older woman in her life. She felt her heart break at the idea.

"Damon, don't!" Stefan yelled before a groan left his mouth as he slowly leaned his head against Emily's chest as she helped him from the ground.

"Damon, please!" Elena pleaded as her brown eyes stared deeply into Damon's blue ones. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that he would listen to her. She felt like they have a strong connection that he wouldn't go through with hurting the sheriff.

Damon chuckled as he looked at the scared faces around the room before he exclaimed, "relax, guys. No is killing anybody." He turned back to the sheriff and stated lightly, "you're my friend." Damon huffed out a sigh as he leaned his sore body close to the woman who had shot him and his brother multiple times. "We've got to clean this up," he muttered as he looked down at the dead bodies and blood that covered the concrete ground.

* * *

Emily made her way up to the door of the Salvatore boarding house with Caroline in tow as she carried a large leather suitcase. Emily had went with Caroline to her house so she could pack the sheriff some clothes. She knew her blonde best friend was sad about her mother knowing about her, so Emily decided she would stay close by Caroline's side and comfort her when she needed her.

The plan was for sheriff Forbes to stay at the boarding house until the vervain was out of her system. From there, Damon would compel the older woman to forget about the whole event that had transpired at the park and hopefully everything would go back to normal as it could for the supernatural town.

"Sorry it took me forever to pack," Caroline apologized again like she did when they first got into Emily's black car. "I just didn't know how long my mom was gonna be here," she explained with a deep sigh.

Emily shook her head as she gave Caroline a small smile, "you don't have to keep apologizing." The brunette touched her best friend's arm softly as she added, "you know I'll do anything for you."

A real smile grew on Caroline's face as she silently nodded her head. The Gilbert girl gave her a reassuring look before they continued their way through the boarding house until they reached the living room. However, they paused in their step when they noticed Elena and Stefan talking in hush voices.

"Hey!" Caroline swiftly called out to let the two know that they weren't exactly alone. She gave Stefan a smile as she ignored the tension in the room and wondered lightly, "you get some bunny in you?"

Stefan chuckled before he responded, "yeah, I'm feeling much better." He swiftly turned his eyes to Emily as he questioned with a soft voice, "hey, are you okay? I heard what happened with Mason."

Emily looked at Stefan in confusion before she silently nodded her head. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine," she muttered. Emily didn't know why Stefan was so worried about her, seeing as he had a girlfriend to worry about. Emily looked over to Caroline and stated, "come on. Let's go give your mom her things."

Caroline looked at the youngest Salvatore with a knowing look before she turned to Emily. "Yeah, okay," she muttered quietly before she followed after the brunette while the strained couple stayed in the living room.

The two girls silently made their way down to the basement, where Damon was keeping the sheriff for the next couple of days. However, it didn't stay quiet for long when Emily felt Caroline's eyes on her. She looked at her best friend with a raised eyebrow as she questioned, "what are you smirking about?"

Caroline rolled her eyes with a chuckle before she questioned, "how are you so blind?" But when the brunette only looked at her with furrowed brows, Caroline couldn't help but feel bad for Emily. That she couldn't see what was in front of her, especially with the fighting that has been happening between the couple lately. "It's so obvious that Stefan is in lo-" Caroline began before she paused in the middle of her sentence when she heard her mother saying how she didn't want to see her.

Emily sighed sadly when she heard what the older woman told Damon. The brunette looked back to her best friend and whispered, "come on," as she led the blonde girl back into the now empty living room. Emily felt her heart break at the sight of Caroline. She wished she could just take all the pain away from the blonde, but Emily knew it wasn't that simple.

Emily moved Caroline to a leather couch and placed a small blanket over the vampire's shoulders before she sat down next to her best friend in silence. Emily knew that no words needed to be spoken. She just knew Caroline like her own sister, that she only needed Emily to be there for her.

The silence continued between the two girls as Emily rubbed gentle circles on Caroline's palm before the vampire Gilbert came storming into the living room. Elena had anger written all over her face before she spotted her twin sister and the blonde vampire. Elena cleared her throat as she walked up to the girls. "Hey," she spoke softly while she shifted her eyes between the green and blue colored irises. "Can I take you home?" Elena questioned as she looked down at the blonde girl.

Caroline shook her head slowly as she focused on the movement of the calm circles that Emily was drawing on her hand. It always calmed her down when she was over stressed. "I can't go home," she whispered nervously.

Elena crossed her arms over her chest with furrowed brows as she questioned, "why not?"

Caroline bit down on her bottom lip before mumbling, "because I'm scared."

Emily grabbed the blonde's hand tightly in her own as her eyes softened at the vampire's voice. "Hey, if you don't want to be alone, I can go with you," she offered.

Caroline quickly shook her head as she muttered, "it's not just that." She looked between the Gilbert sisters nervously as she confessed, "it's Katherine. S-She's gonna be there and she's gonna want me to tell her everything that happened today." Caroline stared at Elena guiltily as she continued, "she told me I had to spy on you and report back to her."

"Of course she did," Emily mumbled under her breath as she rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe she didn't think that her best friend's weird behavior didn't have anything to do with the person that turned her. Even though the older vampire helped her with Darina's journal, Emily couldn't help but still despise her when she continued to do horrible things to the people Emily cares for.

Elena moved to the small table that sat in front of the two girls and took a seat in the middle as she placed her hand lightly on the blonde's left knee. "I know," Elena uttered softly, "and I've been so mad at you." The brunette sighed before continuing, "but then, I tried to put myself in your position so that I could understand why you would do this to me."

Emily stood up from the couch as she slowly paced up and down the hardwood floors of the boarding house as thoughts of Katherine ran through her mind while Elena and Caroline continued to talk. It seems like Elena was right all along, when she thought the blonde was working with Katherine. Emily's heart was dropping every second that went by. She was upset with herself that she didn't even know her best friend was in trouble. But Emily was more confused why Caroline agreed to help the older vampire. However, she suddenly came to a stop when she finally realized what happened. Emily turned to Caroline and questioned, "who did she threaten?"

Caroline's blue eyes widened in shock as she whispered, "how did you know?"

Emily shook her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It makes sense," she stated, "Katherine is a psychotic bitch and won't stop until she gets what she wants, so of course she would threaten you or someone you care about." Emily rose an eyebrow as she questioned, "so, which is it?"

Caroline bit down on her bottom lip as she tried to keep her tears at bay. "She threatened Matt," she whispered nervously, "she said she would kill him if I didn't do what she says."

Emily's anger disappeared when she heard how frightened her best friend was. She made her way back to the blonde and pulled her into a side hug. "You're safe here, Care. I promise you, I will try my very best to protect you," Emily told her best friend. But in reality, Emily knew that she couldn't fight off Katherine, but she would rather die than not try to protect her loved ones.

Caroline cried into Emily's chest as she questioned in a small whisper, "why is she doing this? What does she want?"

"That's the million dollar question," Elena mumbled as she grabbed Caroline's hand in her own and gave it a small squeeze.

Emily looked at her twin sister over Caroline's shoulder with a nervous look in her green eyes. She was a bit overwhelmed with everything that happened today. Not only was she threatened by a werewolf that she saw like family, but her best friend was also being threatened by her doppelganger's sister. It felt like no matter how many people they defeated, there would always be more to cause trouble in the small town. With the present dangers in Mystic Falls, Emily thought back to Darina and how this Niklaus person might be coming for her - that she still haven't told anyone about. It was a lot to handle while she was trying to protect everyone.


	36. Chapter 35 Part 1

_under the sea_

 _darling it's better_

 _down where it's wetter_

 _take it from me_

Emily groaned as she blindly reached for her cell phone that was hidden underneath the pillow her head was resting on. It was the familiar ringtone that belonged to her aunt Jenna. Emily brought the phone to her face once she had found it before she instantly regretted it when the bright light took her vision for a few seconds. But once she could see again, Emily swiped right on the screen before she brought the device up to her ear. "Hello," she mumbled in a groggy voice.

Jenna chuckled through the phone when she heard the tiredness in her oldest niece's speech. "Are you seriously just now waking up?" She questioned in amusement.

Emily pushed her messy brown bed hair from her eyes as she sat up and leaned against the wooden headboard. "Yes, Ariel," she uttered tiredly before explaining, "Caroline was having some problems, so I stayed up with her all night."

Jenna groaned through the phone instantly when she heard the familiar nickname that her sister had gave her when they were children. "Please never call me that again - especially not in public," she pleaded to her niece.

Emily couldn't help but chuckle at her aunt's embarrassment of her resemblance to The Little Mermaid. "Hey, if the shoe fits," she joked before growing serious as she wondered, "so, what can I do for you at the crack of dawn?"

"Emily, it is almost eight o'clock in the morning," Jenna scolded before she informed her niece the reason she called, "but I just wanted to remind you that we need to be at the Lockwood's in less than an hour to help with the Masquerade Ball."

Emily nodded her head silently as she remembered the exact event which was written down on her small flower calendar that hung on her wall at the Gilbert house. "Yeah, I know," Emily muttered as she yawned. "I'll meet you in front of the mansion soon," she promised.

"Alright, good. I'll see you soon," Jenna stated before she scolded her niece once again but with humor in her voice this time, "now don't go falling back to sleep, young lady."

Emily chuckled quietly before she spoke with a large smirk, "I'll see you under the sea soon, Miss Ariel." But when she didn't get a response from her aunt, Emily pulled her phone away with furrowed brows before she looked down at the screen. "Rude," Emily mumbled under her breath when she noticed her aunt had hung up on her.

Emily threw her cell phone onto the pillow as she slid out of the large king sized bed. She did so as quietly as she could, since she didn't want to wake up Caroline, who was sleeping on the other side. She and the blonde had stayed up all night like they used to do. But instead of her medium sized room at the Gilbert house, it was now spent inside the last bedroom on the left side of the hallway in the Salvatore boarding house. Emily basically had claimed the room as her own with how many times she and Elena had stayed over.

Emily tip toed across the room carefully as she made sure not to step on any of the squeaky floorboards. Once she came to a stop in front of her destination, Emily opened the old wooden dresser that held a couple of her outfits that she had brought over a few days ago. She settled on a pair of ripped jeans along with a simple white graphic tank top before she slipped on her leather jacket that laid on top of the large dresser.

Emily went back to tip toeing once she had finished getting dressed as she made her way towards the occupied bed. She grabbed her cell phone from the pillow and stuck it in her jacket pocket before grabbing her black and white purse from the ground. She placed her purse on the bed and dug around for a few seconds until she found a pen and a blank piece of paper, where she began to write a note.

 _Gone to the Lockwood's_

 _Good luck with your mom_

 _I'll see you later_

 _xoxo Emmie_

The Gilbert girl slipped the small note onto her pillow as soon as she finished writing it so it would be the first thing Caroline would see once she woke up. Emily then quietly placed her purse over her shoulder and grabbed her black boots from the bottom of the bed before she gave her sleeping best friend one last look. She was worried for Caroline but she knew that the vampire just needed to have a meaningful chat with her vampire hunter mother.

Emily quietly made her way into the hallway before she softly closed the bedroom door behind her to hopefully not to wake up the sleeping girl. Once Emily didn't hear any movement, she began to walk down the hallway as she simultaneously slid her black boots on which almost caused her to tumble to the ground. Emily huffed out a sigh once she finally got her boots on before she continued to walk normally as she made her way down the staircase.

Emily looked around the living room once she reached the bottom of the stairs. But only shrugged her shoulders when she couldn't see anyone. She guessed her sister and the Salvatore brothers were still asleep. _Only crazy people wake up this early,_ she thought. Emily took a quick detour to the kitchen and swiped an apple from the counter before she swiftly walked out of the Salvatore boarding house for another busy day.

* * *

It took Emily about twenty minutes to reach the Lockwood mansion from the Salvatore's. She noticed there was a lot of people already getting to work for the big event once she had parked to the side of the large white house. She knew today was going to be another hectic day - just the downside of being the darling child of Mystic Falls.

Emily yawned for the third time since she got into her car before she took the keys out of the ignition as she hoped it would be the last time the loud noise would leave her mouth. She ignored the sleepiness she felt before she reached over to the passenger seat and grabbed her black and white purse. The brunette began to dig through it for a moment before she found and slipped on a pair of black and silver earrings along with a matching ring. Emily went back to her purse after putting on her jewelry and pulled out a small handheld mirror. She groaned instantly when she saw her hair sticking up all over the place. She had forgotten to brush it before she rushed out of the boarding house. Emily went to reach for her hairbrush, but jumped in fright when there was suddenly a loud knock on her window.

Emily rolled her eyes in annoyance when she noticed her aunt Jenna bent over as she laughed hysterically. The Gilbert girl opened the car door and sluggishly got out before she mumbled, "ha, ha, ha, so funny, Ariel."

Jenna instantly closed her mouth when she heard the familiar but irradiating nickname. The strawberry blonde glared at her niece as she stated, "now that wasn't funny."

Emily shrugged her shoulders lightly and commented, "I thought it was pretty hilarious." She smirked before she added as she knew it would get an arise out of her aunt, "maybe I should tell Ric about your favorite nickname."

Jenna's eyes widened before she commanded in as strong as a voice she could muster, "don't you dare." The strawberry blonde decided to get off of the horrible topic of her nickname as she wondered curiously, "so, what were you even doing sitting in your car like a loner?"

"Maybe I am a loner," Emily told her aunt dismissively. However, a minute barely passed by before the two girls broke out into laughter as they knew that was far from the truth. The Gilbert girl began to mess with her hair as she mumbled out her real answer, "I forgot to do my hair and now I look horrible."

Jenna rolled her eyes and ordered, "oh, come on. Stop being such a drama queen." She paused as she thought before adding, "well, a bigger drama queen than you already are." But the only response Jenna got out of her niece was a raised eyebrow and a pout. Jenna chuckled lightly before she twirled the young girl around and began to pull and brush her fingers through the brunette's hair. The only sound that could be heard was Emily cursing under her breath as she complained about Jenna hurting her.

"There," Jenna exclaimed after a couple of minutes before she turned Emily back around and threw the brown side braid of her shoulder. Jenna brushed the small pieces of baby hairs to the side of Emily's face and stated, "now you look like the same beautiful girl as you always do."

Emily couldn't help the lovable smile that shined on her face at her aunt's words. "Thank you, Jennie," she told her aunt with the one nickname that Jenna loved to hear. The Gilbert girl turned around and locked her car before she moved back to her aunt and linked their arms together. "Now, let's go get bossed by Mrs. Lockwood all day long," Emily joked before a large smirk grew on her face when she heard her aunt groan loudly.

The two girls silently made their way up the stairs and inside the opened door of the Lockwood mansion. Emily noticed the constantly moving people coming in and out with several different things in their hands as they prepared for the event. Emily had to admit that she really liked when the town did a Masquerade Ball. She mostly enjoyed it because she liked getting dolled up and dancing the night away.

"Oh! Jenna! Emily!" The mayor called out loudly as she spotted the two related girls. She strutted over to them with her nude heels clacking against the marble floors with a large clipboard cradled in her right hand. "Thank you so much for helping out today," Mrs. Lockwood exclaimed once she was in front of them with a bright smile on her face.

"Of course, it's for a good cause," Jenna told the older woman with a timid grin as she held onto her niece's arm tightly. She was never a big fan of Mason's sister-in-law. Jenna always imagined that the woman thought she was better than everyone else.

Emily bumped her hip into Jenna's before she glanced at her aunt with a barely noticeable smirk. She knew exactly how her aunt felt about the older woman. Emily turned her attention back on the mayor as she smiled politely. "I wouldn't have missed this event for the world," she stated.

Mrs. Lockwood smiled with deep sadness in her eyes as she confessed, "this was always Richard's favorite party of the year."

Emily touched Mrs. Lockwood's arm lightly as she was about to console the woman, but was soon interrupted by a familiar blonde boy shouting at her best friend and the mayor's son, Tyler Lockwood. Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes at the two boys that she saw as her close friends.

Mrs. Lockwood jumped out of her grieving widow persona and turned back into the ever so commanding woman she was as she yelled at the two teenage boys, "be careful with that! It's from the 1800's!"

Emily noticed the annoyance on Tyler's face and the worried look on his mother's. She knew it would end badly, so Emily quickly turned towards the mayor with a sweet smile as she stated, "I got this, Mrs. Lockwood," before she swiftly jogged up to her friends to stop any tension that could arise in the early morning. Emily just really hoped the boys wouldn't end up dropping the large table as she caught up with them.

"Are you trying to give your mother a heart attack?" Emily joked once she joined Tyler's side while the two boys not so quietly sat the centuries old table down.

Tyler rolled his eyes and mumbled, "she's just overreacting." He lifted his arm and flexed his muscles as he questioned with a smirk, "you don't think I can handle this little ole table by myself?"

"Oh, yeah, totally, Ty. You could carry this large table alone that is made with real wood, instead of that fake crap they use nowadays. That makes perfect sense," Emily stated with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Besides," she began with a teasing smirk, "the only reason you didn't drop it is because of Mr. strong blondie over here," before she threw Matt a playful wink.

The Lockwood boy pouted at his best friend before he instantly rolled his eyes when he heard Matt and Emily laughing at him. "Whatever," he mumbled under his breath as he leaned against the table that he and Matt had just carried up from the basement.

"Tyler! Get off of that table right now!" Mrs. Lockwood screeched as soon as she saw her son on top of the antique furniture before she stormed towards the three teenagers.

"Uh-oh. You're in trouble now," Matt joked in a low voice as he noticed the mayor headed straight towards them, well more like in Tyler's direction.

Mrs. Lockwood grabbed her son's arm in a tight grip as soon as she was in reach and pulled him away from the pristine table. "You do not have time to be lying around, Tyler Kennedy Lockwood," she scolded.

The older woman calmed herself down before she turned to the other two teenagers. She looked at the Donovan boy first as she instructed, "Matt, could you please make sure my son helps out with the heavy lifting?" Once the blonde agreed with a nod, Mrs. Lockwood swiftly turned her attention to the Gilbert girl with a soft smile. "Here is a list of things that I know will get done as I did them myself," the mayor stated as she handed Emily a piece of paper that was on top of her clipboard.

"Of course, Mrs. Lockwood," Emily began as a small smile made its way onto her face, "I will make sure everything goes perfectly like it should." She threw Tyler a smirk before turning back to the mayor and added, "and I'll make sure that Tyler isn't slacking off."

While Tyler rolled his eyes at his best friend, knowing she was only doing it to annoy him, his mother smiled brightly at the Gilbert girl. Mrs. Lockwood sighed gratefully before she commented dreamily, "oh, how I wish you would have been my daughter."

"Mom! What the hell!" Tyler exclaimed in disbelief, "your son is right here!"

Mrs. Lockwood rolled her eyes at her son's exaggeration and stated, "yes, I know, honey. Now get back to work," before she swiftly turned on her heels and walked away from the two amused teenagers and her annoyed son.

Emily and Matt couldn't help but laugh at their best friend's face that was filled with irritation once his mother had left. "I hate you," Tyler mumbled to his female best friend, "you know my mom loves you and you rub it in my face."

Emily grinned at the Lockwood boy as she shrugged her shoulders carelessly and stated, "that's your problem." She patted Tyler's cheek as she exclaimed with a smirk, "now you better get to work, Kennedy," before she walked away so she could get to work herself with the distant sound of Matt's laughter and Tyler's groaning behind her.

* * *

Emily had picked up her own clipboard and pen as she went through the list Mrs. Lockwood gave her. She felt weird just carrying around a single piece of paper. The Gilbert girl made her way through the back door of the Lockwood mansion with her clipboard, where she saw many more people helping as they were setting out the tables and stocking the bar. Emily smirked instantly when she saw that no one was by all of the top shelf alcohol. She shrugged her shoulders lightly as she thought, _a small drink couldn't hurt,_ especially with how busy she was going to be today.

The brunette girl skipped over to the boxes of alcohol with a bright glint in her eyes. However, before she could even lay a finger on a bottle of the sweet nectar, she suddenly heard someone clear their throat from beside her. Emily quickly looked up, hoping it wasn't Mrs. Lockwood, but breathed out a sigh of relief and happiness when she saw it was the one and only Bonnie Bennett.

"Bonnie!" Emily exclaimed, "it's so good to see your beautiful face!"

The Bennett witch couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the brunette. No matter how much drama comes in their lives, there will always be one constant and that is the happy Emily Gilbert. Bonnie gave the young girl a small smile and mumbled out a quiet, "hey," before she turned her attention on the box of candles she was working on.

Emily knew there would still be some tension with Bonnie, since the whole thing about finding out her two friends are vampires. The Gilbert girl could understand that it wasn't going to be easy for Bonnie when she barely liked vampires to begin with. But it didn't mean Emily didn't hate that there was even tension in their friendship when she had missed having the Bennett girl in her life.

Emily decided she would help Bonnie work in silence. It was better than having no contact at all. So, the two girls quietly placed the large white candles on the stands around the table without any words being spoken. However, Emily soon began to notice how Bonnie would look up every couple of seconds. She sighed as she realized why she was doing that. "Caroline isn't coming and Elena isn't around right now," Emily told the Bennett girl.

Bonnie looked up at Emily briefly before muttering as she messed with a candle in her hand, "I know. I'm just making sure."

Emily hated that the four girls; her, Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline couldn't be in the same room together. There had never been a time in their lives where they were this dysfunctional. The Gilbert girl decided she would at least try to get Bonnie to open up about their broken friendship. "Maybe they should be here, so you guys can work this all out," Emily suggested lightly.

Bonnie shook her head and huffed as she angrily placed a candle into one the holders. "Could you make it a little less obvious that you're on their side?" She wondered with irritation in her voice.

"Elena is my twin sister, so I will always support her," Emily stated truthfully before adding, "but there is no wrong or right side of this, Bonnie."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "oh, come on." She stared at Emily with a hard look as she exclaimed in a hushed whisper, "ever since Caroline and Elena became vampires, we don't even speak to each other anymore." Bonnie bit down on her bottom lip as she mumbled, "I didn't think I'd lose you too."

Emily's eyes softened as she heard Bonnie's words and how she spoke with sadness clouding her voice. She didn't even realize that she had let Bonnie fall to the side of the supernatural world. The two girls were becoming to be very close friends before the Bennett girl even found out about the vampires. Emily hated that she let the drama that comes with Mystic Falls get in the middle of their friendship. "Let's go," Emily suddenly ordered as she decided she wanted to make up for her poor excuse of being a friend.

"Where?" Bonnie questioned in confusion.

"Somewhere. Anywhere. Let's just get out of here for a little while," Emily responded before she swiped a bottle of bourbon from the table and held her other hand out to Bonnie. "Please?" She begged with a hopeful smile spreading across her face.

Bonnie couldn't help but fall under the trap that is Emily Gilbert's shiny green eyes like all the other men and women in Mystic Falls. Bonnie nodded her head as she laced her fingers with Emily's before the brunette pulled her away from all of the busy people that surrounded the Lockwood mansion.

The two girls silently walked hand and hand for a few minutes before Emily found the spot she was looking for. She was grateful that no one was by the pond, so they wouldn't be interrupted or eavesdropped on. Emily pulled Bonnie with her once again as she walked down the wooden dock, before she released her friend's hand and took a seat on the edge with her legs hanging over the dark blue water. Emily looked up at the standing Bonnie with a tiny smile and muttered, "come on."

Bonnie decided she would humor the Gilbert girl as her interest was piqued for what the brunette had to say. So she quietly sat down and hung her legs over the edge just like Emily had done.

It was quiet between the two girls as both of their eyes focused on the small rainbow that shined over the pond. But the silence was beginning to become too tense for the Gilbert girl, so she popped open the bottle of bourbon she had borrowed. She took a large gulp before passing it over to Bonnie, who only took a small sip before placing the bottle between them.

"I'm sorry," Emily apologized after a moment when she finally thought what she could say. She looked over into Bonnie's deep brown eyes as she continued, "I've been such an ass to you. I felt like I needed to focus on all of the vampire stuff that I totally forgot about my witchy friend."

A small smile lifted on Bonnie's lips as she heard the nickname come out of the brunette's mouth before she instantly frowned and focused back on the pond. "I understand Elena is your sister and Caroline has always been your best friend since the beginning," she began to explain before a sigh slipped through her lips, "I just thought nothing would have changed between us. I thought you would always be that constant in my life."

It was now Emily's turn to frown along with her brows furrowing as she was ashamed of her actions. She hated herself that she allowed for Bonnie to be pushed away. Emily reached over and grabbed Bonnie's hand softly in her own before she spoke quietly, "I know, Bonnie. And I can't apologize enough for how bad I feel for putting you in last place in my life." Emily paused before she carefully slipped the two vampires in conversation, so hopefully Bonnie will try to reach out to them, "maybe you should give Elena and Caroline a chance. They are still the same girls you grew up with. I've been around them the whole time and they are still them."

Bonnie pulled her hand away before she grabbed the bottle of bourbon with a shaky grip and brought it up to her lips to take a large gulp. Once she had swallowed the strong liquid, she looked back at the pond and stated, "they're vampires. I can't trust them anymore."

"Then trust me," Emily exclaimed as soon as the words were out of Bonnie's mouth. She didn't want to give the Bennett girl a chance to think about not being in her life. "If there is someone to put your trust in, then please trust me," Emily begged as her soft green eyes connected with Bonnie's brown ones, "you know me, Bonnie."

Bonnie knew without a single doubt that she could trust the oldest Gilbert. She was just a human girl in the middle of the supernatural world that had taken over their small town. She just felt conflicted knowing that Emily still trusted Elena and Caroline, who were now vampires. But Bonnie didn't blame Emily for what happened to her friends. The only person she does blame with hatred in her veins is Damon Salvatore.

Bonnie looked over at the Gilbert girl after a few minutes of silence and noticed Emily was looking down at her fingers like she always does when she's nervous or scared. "Okay," Bonnie finally whispered that the other girl thought she imagined what she wanted to hear.

Emily's eyes swiftly looked towards Bonnie in surprise as her heart raced in her chest. She prayed silently that she had heard Bonnie right. "Okay?" Emily questioned hopeful.

Bonnie couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's excitement, always the same ole Emily. Bonnie nodded her head once more as she responded with a stronger voice, "yeah." She reached over and grabbed Emily's hand as she continued, "I know all this will still be hard as I try to come to terms with Caroline and Elena, but without a doubt, I trust you with my life."

"Oh, thank God," Emily breathed out as she sighed in relief. She knew everything still wasn't okay between Bonnie and the other two girls, but for now, she was happy that she and Bonnie were good again. She didn't even realize until today that she had missed being around the Bennett witch.

The two girls stayed on the dock together but now with zero tension between them. It felt like before everything began to go wrong in the small town. Where there was no vampires, witches, or werewolves. They drank the bottle of bourbon and laughed together like old times. But when a calm silence settled between them along with the empty bottle of alcohol, Emily then began to explain to Bonnie about everything that had happened lately. From revealing that she has a doppelganger, who happens to be Katherine's sister, to the knowledge of werewolves. Emily told Bonnie everything she could think of. She didn't want Bonnie to be left out no matter how much the girl hated vampires. She wanted Bonnie to know so she could at least protect herself if necessary when Emily couldn't.

* * *

It was about two hours later when Emily and Bonnie had finally went back to work on the large event that would happen in less than twenty-four hours. Emily's chest had felt lighter when she and Bonnie went their separate ways as she knew her and Bonnie were okay. It was like they went right back to where they left off all those weeks ago before everything turned hectic.

Emily was now sitting at the Lockwood's large and equally as long pristine traditional chestnut dining room table as she was cleaning all of the silverware the Lockwood's owned. But it was starting to feel like they stole every silverware that the Queen of England had plus more. Emily's hands were so sore from scrubbing off the dirt and spots before wrapping them elegantly inside of a silk ivory napkin. She did have help earlier from a girl in her history class, but the girl had ran off with her friends, which annoyed Emily immensely - did they not know how important this event was to the community?

Emily was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even hear someone come up to her before the person swiped the knife from her hand. The Gilbert girl groaned instantly when she looked into the blue eyes that could only belong to the smirking Salvatore, who was twirling the silver knife between his fingers. Emily quickly grabbed the silverware from Damon as she rolled her eyes and questioned, "what do you want?"

Damon glanced around the busy Lockwood mansion as he stated, "looking for my baby bro." He turned his eyes back to the young girl and added, "speaking of which, would you mind telling your sibling to stop following me around?"

Emily placed the silverware onto the table and looked up at Damon as he gained her attention at the mention of her siblings. "Which one?" She wondered.

Damon smirked as he stated, "oh, dear Elena has been following me around, but I don't mind that at all." However, when Damon saw Emily roll her eyes and lose interest, he grew serious as he continued, "but that isn't the sibling I'm talking about."

Emily's annoyance for her sister and Damon's strange relationship disappeared instantly when she realized Damon was talking about her brother. "Jer?" She questioned worriedly. Emily definitely didn't want her baby brother around the vampire that had already killed him.

Damon nodded his head before he lifted his chin towards the ceiling once he heard the familiar stomping of a pair of squeaky sneakers that belonged to the youngest Gilbert. "Ask eager beaver," Damon told the brunette before he swiftly walked away to find his own brother.

Emily's brows furrowed as she watched Damon walk away without a single explanation. She huffed out a sigh as she realized she would have to find out what he meant herself. Emily stood up from the table so she could go look for the troubled teen, but didn't have to look far as her brother was walking right in front of her to follow after the oldest Salvatore. "Oh, no, no, no," Emily exclaimed as she quickly grabbed her brother's arm and turned him to face her. "Why are you following Damon like a lost puppy?" She interrogated with a tint of worry in her commanding voice.

Jeremy rolled his eyes in annoyance and crossed his arms over his chest as he mumbled stubbornly, "I'm not following him like a puppy." He looked up at his sister once he heard a heavy sigh leave her lips. "Damon and I have an understanding," Jeremy tried to explain to ease his sister's mind, "and we're working together."

Emily's eyes widened as soon as the words fell from her brother's mouth. "Jeremy, no!" She yelled in a whisper so they wouldn't attract attention. "That is the worst idea you could ever have! Don't you remember, oh, I don't know, that he killed you!" She exclaimed.

Jeremy shook his head and raised his hand with the heavy magical ring that had kept him living from the attack of the vampire who he was now helping. "But I didn't die," he stated as he tried to convince his worried sister that he would be fine.

"That doesn't matter, Jeremy!" Emily continued as she raised her voice. "Sure everything is fine right now, but something bad is going to happen and Damon will snap without a doubt, and I do not want it to be your life, Jer," Emily explained but as she spoke her voice turned softer. She wasn't necessarily mad at her brother, it's just she didn't like Jeremy helping the vampire when he could end up dead again, and he might not be lucky enough to live this time.

Jeremy stared at his sister while a tense silence surrounded them before he shook his head. He wasn't going to allow himself to feel guilty for doing something his sister didn't like. "No, Emily," he exclaimed in a strong voice, "you can't protect me from everything in the world. I want to do this," before he quickly walked away to go find Damon.

Emily growled under her breath. She couldn't let Jeremy get involved with whatever Damon was doing. It will not end well for anyone. Emily went to rush after the two culprits, but soon realized she couldn't just leave all the silverware to sit like this or it wouldn't get finished in time. So the Gilbert girl scanned the room before she found a trustworthy girl that is on the cheerleading squad. "Cheryl!" Emily called out to gain the girl's attention. Once the cheerleader began to make her way to the table, Emily gave her a polite smile. "Hey, could you be the best person ever and finish up here? I would really appreciate it," Emily spoke with a charming grin that no one could ever turn down.

Cheryl quickly nodded her head at the cheer captain of the Mystic Falls Timberwolves. "Of course, Emily," she agreed as a bright smile shined on her ruby red lips.

Emily touched the copper golden haired girl's shoulder softly and praised her fellow cheerleader, "thank you so much, Cher." Emily threw her purse across her chest and stated, "I will make sure Mrs. Lockwood knows how well you helped the community," before she swiftly walked away and lost her smile as she looked for the human boy and the blue eyed vampire.

Emily had spent at least five minutes searching the inside of the mansion for Jeremy and Damon, but to no vice, she couldn't find them anywhere. She thought they must be outside, so Emily rushed down the front stairs of the Lockwood mansion and turned the corner before she instantly slammed right into a hard wall.

Emily groaned as she felt her head beginning to pound from slamming into the wall. But she didn't remember there ever being a wall there, so she looked up and instantly blushed when she saw a smiling Stefan Salvatore looking down at her in amusement. It reminded Emily of the first day of sophomore year when she had bumped into Stefan in the same way as she walked out of the men's restroom.

"Hi," Emily muttered in a soft voice as she pointed her head towards the sky so she could look directly at the vampire's face.

"Hi," Stefan whispered back in the same soft tone that the Gilbert girl used as he stared into his favorite pair of eyes.

Emily shook her head after a moment when she realized she was in some sort of trance with the younger Salvatore. She closed her eyes briefly as she took a deep breath. But once Emily opened her eyes, anger came back to mind as she remembered why she was outside instead of helping with the event. Emily punched Stefan's arm, even though she knew it wouldn't hurt, as she questioned with anger in her voice, "why is your brother pulling my brother into some plan that is probably evil?"

"Ouch," Stefan mumbled while he rubbed his arm as he hoped it would put a smile on her face instead of the deep frown she was sporting. But it didn't work. Stefan sighed heavily before he explained what had been going on lately while Emily has been in the dark, "they are trying to find the moonstone. It's how werewolves can break the sun and the moon curse and be free to turn whenever they want."

Emily nodded her head silently as she remembered the curse Vanessa had mentioned. "We learned about that at Duke University," she stated before wondering, "why does Damon need Jeremy? Why can't Damon find it on his own?"

Stefan looked at the young girl nervously for a moment as he didn't know how badly Emily was going to react. "Jeremy is trying to get it from Tyler," he finally answered.

Emily's eyes instantly flared with anger and annoyance once again for the second time in less than ten minutes. She was angry because she couldn't believe Damon would bring Jeremy into all of this and annoyed because her brother promised her only a few days ago that he wouldn't go digging into things that didn't involve him. "Not if I can help it," Emily growled under her breath as she quickly turned around to go stop her brother from doing something stupid.

However, before she could get too far, Stefan swiftly grabbed her arm and twirled her back around which caused Emily to be even closer to the vampire. "That's not a good idea," Stefan mumbled as his lips were only centimeters from Emily's. If the wind were to push them, his lips would be on hers instantly. Stefan shook his head mentally as he tried to get that idea out of his mind. He grew serious as he looked into Emily's green eyes. "I need you to stay out of this," he stated before he brought his hand to Emily's cheek and exclaimed, "I will watch Damon and Jeremy the whole time and make sure nothing happens to your brother. Just promise me you will stay out of the way."

Without Emily's knowledge or she just subconsciously did it, she leaned her face in Stefan's hand as his warm fingers moved across her skin. "I promise," Emily whispered as she stared right into Stefan's forest green eyes.

Stefan rubbed Emily's cheek softly for a few seconds before his right hand slowly slid to her shoulder and left a feathered touch all the way down her arm until he linked their fingers together in a perfect hold. He gave her hand a tight squeeze before he slipped his hand away, even though he did love the feeling of holding her close, before he made his way to find the youngest Gilbert and his brother to fulfill his promise.

Emily stood there for a moment before she groaned and grumbled, "dammit." She had fallen under Stefan's stupid charm. She hated that he made her feel that type of way. Every time they were close and alone, her brain would just turn to scrambled eggs. Emily pushed the small brown hairs away from her eyes as she huffed out a sigh before turning around. She decided to just get back to work as she hoped Stefan would keep her brother safe.

* * *

Emily had been working nonstop ever since she found out about what was going on with her brother and the moonstone. She knew if she even stopped for one second, then she would start worrying like crazy and end up driving herself insane. So Emily busied herself with talking to Cheryl, a fellow cheerleader, as they sat the elegant silverware filled napkins around the large round tables that were placed perfectly around the Lockwood's bright green yard.

"How's your brother, Jason, doing?" Emily wondered as she glanced over to the copper golden haired girl before she continued to place napkins around a table. "I heard about his accident the other day. I was thinking about stopping by the hospital to see him tomorrow," Emily stated.

Cheryl looked up at the brunette with a soft smile on her rosy lips at the mention of her twin brother. "He's better," she responded before explaining, "the mayor is planning on shutting the lake off where he almost drowned until they can make it safer." The two girls continued to work in a peaceful silence before Cheryl spoke up again as she informed the brunette, "Jason is back at home now, but I bet he would love for you to visit him." She chuckled as she shook her head, "you know how much that boy adores you."

Emily couldn't help the blush that rose to her cheeks. Jason was her very first kiss when they were in the first grade. She always had a soft spot for the boy ever since the Blossom twins and the Gilbert twins met in preschool. But the boy and girl's parents weren't really a big fan of her family, so Emily never did get the chance to get close with Jason. Emily looked up to Cheryl with a smile as she began to speak, "I think I will -"

However, before she could finish her sentence, Emily was interrupted by her cell phone ringing in her jacket pocket. "Sorry," Emily apologized to Cheryl before she answered the phone without seeing who was calling. "Hello," the brunette spoke as she brought the electronic device to her ear.

"Hey, Emmie, it's Bonnie," the young girl greeted her friend before getting straight to the point as she questioned, "do you happen to remember that old well we all used to play around when we were younger? Caroline and I can't think of where it's located."

Emily's eyebrows shot up in surprise when the girl mentioned who she was with. She didn't think her talk with Bonnie would work so fast. "Oh? You and Caroline are already talking again?" She asked with a tint of hope in her voice. She really wanted the witch and the vampire to be friends like they used to be.

Bonnie nodded her head before she realized Emily couldn't see her. "Uh, yeah, we're getting there," she mumbled awkwardly before questioning again, "so, do you remember the place?"

Emily thought for a short moment before she answered as she remembered their old secret hangout spot, "yeah, it's 237 steps from the Lockwood's pond, where that one tree with the bike stuck in it." Emily furrowed her brows as she wondered, "why did you want to know?"

"I need you to meet Caroline and I there," Bonnie ordered before she explained, "I think that's where the moonstone is hidden."

Emily didn't know how Bonnie knew about the moonstone, but she did know it was important that they find it. "Yeah, of course, I'll be right there," she told Bonnie before she swiftly hung up her phone and placed it back into her leather jacket pocket. Emily looked up at Cheryl with a small smile as she stated jokingly, "the work never stops coming."

Cheryl chuckled as she waved her hand and uttered, "go ahead. I shouldn't be too much longer."

Emily grabbed her black and white purse, that sat in one of the elegant chairs, and slipped it over her shoulder before she looked back to the copper golden haired girl. "I can't thank you enough for helping," she praised before she began to walk away. But as she continued to walk, Emily turned around and told the young girl, "I'll try to stop by sometime tomorrow to visit Jason." She winked as she added, "but don't tell him. I want it to be a surprise," before she turned her body back around and broke into a jog as she went to find the familiar well.

Once Emily reached the pond behind the Lockwood mansion, she thought for a moment before remembering that she only has to walk directly from the middle of the pond to the woods and she would be right in front of the well. So Emily carefully walked around the water until she was aligned with the middle of the pond before she began to walk through the woods, hoping she doesn't end up tripping with her heeled boots. Emily didn't bother counting like she used to do when she was a kid, instead she just looked for the rusted bike that was stuck inside of a large oak tree.

It only took Emily a few minutes to find the rusted bike on her left before she spotted the well right in front of her. Emily remembered when she was younger, she would crawl on the well that stood at least four feet in the air and act like she was the queen of Mystic Falls.

Emily couldn't find Bonnie nor Caroline as she looked around the small area, so she decided to see if she could spot anything inside of the well. But as she moved her face close to the steel gate that blocked off the contents, Emily suddenly banged her forehead against the hard surface when she heard someone yell out, "what are you doing here?"

"Shit," Emily heard the same voice swear under their breath as she moaned out in pain before she felt someone hold her face in their hands. Emily realized that she had closed her eyes when her face made impact with the hard surface. So when the pain finally stopped, Emily opened them and stared right into a familiar pair of forest green eyes.

Stefan held the Gilbert girl's face softly in his warm hands as he rubbed a long finger across the forming bump on her forehead. "Are you okay?" He whispered as he looked at Emily with obvious worry shining through his eyes.

Emily's breath hitched as she realized their close proximity and that there was no one around to interrupt them. She quickly took a step back, causing her back to ram right into the hard well. Even if it was only a few inches from the vampire, it still helped. She couldn't allow herself to feel something for her sister's boyfriend. "Uh, I'm fine. Bonnie, um, told me to meet her here," Emily finally mumbled as she avoided looking into Stefan's dreamy eyes. The Gilbert girl turned her back to the vampire as she looked down the well and added, "she thinks the moonstone is down there."

Stefan stared at the backside of the twitching girl with furrowed brows. He couldn't understand it, but he wanted, no needed, to be closer to her - but he knew it wasn't the right time. "Bonnie called me too," Stefan stated while he lightly touched Emily's waist as he moved around her. He pulled the rusted lock off of the steel circular gate before he grabbed it easily and threw the gate to the side. Once there was nothing blocking the entrance, Stefan turned on a large flashlight and shined it down to the underground well. However, when he couldn't see what was inside, Stefan huffed out a sigh and jumped right on top of the edge. But before he could dive inside, Stefan felt Emily grab onto his lower arm, causing him to twist towards the brunette beauty.

Emily stared into Stefan's green eyes for a moment before she finally whispered, "be careful." She didn't know why, but she just had this bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Stefan nodded his head and stated to reassure the young girl, "I'll only be down there for a minute." He took a deep breath as he stared right at Emily before he dropped down into the well without a second thought.

Emily gasped as she quickly looked down the entrance before mumbling, "asshole." Stefan didn't even give her an indication that he was going down the well. Emily rolled her eyes when she heard Stefan's laughter bounce off the walls. But once silence took over the woods, Emily turned around and leaned against the well as she waited patiently for Stefan to find the moonstone. However, while Emily stood there alone, she began to wonder what was taking Bonnie and Caroline so long. Emily decided that she would give them a call, so she pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket. But as Emily was looking through her contact list, she suddenly heard Stefan yell out her name.

Emily swiftly forgot about calling her friend as she shoved her phone back into her jacket pocket before she leaned over the well's edge and shouted down to the vampire, "Stef! What's going on?"

"Emily!" Stefan yelled out again as pain began to take over his body.

"Stefan! What's happening!?" Emily shouted frantically. She didn't understand what was going on but his yelling was beginning to make her feel extremely nervous. It also didn't help that she couldn't even see him.

"V-V-Vervain!" Stefan tried to yell as he felt his throat closing up. "Vervain!" He cried out clearly once more with the last bit of energy he had left.

Emily's eyes widened in shock once she heard what was surrounding the vampire. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God," she mumbled under her breath as she tried to think what to do. Emily took a step back from the well as she felt herself beginning to tremble. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to block everything out of her mind. She knew she needed to relax so she could focus. Finally, Emily opened her eyes once she had calmed down and instantly spotted something that could help her. A set of chains. However, as she pulled on the end of the chains, they wouldn't even budge. "No, no, no," Emily yelled as she continued to pull as her boots dug into the ground. She wasn't going to give up. She needed to help Stefan.

"Emily!" A familiar voice suddenly called out which instantly stopped the Gilbert girl's panicked rambling.

Emily quickly stood all the way up from the ground at the loud voice, but sighed in relief when she saw it was her best friend. However, the relieved feeling didn't last long before Emily remembered the current predicament. "It's Stefan! He's down there and I can't get him!" Emily quickly explained to the blonde vampire.

Caroline didn't even bother responding to the brunette as she swiftly climbed on top of the well. But before she could jump down to help Stefan, the Gilbert girl quickly grabbed onto her arm and exclaimed, "you can't! It's filled with vervain!"

Caroline quickly jumped off of the well at the revelation as she didn't want to be anywhere near the burning liquid. It wasn't even a second later, before the blonde vampire began to pace up and down the dirt covered ground as she tried to think what she could do to help.

"Caroline!" Emily yelled impatiently at the pacing girl. She pointed to the rusted chains that she had tried to get off of the ground. "Grab those and wrap them around me!" Emily commanded.

The blonde vampire quickly nodded her head before she jogged towards the chains and grabbed them with ease unlike the human girl. "Are you sure about this?" Caroline questioned nervously to her best friend.

Emily took off her purse and jacket and threw them to the ground before she moved in front of Caroline. "This is the only way," she stated as she took a deep breath to calm herself down. However, when she felt Caroline wrap the cold chains tightly around her stomach, Emily's breath hitched for the second time in the woods. But she knew she couldn't think too hard about it now or she would end up chickening out.

Emily shakily climbed on the edge of the well once Caroline had gave her a small nod when she was finished securing the chains around her waist. The Gilbert girl was scared out of her mind but tried to ignore that small part of her that told her to turn around and run away from the danger. But Emily shook that thought out of her mind. She wasn't going to turn her back on Stefan when he needed her.

Caroline laid her hand on Emily's shoulder as she steadied the young girl. "Hey, I got you. You're going to be okay," the vampire spoke as she tried to console her best friend, who was shaking like a leaf.

Emily looked over her shoulder and into her best friend's blue eyes as she nodded her head and mumbled quietly, "I know." It wasn't that Emily didn't trust Caroline to keep her safe. She was just frightened that she would either fall to her death or not be able to save Stefan.

Caroline grabbed onto the chains silently from Emily's waist to lower her down. But before either girl could move, Bonnie suddenly came rushing towards them as she was out of breath. "What's going on?" The Bennett witch gasped to the vampire, "you just ran off." However, Caroline didn't have the chance to explain before Bonnie's eyes moved towards Emily on top of the well and questioned in disbelief, "are you crazy? What are you doing?"

Emily leaned over the well as her fingers grasped tightly to the bricks while she was crouched down. The Gilbert girl felt her inner Batman shining out like she was watching over Gotham instead of trying to save someone she was beginning to have feelings for. "I need to help Stefan," Emily whispered to Bonnie before she looked over to Caroline and nodded her head as she was ready to descend inside the well.

Caroline gave her best friend one last look before she made sure she had a tight grip on the chains. But the vampire still didn't like their odds, so she looked over to Bonnie and stated, "come help me." It wasn't too much longer before the two supernatural beings began to lower the human girl into the old well.

Emily was about a third of the way down the dark tunnel when she suddenly felt like she was falling to her death before all movement came to an abrupt stop. "Sorry!" The Gilbert girl heard not even a millisecond later as the vampire's voice bounced off of the brick walls. Emily closed her eyes as she heaved out a sigh while she held the rusted chains in a death grip. "It's okay," she finally called out to her best friend once she had calmed down before commanding, "just keep going! We got to keep going!"

Emily planted her black boots against the hard brick wall as she felt Caroline and Bonnie continue to lower her into the well. She hoped it would at least slow her down so they wouldn't have another accident like they just did. While Emily descended down the well, she decided to screw her eyes closed as she tried to calm herself from the feeling of the walls closing in on her. But once she felt freezing cold water reach the inside of her boots, Emily snapped her eyes open and gasped instantly at what she saw.

Emily quickly placed her feet onto the ground and unhooked the chains from herself before she shakily moved towards the unconscious vampire. "Stef," she whimpered as she how bad he looked from the small light that was shining on his face. Emily knew that he needed out of here as soon as possible, so she quickly linked him to the chains before yelling out, "pull him up!"

Emily waited to make sure Stefan was out of the well before she reached for the only light source that was bopping up and down in the dark water. Once the flashlight was in her hand, Emily quickly began to search for the reason they were here.

"Emily! We're ready for you!" Caroline's voice bounced off of the walls as she threw the rusted chains down to her best friend.

"Hold on!" Emily called out as she bent down and pushed her unoccupied hand through the water, "we need the moonstone or this would have been for nothing!"

Emily continued to reach around the water but still couldn't feel anything, so she sat down on her knees, which caused her head to barely stay afloat. What felt like hours, but were actually seconds, before she finally wrapped her fingers around a medium sized box. Emily didn't want to get her hopes up if this wasn't what they were looking for, so she didn't even bother saying anything to the supernatural beings. Instead, she dropped the flashlight in the water with it pointed towards her before she began to try to open the box to make sure it did contain the moonstone. But as she reached for the latch, Emily suddenly felt something crawling on her shoulder.

Emily looked over her shoulder in confusion before she instantly screamed bloody murder as she saw two beady eyes that could only belong to the one creature she couldn't stand, a snake. Emily quickly pushed the creature off of her before she noticed the multiple pair of snakes coming closer. "Hell no, hell no, hell no," she mumbled as she swiftly grabbed onto the rusted chains and wrapped it back around her waist before snatching the box from the water. "Pull me up now!" Emily yelled as she continuously tried to keep the slithering snakes off of her.

Emily sighed in relief as she could now feel the bright sun on her wet skin while her two friends pulled her all the way out of the well. The Bennett witch was the one to pull Emily to her feet before the blonde vampire began to unwrap the chains from her waist. "Oh, thank God," Emily mumbled as she relaxed against Bonnie's chest. She swore that she would never go inside any unknown water ever again.

Emily took a step away from Bonnie once she gained her strength back and could stand on her own. The water and the stress had taken a lot out of her. Emily turned around to go see if she had an extra shirt in purse, but gasped in shock when she noticed Stefan's body lying on the ground. Emily completely forgot about the wet clothes clinging to her body as she quickly ran and slid down to her knees in front of Stefan's unconscious form. "Oh, Stef," Emily mumbled as she brought her hand to his cheek. But when he wouldn't even move or make a sound, Emily knew that he was in bad shape.

Emily looked around her surroundings for a moment before she spotted her purse right by Stefan's head. She quickly reached for it and dumped everything out before she grabbed a pair of scissors she had. Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she placed the cold metal across her palm before she slid the blade down her skin. Once she saw blood oozing from her hand, Emily used her other one to pull Stefan's jaw open before placing her bleeding palm into his mouth. The Gilbert girl flinched at first when she felt the vampire drinking from her, but relaxed after she got used to the weird feeling.

"Oh, hey," Emily whispered with a tiny smile as she noticed Stefan's reddened eyes staring up at her. She carefully pulled his head on her lap from the hard ground before she began to brush his wet hair soothingly. "I got the moonstone, Stef. We're okay," Emily spoke softly into Stefan's ear while her warm blood dripped down his dry throat.

Emily ignored the presence of her two friends as all the tension left her body with Stefan being so close to her. But she knew that feeling wouldn't last long. It never does when you live in the supernatural filled town of Mystic Falls.

* * *

Emily drummed her finger tips against the leather steering wheel of her black car as she and Stefan rode in a peaceful silence. They both were exhausted from everything that had transpired in the last thirty minutes. Emily had gave Stefan about half a pint of her blood in the middle of the woods until she was sure he would be okay. The vampire had tried to stop her, but Emily was stronger in that moment, so he couldn't exactly fight her when he was so weak.

It was only a couple of minutes later before Emily finally pulled in front of the Salvatore boarding house. "Are you okay?" The Gilbert girl questioned once she had turned off her car and twisted her body towards the quiet Stefan.

Stefan's now healthy green eyes stayed glued on the one and only moonstone that he was twirling in his fingers as he whispered strongly, "yeah." He moved his attention off of the rock after a moment of silence and stared at the brunette girl before he brought his hand to her cheek and rubbed it softly. "Thank you," he muttered as his top lip curled into a grateful smile.

Emily felt like she was stuck in Stefan's gaze, but this time she didn't want to move away. Instead, she leaned into his hand and whispered with an adoring smile, "of course. I'll always come running towards the danger when you're involved."

Stefan's smile instantly turned into a frown but still kept his hand settled on her cheek like it was finally home. "Yeah, well, don't make it a routine," he stated teasingly.

"Yeah, well, don't give me a reason to," Emily muttered with the same teasing tone as the vampire. The Gilbert girl's smile turned into a smirk as she added, "besides, I love saving your ass."

The quietness was instantly broken not even a second later as Stefan's booming laughter rang through the small black car. He shook his head at the young girl with humor shining through his eyes. "Come on. We should get inside," Stefan stated once a calmness settled between them.

The human girl and the vampire boy quietly made their way inside of the Salvatore boarding house. Their fingers grazed each other's every couple of seconds as they walked side by side. But all the playfulness and carelessness melted away once they stepped foot into the living room.

"Oh, my God," Emily gasped as she saw Mason tied to a throne-like chair while her baby brother stood in the corner of the room and Stefan's brother stood in front of the werewolf with her twin sister right next to him. But as soon as the words fell out of her mouth, everyone's eyes were on her. Emily went to rush towards Mason, but was instantly stopped when Stefan brought her into his chest.

"No, Stefan! Let me go!" Emily yelled as she fought his tight grip.

"Stefan," Elena called out as she watched her sister squirm with her sorrow filled brown eyes. "Let her go," she ordered in a soft whisper. Elena felt sorry for her sister. She knew how this was all going to end and she didn't even warn her sister when they were planning on killing someone she loves.

Once Emily felt the pressure of Stefan's body release her, she slowly walked towards the werewolf with tears in her eyes. She knew as soon as she saw him that this was the end of Mason. She already knew it was going to happen at the volunteer picnic, but now it felt more real.

"Mase," Emily whimpered as she fell to her knees in front of the chair that held someone she thought as family.

The Lockwood man had tears in his brown eyes as he stared down at the young girl. "I am so sorry, Emmie," Mason whispered with a voice filled of regret. He hated to see her hurting, especially when he was the reason.

Emily grabbed Mason's warm hand from where his arm was wrapped in a tight rope to hold him into place. "Me too," she whispered back. She didn't care what the three vampires and her brother would hear right now, she just wanted some time with Mason. Emily took a shaky deep breath before she spoke with a broken voice, "we never did get to have that milkshake and fries like you promised."

Mason chuckled lightly, despite the pain and what was to come, as the oldest Gilbert girl just had that affect. "I know," he whispered as his point finger ran over Emily's hand. "But every time you do go drink a milkshake with a side of fries, I'll always be there with you," Mason stated as he tried to console the young girl before his death.

"You won't really," Emily mumbled stubbornly, "it won't be the same."

"You're right. But you will get used to it," Mason muttered sadly. "I am really sorry that this is happening," he apologized once again as a calm silence fell between him and the human girl. "If I could, I would take all the threats back so I wouldn't have to see this ugly look on your face," Mason added but with a small teasing tone towards the end of his speech.

Emily covered her face with her hand as another round of tears rained down her cheeks and a sob racked through her body. "This is not the time for jokes, Mase," she scolded the older man as a barely noticeable smile made its way onto her chapped lips.

Mason chuckled lightly with his hoarse throat before he confessed, "but I wanted to see a smile on that beautiful face one last time."

"God, you are making this so much harder," Emily grumbled as she pushed her wet hair out of her eyes. She knew saying goodbye was going to be hard, but she didn't know it was going to be this difficult.

Mason gave Emily a half smile and declared, "I'm so proud to have gotten the opportunity to see you grow to a beautiful young woman. You are such a strong and smart person, Emmie. You are going to be that doctor you always wanted to be."

"A cardiothoracic surgeon," Emily corrected.

Mason grinned and stated, "yeah, that." He gripped the young girl's hand as he continued, "you, Emily Gilbert, are going to change the world someday. I know it. And I know that you are going to start hurting soon, but you know what? That is just going to make you so much stronger. Right?"

Emily wiped away the tears with her other hand as she quickly nodded her head and promised, "I won't let you down." She touched Mason's face lightly with her shaky fingers and confessed, "you will always be that older brother I never had."

"And you will always be my baby sister," Mason stated, "no matter what happens once you leave."

Emily instantly shook her head and spoke with as strong as a voice she could muster, "I am not leaving your side."

"Yes, yes, you are," Mason commanded before he added, "I do not want you to see what happens to me." The werewolf lifted his eyes towards Emily's vampire sister while the aforementioned girl was busy crying into his lap. The last thing he wanted was for her to see him die. Mason knew that it would ruin her.

Emily felt tears drop down her face like a waterfall at the thought of Mason being gone. She began to panic even more when she suddenly felt someone lift her from the ground. "No, no, no. I'm not leaving you," Emily cried as she tried to reach out to the werewolf.

"Hey, hey, hey," Elena spoke softly, "let's go home." But when her sister wouldn't even budge, Elena continued as she tried to convince Emily, "you know you don't want to see this, Emmie. It will only make it worse. You don't want to remember him like that."

Those were the only words the saddened girl needed before she stopped resisting to pull away from her sister. While Elena did loosen her grip, she still held Emily cautiously in case the human girl's legs failed her.

Emily turned around in Elena's grip before she cried into her twin sister's chest. It took a few minutes before she calmed herself down enough to say her final goodbye. Emily took a large deep breath before she slowly pushed herself out of Elena's arms and moved to stand directly in front of the dying werewolf. But as she stood there, Emily didn't know what to say. It was like her heart was being ripped out of her chest.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," Mason spoke gently. "You are going to be fine, I promise you. But I need you to promise me something back," he uttered before he waited for the young girl to nod her head in agreement. "I need you to protect Tyler from all this and if he does turn, then you will help him through it," Mason requested before adding softly, "I just want you and him to be safe. That's all I ever wanted."

Emily nodded her head repeatedly. "I promise," she whispered. Emily placed her hand on the side of Mason's face before she leaned down to place a lingering kiss on the top of his head. "It's okay. You can go. We'll be fine," Emily stated before saying the last three words she would ever speak to Mason Lockwood, her family, "I love you."

Mason had tears running down his dirty cheeks. He knew this was really the end. This would be the last conversation he would ever have with someone he cares for. But he knew he needed to be strong for Emily, so he whispered those four words as his brown eyes stayed locked on her tearful green ones, "I love you too." He squeezed her hand before he added, "I'll see you soon, princess."

Emily squeezed Mason's hand back as she looked at him for the last time before she walked straight back into her sister's chest. She knew Mason was trying to ease her pain that was to come by not saying goodbye, but nothing would help. She just felt agony.

Emily ignored the guilty looks from the Salvatore brothers as her own sister and brother led her out of the boarding house. If it was her choice, she would have stayed until his last breath. But Emily knew Elena was right, it would only make everything worse. She just didn't know how she was just supposed to be fine after knowing Mason Lockwood wouldn't be alive and in her life anymore.


	37. Chapter 35 Part 2

Emily sat in the backseat of her own car as her reddened eyes focused on the bright light from the moon that shined in the dark sky. The other two Gilbert siblings wouldn't allow her to drive home from the boarding house, so Elena was in the drivers seat while Jeremy sat in the passengers. They thought Emily wouldn't be able to focus on driving - which was true. Emily could barely think straight as her mind was still trying to process Mason's death.

"We're here," Elena's loud voice suddenly broke the human girl out of her cluttered mind.

Emily looked through the front window of her car in confusion before she realized they were already home. She didn't even hear the engine shut off or the short conversation her sister and brother had. The only thing she did notice was the worried looks on their faces, which she ignored.

Emily just wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a while. She didn't like the looks her siblings were giving her. It made her feel like a weak little girl. Emily opened the car door so she could go inside the Gilbert house, but was soon stopped when she heard Elena's voice once again, "are you okay?"

Emily looked over at her twin sister with a small shrug and whispered, "I don't know."

Elena quietly nodded her head as she watched the human girl closely. She was worried about her sister. Emily was never this silent, even when their parents died. She would always try to make everyone else feel better. So, Elena didn't know exactly how she was supposed to comfort her sister when it was usually Emily doing the comforting. "I'm sorry we had to do that, Emmie. But Mason would have put us all in danger," Elena told her sister as softly as she could.

"Yeah, I know," Emily whispered sadly as she played with the sleeve of her leather jacket. She didn't blame anyone for what happened, she just wish it didn't. "I'll be fine," Emily told her siblings. She slipped on the fake smile she would be using to conceal the hurt she was feeling and added, "I always am," before she got out of her car and made her way to the Gilbert house.

Emily silently walked towards the kitchen with her two worried siblings hovering over her as she heard voices coming from that direction. But as she stood at the edge of the kitchen, Emily couldn't help the real smile that worked on her face when she saw Alaric and Jenna joking and laughing together. She was glad that at least someone could be normal and happy in this hellish town.

"Hey guys!" Jenna exclaimed once she noticed her two nieces and nephew walking into the kitchen. "We're making dinner," she stated before she giggled and added, "well, Ric says he's making dinner but I might order a pizza if he burns down the kitchen."

"Oh, come on!" Alaric groaned, "it's not like I can mess up tacos."

"You would be surprised," Emily commented as she grabbed a chip from the kitchen table. "Elena burnt and ruined tacos one time," she stated as she threw her sister a smirk.

"Hey!" Elena yelped defensively. "This isn't about me, this is about Alaric and if he can make some tacos," she uttered with a chuckle.

"Well, while you guys make sure Ric doesn't burn down the house, I am going to go change clothes," Emily told her family before she got up from the kitchen table.

"Wait, why are you so wet?" Jenna questioned as she rose an eyebrow at her oldest niece.

Emily's eyes quickly moved over to Elena as she mumbled, "uh..." Emily's mind was totally blank. She usually would be able to lie on the spot, but with her mind all scrambled, she couldn't think of what to tell her aunt. But, thankfully she didn't have to think for too long.

"I pushed her into the pond at the Lockwood's today!" Elena quickly told her aunt as she covered for her sister.

Jenna looked at Elena in disbelief as she questioned, "really?" The strawberry blonde moved her eyes to the other twin as she wondered, "and you didn't get her back?" It was unusual for the oldest girl not to get back at Elena after she pranks or messes with her.

"There's still time," Emily called out loudly as she headed upstairs to her bedroom with the sound of her family's laughter and Elena's groaning trailing behind her.

Emily heaved out a heavy sigh once she closed her bedroom door and was inside of her safe haven. She sealed her eyes shut as she relaxed against the wood that blocked her from the rest of the world. She was relieved that she could now lose her false happy attitude and her fake smile. Emily had barely been around her family, and she was already exhausted from acting like she was okay.

Emily slowly took off her sticky and wet clothes as she moved off of her bedroom door and made her way towards her closet. Once she threw her damp clothes into the ocean blue hamper, she opened the door to her closet and grabbed the first thing she could find, which thankfully was a pair of comfy Adidas leggings and one of her favorite shirts.

Emily stood in front of her full body mirror after she was finally dressed in some warm clothes. But as she stared at her reflection, Emily realized just how bad she looked. She was surprised Jenna didn't ask why she looked like she cried a river. Emily's usually bright green eyes were now dull and surrounded by red blotchy spots. Emily's hair wasn't any better as her single braid was falling apart and looked like she rolled around in a pile of leaves.

Emily huffed out a sigh as she roughly pulled the hair tie from her brown hair and went to place it into a messy bun. But as she tried to fix her hair, Emily noticed how badly her hands were shaking. "No, stop it," Emily growled under her breath as she felt fresh hot tears beginning to drop slowly down her cheeks.

Emily threw the black hair tie at the mirror after a few seconds and yelled out in aggravation as she gave up on fixing her hair. She just stared at her reflection while she squeezed her fingernails into her palms as she tried to stop the shaking of her hands. She hated feeling this weak. But Emily knew what was coming as she felt her walls beginning to fall apart now that she was alone and could grieve properly.

Emily was feeling so many emotions all at once. She felt pain because she lost another person at the young age of seventeen. She felt guilty that she didn't do more than just watch it happen. But most of all, Emily was angry at Mason. She was angry at him because he left her alone in this horrible world. Mason was her hero, her big brother, and now he was just gone like everyone else she had ever loved.

The grieving girl forced herself to sit onto her bed as she felt her whole body beginning to tremble. Emily didn't know how to control her feelings right now. It wasn't like when her parents died. She didn't know that was going to happen. But this, she knew Mason was going to die. So, it made everything so much worse.

The exhaustion was taking a large toll on her body, so Emily slowly laid onto her soft pillow and curled into a ball as tears continued to make their way down her face. However, as Emily stared blankly at her wooden dresser, something suddenly caught her attention. She tiredly got out of the bed and tip toed to her dresser, where she noticed a picture frame that was calling to her. Emily shakily grabbed the frame and studied the picture of her, Tyler, and Mason. She remembered the moment instantly. It was the day before Mason left town when she and Tyler were twelve. They were all sitting together at the Grill and enjoying milkshakes.

Emily felt anger began to take over her body as she realized Mason would never be able to take her out for milkshakes ever again nor would he be able to scare guys away from her like he did when she was growing up. Mason was just gone from her life and there was no getting him back. Emily angrily squeezed the picture frame in her small hands before she suddenly threw it at the wall with all the energy she had left.

However, the anger didn't last long before she felt the pain take over her body once again. She would rather be angry instead of the sadness she was now feeling. The anger was easy to handle, nothing a bottle of bourbon and sleep couldn't fix. But sadness couldn't be helped with a strong bottle of alcohol, it just had to slowly work itself out - which Emily despised.

Emily slid down to the floor and cradled her knees into her chest as tears and sobs continuously left her sore body. She felt just like the picture frame that shattered on the hardwood floor of her bedroom - broken. The agony she was feeling was too much for the young girl. She just wanted to be okay again.

The Gilbert girl pushed her tear stricken face into her knees as she tried to quiet her crying and sobbing. She didn't want to disturb her family nor did she want them to come and check on her. However, that didn't really plan out because not even a second later, her bedroom door was busted open with a wide eyed Elena standing at the threshold.

"Emily," Elena whispered carefully as her black and white converse crunched under the broken glass. The vampire slowly moved in front of her twin sister as she tried not to cause her anymore pain. "Hey, what's wrong?" She questioned softly.

"I miss Mason," Emily whispered in a hoarse voice as her body shook.

Elena's unbeating heart broke as she stared down at the mourning girl. "I know," she whispered before she took a seat on the hard floor and pulled Emily into her chest. Elena began to rock her twin sister back and forth just like their mother used to do when they would cry as children. "But you are going to be okay," Elena promised before she questioned, "and do you know how I know that?"

"How?" Emily wondered quietly as she relaxed against her sister's chest.

Elena smiled as she tucked Emily's head under her chin before she confessed softly, "because you are the strongest person I have ever known."

Emily quickly shook her head and mumbled, "I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Elena argued immediately. "You think I'd want someone weak as my hero?" She questioned before she continued without waiting for her sister's answer, "if I thought you were weak, I would have picked Wonder Woman or Princess Leia. But no, I picked you as my hero the second you punched that girl, Cora, in the face in kindergarten for me."

"She stole your pudding cup," Emily muttered under her breath before she added dismissively, "and you are making a huge mistake if you don't pick Leia as your hero."

"That's besides the point," Elena stated with a small chuckle. "You have always been so strong. You have never let anything take you down. You always fought and fought whatever was thrown in front of you," Elena told her twin sister. "Emmie, you can't give up now," she begged in a soft voice.

The human girl didn't bother saying anything, instead she thought about what Elena was saying while the aforementioned vampire hummed a small tune that calmed Emily instantly. "You wanna know something?" Elena questioned gently after a few minutes passed.

Emily nodded her head and mumbled, "sure."

"I was always jealous how you were after mom and dad died. I never knew how you could just put a smile on your face and walk out of the house like everything was fine. But I think I figured it out. You only did it because you wanted Jer and I to be happy, so you sacrificed yourself so we could," Elena confessed to her twin sister before she added with a soft smile, "you have always been the strong sibling. So, I know for certain that you are going to be okay, because that is just how Emily Gilbert is."

"I don't think I can be that girl anymore," Emily told the vampire as she played with her fingers.

"Yes, you can," Elena argued. She grabbed onto her sister's left hand and made Emily stare into her brown eyes. "You are going to get through this. You have gone through tomb vampires, you have dealt with Isobel, and that's not even the half of it. You have survived so much, Emmie. So, yes, you can get through this too, I promise you," Elena stated with a strong voice as she tried to convince her sister.

Emily couldn't help but fall for her twin sister's words. Everything Elena was saying was the truth. She could get through this. Death is nothing compared to all the things she had endured. It might take months or even years, but she would survive this pain. Plus, Emily knew Mason would be mad at her if she didn't continue to live her life because of him.

"Okay," Emily finally whispered to her sister in a much steadier voice than the one she had been using in the last couple of hours.

Elena turned her torso to the side and looked into Emily's green eyes with a bright smile. "I'll be right next to you whenever you decide you need me," she promised. Elena brought her twin sister into a tight hug and whispered in her ear, "you are so strong and I love you so much."

Emily hugged her sister just as tight and spoke truthfully, "I love you too and thank you."

"I'll always be here for you," Elena stated. She quietly stood up from the hard uncomfortable ground before she helped her sister do the same. "We should probably get back downstairs before Jenna comes looking for us. I told her I was coming to get you since she was starting to complain about you taking so long to change clothes," she explained with a small chuckle.

Emily nodded her head in agreement before she groaned when she tried to run her fingers through her rat nested hair. She rose an eyebrow at her twin sister as she questioned, "could you deal with this?"

Elena grinned excitedly as she exclaimed, "yes, of course," before she grabbed the hairbrush from Emily's dresser. She always loved brushing her sister's shoulder length mane. They used to brush each other's brown hair all the time when they were younger. Elena carefully ran the hairbrush through the tangles as softly as she could, but apologized every couple of seconds when she felt her sister flinch. "There!" Elena stated proudly after a couple of minutes.

"Thanks," Emily praised gently as she brushed her hair behind her ears before she looked into Elena's soft brown eyes and added, "for everything."

Elena linked her arm with Emily's as they slowly left the human girl's bedroom. "I always got your back, you know that," Elena declared before the two sisters made their way back towards the kitchen with much happier attitudes.

"Hey! There you are!" Jenna exclaimed once she saw her two nieces. "What were you doing up there?" She wondered before she took a large gulp from her wine glass.

Emily gave her aunt a tiny smile and stated as she made up an excuse for her absence, "I made Elena brush my hair." She shrugged her shoulders and added, "just one of her punishments for pushing me into the lake today."

"Hey!" Elena yelped in shock as she played along with her twin sister, "I thought we called a truce!"

Jenna shook her finger at the two female siblings and stated, "the Gilberts don't know the meaning of a truce."

"You got that right, Jennie," Emily told her aunt before she threw her twin sister a smile which had a lot of meaning that the two girls only knew about. Emily was grateful to have Elena as her sister and help her move forward from this horrible event and to be happy again.

Elena moved over to the kitchen counter and leaned against it beside her brother before she wondered, "so, did you guys end up ordering a pizza or did Alaric succeed in making tacos?"

"Actually, we have both," Jeremy informed his vampire sister, "Jenna thought Alaric was going to fail, so we now have two dinners."

"Hey!" Jenna exclaimed, "in my defense, he did burn the first batch of shrimp."

"Well, I don't care," Emily stated as she shrugged her shoulders, "double dinner is always fine in my book." She gave her family a tiny grin before she joined Alaric at the kitchen table, where he was cutting up a couple of tomatoes and onions.

"Hey," Alaric whispered to the brunette girl, "are you okay? Elena told me what happened today."

Emily gave the vampire hunter a small nod as she answered, "I will be." She moved her green eyes towards the kitchen, where she saw her two siblings and aunt laughing together as they joked around. Emily looked back to Alaric with a smile full of content as she added, "I have my family, so I'll be just fine."

Alaric gave the young girl a small grin and uttered with a nod of his head, "good." He glanced over to the strawberry blonde before he pushed his full glass of bourbon towards Emily. "Here. I bet you are craving this," he joked.

"Oh, you know me so well," Emily smirked before she grabbed the glass that was filled with the amber liquid. She turned her back to her family before she quickly downed the bourbon.

"Hey!" Jenna yelled as soon as Emily placed the empty glass onto the kitchen table. "Are you giving my niece alcohol?" She questioned before she made her way towards her oldest niece and her boyfriend as she gave Alaric a stern look.

Emily couldn't help but chuckle at her aunt. She knew Jenna wasn't really serious. The strawberry blonde always tries to act like she is when she's drinking, but always ends up failing. "Like you don't do the same," Emily uttered as she rolled her eyes playfully.

Jenna pointed her finger at Emily and stated with a pout, "but I am the only one that should be letting you have alcohol, missy."

Alaric threw his arm over Jenna's shoulder and kissed his girlfriend's rosy cheek before he told her, "well, good thing I didn't give her a single drop." He threw Emily a smirk as he added, "not even when she begged."

Jenna squinted her eyes as she looked between her boyfriend and niece. She placed her index and middle finger close to her eyes before she pointed them towards the two culprits as she stated, "I'm watching you guys."

However, luckily for the human girl and the vampire hunter, the tipsy strawberry blonde lost interest on keeping a close eye on them when the house phone suddenly began to blare loudly through the kitchen. "I got it! I got it! I got it!" Jenna shouted as she quickly jogged towards the receiver. "Ha!" She yelled when she clumsily grabbed onto the phone before Jeremy could even lay a single finger on it.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and mumbled, "whatever." He crossed his arms over his chest and muttered under his breath stubbornly, "I didn't want to answer it anyways."

Emily chuckled as she watched her brother pout like a five year old and her aunt's happy attitude. She turned and looked over at Alaric as she wondered jokingly, "how early did she start drinking?"

"Way too early," Alaric muttered before he joined in with the chuckling girl.

"Emily!" The aforementioned strawberry blonde yelled as she walked towards her oldest niece with the white house phone in hand. Jenna gently pushed the device towards Emily's chest and stated, "it's for you."

Emily rose an eyebrow at her aunt as she wondered, "who is it?" The Gilbert girl was confused with who was trying to get in contact with her, when everyone knows to call her cell phone when they need her. So, it was strange for Emily to get a call from the house phone.

Jenna only shrugged her shoulders plainly before she walked towards the kitchen counter in an unusual quiet manner and began to chop up some vegetables like Alaric had done without a single sound.

Emily looked at her aunt with furrowed brows but decided to just push Jenna's strange behavior away as she brought the phone up to her ear and greeted the unknown person, "hello?"

"Hello, Emily," a familiar voice spoke smoothly.

Emily instantly froze when she realized who she was talking to. She knew the voice was identical to her twin's but there was an air of confidence that Elena didn't have. Emily's body straightened as she spoke with a strong voice, "what do you want?"

"I want you to walk out of the room, so your annoying sister doesn't hear us," Katherine commanded, "and I want you to act like you are speaking to the blondie."

Emily decided she would listen to Katherine as she didn't want her sister to overreact if she hears the human girl speaking to her doppelganger. So, Emily placed a bright smile on her face and spoke loudly for everyone in the kitchen to hear, "hey, Caroline! Oh? You need to copy my notes for french class? Hold on, let me go upstairs and find it."

Emily gave her twin sister a reassuring smile when she looked over at her before she calmly walked towards the stairs so Elena would think everything was fine and wouldn't find out Emily was talking to the person she despised. "What do you want, Katherine?" Emily growled once she was out of earshot.

"You did well. I see you have the Petrova fire in you," Katherine stated with an obvious smirk, "this is why you are my favorite Gilbert twin. You always listen and don't fight me like your annoying sister."

"Katherine, get to the point of this call," Emily commanded. She hated when people talk down to her sister and she definitely didn't feel like playing any of the vampire's weird mind games.

"Well, you see, I heard Damon did something bad," Katherine began, "he hurt someone that we both cared about."

"Mason," Emily whispered instantly as she knew exactly what Katherine was talking about.

"Yes, correct," Katherine quickly responded. "And I hate when my special toys get broken, so I have to get him and your sister back for this," she added.

"You don't have to do anything," Emily quickly stated as fast as she could. She didn't know what Katherine was planning, but she didn't like the bad feeling she was getting.

"Listen, I like you, Emily. You remind me of my own sister. But they have to pay for this," Katherine told the human girl. "I want to apologize to you right now. I am very sorry to cause you anymore stress and pain. You will always have a special place in my heart," Katherine apologized before explaining her master plan, "but you see, Jenna has been a very important spy for me since Caroline couldn't."

"Katherine, what did you do?" Emily questioned worriedly.

"Well, I took away aunt Jenna's special vervain tea," Katherine uttered before she let a small tsk fall from her mouth and added, "I couldn't have that." Katherine chuckled lightly before continuing, "anyways, mindless Jenna heard from a little birdy that my annoying ex lover and your sister was planning on killing Mason, so I had to have a backup plan if they did actually go through with it."

"Tell me what you did, Katherine," Emily ordered.

"I just did a little compelling during the small chat I had on the phone with sweet naive Jenna," Katherine stated before she added carelessly, "well, you'll find out what I did. But if I were you, I would hurry and maybe you can save her."

Emily's eyes widened as soon as the word 'compelled' was out of the vampire's mouth as she instantly got another bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The brunette dashed towards the kitchen with the phone clutched into her hand as she yelled as loudly as she could to warn her aunt, "Jenna!" However, what Emily saw was something she definitely wasn't prepared for. She watched helplessly as Jenna blindly stabbed herself with a large knife.

Emily dropped the house phone at the same time as Jenna's body fell to the hard floor of the kitchen. "Oh, my God," Emily finally spoke in a gasp as she quickly sat down on her knees and watched the blood soak up her aunt's light pink blouse. She looked over to her siblings and Alaric, who were shell shocked and commanded desperately, "call 911!"

Emily held her bleeding aunt's face between her shaky fingers as she stared into Jenna's frightened eyes. "Hey, it's okay," she whispered while she tried to keep the strawberry blonde still from making the wound worse. Emily couldn't believe that she thought everything could be fine for even a moment in Mystic Falls. However, that is never the case.

* * *

Emily paced up and down the small space that is Jenna's hospital room. She had been waiting for her aunt to wake up ever since the doctor took out the kitchen knife from her stomach over an hour ago. Alaric had informed her that the doctor said Jenna was going to be okay, but Emily was still worried about her aunt.

"Hey," a small hoarse voice suddenly echoed through the silent room.

Emily quickly stopped her pacing and smiled in relief when she saw her aunt's tired hazel eyes watching her. The young girl swiftly walked towards the hospital bed before she grabbed Jenna's hand softly and questioned, "how are you feeling?"

"I feel like I ran into a knife," Jenna responded with a small groan.

Emily chuckled, "yeah, that's exactly what you did."

Jenna's brows furrowed as she wondered, "but why did I do that?" She shook her head as she explained, "I only remember answering the phone and then everything else is just blank."

Emily nodded her head silently as she listened to her aunt. She was glad Jenna didn't remember anything Katherine had told her. It made her feel a little bit better that she didn't have to tell Jenna about the supernatural world. "The doctor said it could have been from a fall you took earlier plus being dehydrated from the alcohol," Emily explained with a small white lie. It was the only way she knew Jenna wouldn't ask too many questions.

"I fell?" Jenna questioned before she mumbled, "I don't remember falling today."

Emily rubbed her aunt's hand softly as she stated, "yeah, you did. Alaric mentioned you tripped and bumped your head this morning." She gave Jenna a small smile as she reassured her aunt, "but you are all fine. You are just going to be a little sore for a couple of days."

"Oh, God," Jenna moaned in embarrassment, "that does sound like something I would do." She looked up to her niece as she wondered, "so, how long am I stuck here, Doc?"

"Well, I have some good news for you, Ms. Sommers," Emily grinned as she grabbed her aunt's medical chart that hung on the end of the hospital bed. She cleared her throat before she studied the chart with a serious look and stated in her best professional voice, "Dr. Gilbert's assessment is that you will only have to stay here for the night."

"That is still too long," Jenna complained.

Emily rolled her eyes at her aunt's stubbornness. "Well, how about you order some Chinese food and I'll let the siblings know you are okay," Emily suggested before adding, "and I'll stay here with you, so you don't get too bored by yourself."

Jenna smiled gratefully at her niece before she shook her head lightly and stated, "you don't have to do that. Ric is probably going to stay anyways."

Emily squeezed her aunt's hand and commented, "don't be silly. I don't mind staying with you." She chuckled as she added, "besides, I sent Ric home earlier when he almost fell asleep standing up."

"Fine, fine. You can stay," Jenna muttered as she rolled her eyes playfully.

Emily grinned at her aunt before she pulled her cell phone out of her black and white purse and handed it over to Jenna. "Now you order some food and I'll go send the small children away," Emily told her aunt with a smirk.

Jenna shook her head as she watched her niece in amusement. "You do know you are one of those small children too, right?" She questioned.

"Nonsense!" Emily exclaimed in fake shock. She walked towards the door of her aunt's room with a chuckle before she turned around and added, "make sure you get me some shrimp fried rice."

"Alright, Miss bossy pants," Jenna mumbled jokingly before she began to dial the familiar number to their favorite Chinese restaurant, Peking Gourmet Inn.

Emily gave her aunt one last look before she began to walk through the small town's hospital to find her two siblings. She gave all of the nurses and doctors polite smiles and waves as she moved around the hallways. Emily had basically grew up in the hospital since her father would always bring her with him when the hospital needed his expertise, so most of the employees knew her.

"Is she okay?" Jeremy and Elena both quickly interrogated at the same time as soon as their oldest sister stepped foot into the small waiting room.

Emily gave her siblings a reassuring smile as she nodded her head. "She's okay, guys. The doctor said she'll be back to one hundred percent in a couple of days."

Jeremy and Elena both breathed out a sigh of relief before the youngest Gilbert asked, "does she remember what happened?"

"Nope," Emily muttered. "I'm guessing Katherine made sure she wouldn't," she explained with a small shrug.

Jeremy looked between his vampire and human sisters as he wondered confusingly, "why would Katherine want to hurt Jenna?"

"Because she's trying to send a message," Elena growled. She hated her doppelganger with a burning passion as the older vampire has tried to ruin everything in her life. But the anger Elena was feeling turned into worry as tears began to form around her brown eyes before she added to her answer, "that she could get to anybody."

"Hey," Emily spoke softly once she noticed the tears in her sister's eyes, "it's okay." She wrapped her arms around Elena's neck as she pulled her sister into her chest. "We're all going to be okay," she promised.

Elena shook her head repeatedly and whispered shakily, "no, it's not and we won't be."

"She's going to pay. I don't know how but she's going to pay," Jeremy snarled as he stared at both of his sisters with fire in his eyes. He didn't take kindly when someone threatens his family. He's very much like Emily in that way.

Emily pulled away from her sister once she heard her brother's words. She stared into Jeremy's brown eyes as she stated, "hey, let's not worry about that tonight." Emily glanced between both of her siblings and added, "you guys should go home. I'll stay here with Jenna."

Elena shook her head as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I should stay here too," she muttered as strongly as she could. Elena felt drained with everything that had happened since they got home. She didn't know how Emily was still on her feet.

"No, it's okay," Emily told her twin sister as she rubbed one of Elena's shoulders softly. "I got this. You should go home and sleep," she uttered before she glanced over to her brother and added, "the both of you."

"Are you sure?" Elena questioned worriedly as she furrowed her brows. She didn't just want to leave her aunt when something could happen.

Emily gave Elena a small smile as she could see her sister's concern on her face. "Yes, I promise. Jenna will be fine," she told her sister and stated, "I'm just going to keep her company and then you guys can come in the morning so we can take her home."

Elena stared at Emily for a moment before she finally mumbled, "okay," once she knew for sure that Jenna would be fine. She pulled her sister into a tight hug and whispered with a tearful voice, "I love you."

"Hey, look at me," Emily commanded softly as she felt her sister tremble in her arms. She pulled away and grabbed Elena's face gently in her hands before she wiped the tears from Elena's brown eyes. "We're all going to be fine. Just like you told me. We have gone through so much, so we can survive this too," Emily told her twin sister with complete determination in her words.

Elena closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. But once she opened them, Elena nodded her head and repeated what Emily had said so she could actually believe it herself, "we are going to be fine."

Emily gave her sister a small grin, "yes, exactly." She pulled Elena into one last hug as she stated, "and I love you too." Emily looked back into her sister's eyes with a teasing look and added, "now go get some sleep for once."

The vampire Gilbert gave her twin sister a gentle smile as she took a step back before she uttered, "good night."

Emily watched her two siblings begin to walk away but quickly grabbed onto her brother's arm and questioned with furrowed brows, "are you going to be okay?" She always worried about the baby of the family. Emily definitely didn't want him to do anything reckless like go after Katherine.

"I will after Katherine gets what is coming to her," Jeremy responded angrily but his sorrow filled eyes told a different story. He was angry that vampires kept hurting his family, but he was more sad that he was never there in time to help them.

"Jer," Emily spoke softly but stopped before she could say anymore. She knew now that if she tells Jeremy not to do something, it just makes him want to do it even more. Emily sighed before she continued, "just forget about Katherine for one night. You and Elena go home and get a good nights rest and we'll go on from there."

Jeremy wanted to argue with his sister about how Katherine needed to pay and how she couldn't get away with hurting Jenna. But with everything that happened today, he decided to just agree with her. He didn't want to cause his sister anymore stress. "Yeah, okay," Jeremy muttered.

Emily smiled thankfully as she stroked her brother's face softly. "Good," she commented before pulling Jeremy into a tight hug. She laid her head on Jeremy's chest as she whispered, "I love you, Jer. I'm glad you are okay."

Jeremy's hatred for Katherine instantly subdued at the softness in his sister's voice. He could never resist when Emily spoke gently to him. Jeremy laid a kiss on the top of his sister's head and stated, "I love you too. Good night and be careful."

"I will," Emily promised before she pulled away and looked at both of her siblings. "Get home safely," she told them before she watched her brother and sister slowly walk out of the waiting room and out of Mystic Falls Hospital.

Emily stood by the automatic doors of the waiting room as she watched her two siblings leave the building. She waited until she couldn't see them anymore before she turned around and began her journey back to her aunt's room.

"Emily!" The Gilbert girl suddenly heard as she quietly walked through the hallway that her aunt resided on.

Emily turned around with furrowed brows as she didn't know who would be calling for her. But she smiled a polite smile once she noticed Stephanie Jones, an older dark skinned woman, waving Emily towards her work post. "Hello, Mrs. Jones," Emily greeted the woman as she walked up to the receptionist desk.

Stephanie gave the young girl a warm smile and stated, "I have a delivery for you," before she pulled out a large brown paper bag and sat it on top of the large desk.

Emily twitched her head to the side as she stared at the bag in confusion. But a light bulb suddenly went off in her head as she remembered the Chinese food that she and Jenna ordered. "Oh! Thank you," Emily uttered before she began to dig through her black and white purse.

"No, that's okay, sweetie," Stephanie told the young girl once she realized what she was doing. "Your daddy was a mentor of mine, so no need to pay me back," she quickly told the brunette.

Emily ignored the older woman as she pulled out her leather wallet. Stephanie Jones is one of the most familiar people in Mystic Falls Hospital for the Gilbert girl. She used to be Grayson's scrub nurse when he would do surgeries in the hospital before she retired and became a receptionist. Emily opened her wallet and pulled out a twenty and a ten dollar bill as she knew hers and Jenna's meal came to about twenty eight dollars. "My dad taught me manners, Mrs. Jones," Emily explained before she begged, "so, please take the money."

Stephanie rolled her eyes at the young girl and stated, "aright, fine. But the next time I see you, I'm taking you out for lunch," before she reluctantly grabbed the money from the brunette.

Emily gave the older woman a charming smile as she grabbed the take out bag from the desk. "I will hold you to that, Mrs. Jones," Emily stated before she added, "have a good night, ma'am."

Emily moved down the long hallway to her aunt's hospital room as she gave each passing nurse and doctor a wave or a smile once again. Finally, after a couple of minutes, she reached her final destination. Emily knocked on the door before she peaked her head through and stated, "knock knock. I have a special order for a Ms. Sommers."

"It's about time!" Jenna complained before she wondered, "did you walk to China and cook our food yourself?"

Emily rolled her eyes at her aunt's whining as she sat the bag of food on the small table that stood over Jenna's bed. "We did order food across town," she reminded her aunt before she questioned jokingly, "did they give you morphine while I was gone? You're going a little crazy, Jennie."

"Oh, ha ha," Jenna deadpanned. "I'm just hungry," she mumbled before she stated embarrassingly, "and we didn't get the chance to eat tacos or pizza before I went all Billy Loomis on myself."

"Well, at least you didn't go all Jason Voorhees. That would have been way worse," Emily joked as she pulled out Jenna's kung pao chicken and her shrimp fried rice before she placed them onto the rectangular table.

Jenna laughed before she groaned as she placed her hand over her wrapped wound, "don't make me laugh."

Emily shook her head as she chuckled lightly at her aunt before she grabbed a plastic fork from the brown paper bag and handed it to Jenna as she stated, "here you go, Your Majesty."

"Why, thank you," Jenna muttered with a smile before wondering, "so, what movie are we watching?" Jenna's eyes widened not even a second later as she begged, "please tell me you got something to watch instead of these soap operas."

"Jenna, this isn't my first time spending a night in the hospital," Emily scolded her aunt before she began to dig through her purse while she stated, "nurse Jessica on floor three let me borrow an absolute classic." Emily continued to look through her purse for another minute before she finally pulled out the movie. "Ta da!" Emily smiled as she announced the title, "The Breakfast Club!"

"Ooh! Excellent choice!" Jenna commented excitedly. The strawberry blonde chuckled lightly so she wouldn't hurt her wound again before she told her niece, "you know, after me and your mom watched this movie, she had the biggest crush on John Bender."

"No way!" Emily laughed with her eyes widened in disbelief. "Mom was into bad boys?" She questioned with a smirk.

"Oh, yes way!" Jenna exclaimed. "Miranda was all about the bad boys during our younger years. John Bender, Jason Dean, Wade Walker, Sodapop Curtis. You name it, your mom had a poster of them," she gossiped as she remembered the past.

Emily chuckled as she shook her head. She couldn't see her mother with a bad boy. She just didn't seem like that type of girl. "How did she go from bad boys to an inspiring doctor?" Emily wondered.

"She fell in love," Jenna stated simply. "Your mom told me that he was her one true love the moment she laid eyes on him. She would always say; when it's real, nothing else matters," Jenna explained as she recalled the conversation she and Miranda had in their old Sommers house all those years ago.

A small smile made its way onto Emily's face as she listened to her aunt talk about her mother's childhood. She never really got to know any of her mother's embarrassing stories or memories. Emily liked hearing how her mother knew right then and there that her father was the one. However, as she thought about her parents, it made Emily grow sad as she knew she wouldn't get the chance to watch them grow old. Emily shook her head as she tried to wash the sadness from her mind. "Well, how about we go back in time and watch Mr. John Bender be moody as hell through high school," Emily suggested.

Jenna grinned, "sounds like a plan," before she stuffed a large piece of chicken into her very hungry mouth.

"Slow down," Emily scolded her aunt with a chuckle before she silently placed the classic movie into the DVD player. Once she pushed play, Emily took off her sneakers and pulled a chair next to Jenna's bed before she grabbed her food and relaxed with her aunt.

The brunette girl and the strawberry blonde watched the eighties movie together while they ate their Chinese food with laughter and jokes all through the night. Emily was thankful that her aunt wasn't seriously hurt by Katherine's compulsion. She was also glad to spend some alone time with Jenna, despite the circumstances. It was nice to have a good time with someone she loves and take her mind off every horrible thing that happened today.


	38. Chapter 36 Part 1

The sun had barely began to fully rise into the sky of Mystic Falls at exactly seven fifteen in the morning before the two younger Gilbert siblings showed up at the local hospital and dragged their oldest sister and aunt from the recovery wing with their blonde accomplice, Matt Donovan.

Emily's head was currently leaned against the cold glass window of Jenna's car as her twin sister drove them to the Gilbert house. She was still exhausted from sleeping in an uncomfortable chair all night. Emily's green eyes sleepily fluttered shut as she decided to get a little bit of rest before they reached their house. But unluckily for the brunette girl, she only closed her eyes for about three seconds before her brother began to shake her awake as they had reached their destination.

Emily groaned and yawned simultaneously as she stretched her sore body before she sluggishly got out of the black car and jogged as fast as her tired legs would move to the front door of the Gilbert house. She quickly unlocked the door and pushed it all the way open, so they could get Jenna inside without causing her body anymore harm than it had already experienced in the last twenty-four hours.

"Watch it!" Emily scolded her brother and friend as she noticed how close they were to bumping Jenna against the wall as they helped the strawberry blonde through the entrance. She didn't want her aunt to be in anymore pain when it was already the three sibling's fault that the older vampire went after Jenna.

Jenna looked up at her oldest niece, instead of watching her feet like she had been doing to make sure she didn't trip, before she told Emily with a small chuckle, "I'm fine. You don't have to keep worrying about me."

Emily stepped in line with her aunt as she took her brother's place and helped out Jenna like Matt was doing as she held the sore strawberry blonde's other arm. She squeezed Jenna's arm gently before she stated, "I'm not going to stop worrying until you can at least run a mile down the block."

Jenna rolled her hazel eyes and muttered, "I haven't ran a mile in years."

Emily looked over at her aunt with a smirk as she concluded, "well then it looks like I'm not going to stop worrying about you."

Jenna bumped her arm that her niece was currently holding into Emily's side with all the energy she had and mumbled under her breath, "you are a pain in my ass, Gilbert."

Emily kissed the side of her aunt's head as she stated with an arrogant smile, "I love you too, Jennie."

The vampire Gilbert silently watched the exchange between Emily and her aunt with furrowed brows. She was still worried about Jenna like her sister, but was showing her concern more openly. "The doctors said that you have to take it easy," Elena reminded her aunt for the second time since they left the hospital.

"Yeah," Jeremy exclaimed once he joined his family and the blonde quarterback in the living room after he had closed the front door. A playful smirk rose on his lips as he joked, "you don't want to rip your stitches, hemorrhage and die, right?"

Emily swiftly twirled her head around and glared at her brother as she deadpanned, "not funny, Jer."

Jenna rolled her eyes at her nephew before she mumbled as her cheeks turned a bright red color, "the only thing I'm gonna die from is embarrassment."

"No," Matt uttered softly as he tried to ease the strawberry blonde's mind.

Jenna turned her head to the left and looked at the Donovan boy as she explained her embarrassing accident, "I walked into a knife." She shook her head and huffed, "I mean, how does someone even do that?"

Emily glanced over at her siblings at her aunt's question and noticed they were looking at her with identical worried expressions. Emily didn't want her aunt to ask anymore questions about the event, so she decided to be the one to speak up to help lessen Jenna's confusion and embarrassment. She gave her aunt a gentle smile before she stated, "I fall at least five times a day, so you shouldn't worry about it too much, Jennie." Emily knew her aunt just wanted to understand what happened to her, but the Gilbert siblings couldn't have Jenna finding out about the supernatural world. It would just put her in even more danger.

"It was a freak accident," Elena finally told her aunt as she realized what her twin sister was trying to do. Elena knew they needed to convince Jenna that it really was an accident and not because of her evil doppelganger.

"Yeah, it happens," Jeremy added to his sister's remarks as he shrugged his shoulders.

Matt nodded his head as he agreed with the three Gilbert siblings even though he was completely clueless to the truth they were hiding. "Yeah, I mean, I've done it like twenty times at the Grill," he told the strawberry blonde.

Jenna snorted as she laughed at Matt but quickly grabbed onto her sore wound with a small but painful groan. She took a deep breath to ease the pain on her tender stomach before she muttered, "liar."

Matt gave the older woman a small chuckle as he confessed, "yeah, okay. I was just being nice." The blonde teenager silently pulled Jenna to a stop once they reached the leather couch before he slowly began to lower her down as easily as he could.

Emily quickly grabbed the pillows from the couch and moved them out of the way once she noticed what her blonde friend was doing. "Easy!" She reminded Matt when she heard her aunt starting to whine in discomfort.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Jenna scolded her oldest niece as she tried to push the brunette's hands away from the pillows and the small blanket that was surrounding her.

Emily ignored her aunt as she continued to move the pillows around before she placed a large one between Jenna's body and the couch so she could be more relaxed. The green eyed girl stood up straight once she was finished and looked down at her aunt with her brows furrowed in worry before she questioned softly, "do you need anything? Food? Water? Tea?" Emily threw her aunt a smirk as she added her last suggestion, "maybe some wine?"

"Hey!" Elena yelped as she slapped Emily's right shoulder. "She can't have any alcohol right now!" She reprimanded her twin sister with a deep frown.

Emily turned around and held her hands up as she looked at her sister innocently. "I was only joking," she told Elena before she turned back to her aunt and wondered, "so, what will it be?" She rolled her eyes playfully before she added, "minus the wine."

Jenna chuckled lightly while her hazel eyes shined in amusement as she looked between the Gilbert twins. She always loved to watch the banter between the two sisters. Jenna moved her eyes back to her oldest niece as she finally answered, "I could really go for a sandwich right now."

Emily gave her aunt a soft smile and stated, "of course." She bent down and kissed the top of Jenna's head before she informed her aunt, "one delicious sandwich coming right up."

Emily took the white bag from the blonde teenager's awaiting hand and linked her unoccupied arm with her twin sister's before they made the short walk into the kitchen. Emily handed Elena the take out bag silently before she grabbed five small plates from the top cabinet by the sink.

The two sisters then began to work in unison as they placed lettuce, turkey, cheese, and tomatoes on slices of french bread that they had picked up from the market. However, before they could finish making the sandwiches, their brother suddenly came charging into the kitchen like a man on a mission.

Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest as he paced through the small space between the large refrigerator and the kitchen island. "So, what are we going to do?" He interrogated his two sisters once he calmed himself down enough to even speak.

Emily looked up from the sandwich she was currently working on and rose an eyebrow at her brother as she uttered, "I thought it was obvious? We're fixing something to eat."

Jeremy swiftly stopped his pacing and faced his two sisters as he corrected the green eyed girl, "no, I mean about Katherine."

Emily heaved out a sigh as she knew this conversation was going to come up sooner or later. She had been thinking about what they were going to do while Jenna slept last night but couldn't come up with an idea. "Honestly, Jer, I'm not sure," Emily told her brother. She didn't know what they were supposed to do when Katherine is much older and stronger than the vampires they are associated with.

Elena instantly looked up from the sandwich she was working on once she heard her sister's answer and stated, "we have to do something."

Emily ran her hand through her messy brown hair as she mumbled, "I know, guys. I know." Despite how friendly Katherine has always been with her, Emily couldn't let her doppelganger's sister get away with hurting Jenna. She would always put her family first before anyone else. The green eyed girl took a deep breath before she suggested to her siblings, "look, maybe you guys should go see what the Salvatore's are going to do." She rolled her eyes and mumbled, "God knows Damon is already planning something evil."

Jeremy's brown eyes widened in shock before he wondered carefully, "so, you agree with us? That Katherine needs to pay for this?"

Emily glanced between her brother and sister for a moment before she finally nodded her head. "Well, yeah," she muttered like it was obvious before she added seriously, "no one gets away with hurting our family." That was one thing Emily could never stand for. She would rather die than let anyone hurt her loved ones.

Jeremy gave Emily a large grin and commented, "good." He glanced over to his other sister as he continued, "I'm glad we're all on the same page."

Emily bit down on her bottom lip before she interrupted her brother's obvious excitement, "uh, actually, Jer. I think that Elena should be the only one going to the Salvatore's."

Jeremy's grin instantly turned upside down into a frown as he realized what Emily was saying. He narrowed his brown eyes as he complained in a growl, "why should I have to stay here when I could be helping?"

"Jer," Emily spoke softly, "since Elena's a vampire now, I don't have to worry too much about her. However, you are still very human." She shook her head and stated, "it's just not safe for you to go running into this, especially when it has to do with Katherine."

Jeremy rolled his eyes and grumbled, "you can't protect me from the supernatural world. I've been involved in this from the beginning, so stop treating me like a baby," before he stormed out of the kitchen along with the sound of the front door slamming behind him.

"Hey," Elena began as her gentle brown eyes connected with Emily's worried green ones. "I'll make sure he doesn't get into anything dangerous," she promised. Elena squeezed her sister's hand and consoled her, "he'll be safe with me," before she quickly jogged out of the room to catch up with her brother, so she could keep her promise.

Emily sighed heavily as she watched her sister rush out of the kitchen to find Jeremy. She was worried about her brother. Emily didn't want him to do anything stupid and end up getting hurt. But she trusted that Elena would protect him like she would.

Emily closed her eyes for a moment as she calmed herself down before she grabbed three of the five plates for the remaining people in the house as she decided to focus on keeping her aunt safe and healthy for the time being.

* * *

The vampire Gilbert ran outside of the house as she didn't plan on breaking her promise to her sister. However, as soon as Elena stepped foot on the porch, she barely caught the back of Jenna's black car as it rounded the corner with her brother inside. Elena breathed out a sigh before she pulled her cell phone out and decided to give the Salvatore's a heads up as she waited for Jeremy to get far away enough that they would end up arriving at the boarding house at the same time.

 **ELENA : Jer and I are on our way over. What are we going to do about Katherine?**

Elena pressed SEND on her cell phone before she slowly began to walk down the road as she silently waited for Damon's reply. But to Elena's surprise, she only had to take about three small steps before she heard the familiar tone that notified her to a text message.

 **DAMON : WE R KILLING THE BITCH ;)**

Elena playfully rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly at Damon's answer. She had heard that exact excitement from the blue eyed vampire early this morning when she had went to the boarding house before picking up her sister and aunt from the hospital. Elena quickly slipped her cell phone back into the pocket of her jeans once she realized she gave her brother enough time before she took off with her newly found vampire speed.

It only took the vampire Gilbert about three minutes of running before the two siblings reached the Salvatore boarding house at the same time like she planned. Elena didn't bother saying anything to Jeremy, even though she wanted to, once her brother looked at her as she knew he would just get angry if he knew that she was babysitting him. Instead, Elena just walked silently next to her brother as they moved towards the boarding house.

However, as the two Gilberts silently walked up the long driveway, Elena took notice that there was someone standing in front of the entrance. "Bonnie!" The vampire Gilbert called out after she realized the figure that was knocking on the large wooden door was her best friend. "What are you doing here?" Elena questioned with furrowed brows once she and Jeremy were only a few feet away from the Bennett witch.

Bonnie looked over her shoulder once she heard someone speaking from behind her and saw the two younger Gilbert siblings. She gave them a small greeting smile but turned back around when she caught the sound of the front door squeaking as it opened. Bonnie crossed over the threshold and waited until Elena and Jeremy were standing beside her before she finally answered, "Stefan called me."

"Hey!" The aforementioned vampire exclaimed once he saw the person he was waiting for. Stefan then moved his eyes to the side and gave the two Gilbert siblings a small nod as he already knew they were coming over, courtesy of his brother texting Elena. He understood completely why they wanted to be involved in this since Katherine harmed their aunt. Stefan was just glad Emily wasn't involved in their plan. He wanted her to be as far away as possible from Katherine when it all took place.

Stefan looked back to Bonnie as he focused on the task at hand and instantly spotted the book she was holding. He sighed in relief and praised, "you brought the grimoire, thank you."

Bonnie barely heard the words coming out of the vampire's mouth as her eyes roamed around the boarding house in array of confusion. She watched Elena run into Damon's awaiting arms before her eyes moved over to Caroline, Jeremy, and Alaric, who were grabbing weapons from a large table that was full of them. Bonnie swiftly twirled her head back around and stared at Stefan with her brows furrowed as she questioned nervously, "what's going on?"

Damon threw his arm over Elena's shoulder before he looked over at the Bennett witch and called out loudly with his signature smirk as he answered before his brother could, "we're gonna kill Katherine."

Stefan quickly raised his hands up as soon as he saw Bonnie's brown eyes widened before he quickly uttered apologetically, "I can explain."

"Please," Bonnie begged as she was beyond confused at what was happening right now.

Stefan lifted his eyes towards the ceiling like he was in deep thought before he looked back at the Bennett witch and repeated exactly what his brother had said word for word, "we're gonna kill Katherine," and added, "tonight, at the Masquerade Ball."

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief before she focused back onto the living room, where the three vampires and two humans were now all looking at the wooden weapons. The Bennett witch understood why they would want to kill Katherine, thanks to Stefan explaining what happened last night over the phone, but she was worried about the casualties that would be involved. Bonnie looked over at Stefan as she decided to voice her concerns as she whispered, "can we talk? In private?"

Stefan furrowed his brows as he stared at Bonnie before he finally nodded his head, "yeah, of course." He took one last look at the vampires and humans in the living room before he walked away with Bonnie into a small parlor room. "What's wrong?" Stefan questioned once he closed the door behind them.

The Bennett witch sighed before she quietly placed her Grams' grimoire onto an old wooden table. "Look, I know you want to do this to protect Emily and that you love her," Bonnie began before she instantly held her hand up when she noticed Stefan was about to open his mouth. "Don't even think about disagreeing with me," Bonnie commanded before she added, "we all know it's true." She chuckled in disbelief before she continued, "I mean, you don't even care that Damon and Elena are all over each other."

Stefan sighed in defeat as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Yeah, okay," he mumbled before he confessed, "it's true. Elena and I agreed to end it a couple of days ago. She wasn't in love with me anymore and I guess I just fell out of love with her." Stefan's eyes quickly widened before he pleaded, "but you can't tell Emily about this! Elena nor I have told her yet." Stefan shook his head and uttered, "I just haven't had the time to tell her with everything happening lately."

Bonnie nodded her head in understanding before she stated with a gentle smile, "you should tell her soon. I can tell there's something between you two." She chuckled as she added, "I'm pretty sure everyone knows except her."

Stefan rubbed the back of his neck as he mumbled, "yeah, that might be my fault." The vampire quickly continued when he saw Bonnie's shocked expression, "it was when Isobel was in town and I couldn't be selfish when I was still involved with Elena!"

"Stefan," Bonnie uttered in disappointment, "you definitely need to tell her the truth." She pointed her finger at the green eyed vampire and stated, "she deserves to know." Bonnie shook her head before she told Stefan, "despite being compelled, I can still see she has feelings for you, so please tell her as soon as possible."

Stefan sighed and nodded his head as he listened to Bonnie. He always felt guilty about compelling Emily all that time ago. He knew he should have told Emily the moment he and Elena broke up, but Stefan was afraid. He was afraid that Emily wouldn't see him in that way anymore and he just didn't want to lose her from his life. However, with Bonnie mentioning that she can see that Emily feels something for him, it made Stefan believe that he may still have a chance.

Stefan shook his head and stated, "it's just not the right time right now. We have to focus on killing Katherine." He couldn't get distracted with his feelings for the oldest Gilbert when they had a plan that needed to be finished.

"You better tell her soon," Bonnie told the vampire once again before she questioned as they both got back on topic, "are you sure this is the right thing to do?" She sighed before she muttered, "a lot of people could get hurt."

"What Katherine did to Jenna," Stefan mentioned before he stated, "it crossed a line." He looked into Bonnie's brown eyes as he declared, "she has to be stopped before it happens again."

Bonnie shook her head and mumbled with uncertainty, "I don't know, Stefan."

"Look, Katherine knows me, right?" Stefan questioned as he tried to convince the Bennett witch to help them. "She knows that I'm not gonna try something in a crowd full of innocent people," he explained, "so, that gives me an edge. I could catch her by surprise."

Bonnie bit down on her bottom lip as she thought everything over for a moment before she suggested, "I could do a spell to trap her." She snapped her fingers as she completed her idea, "like the tomb spell."

Stefan nodded his head in agreement and muttered, "right." He stared into Bonnie's brown eyes as he added, "we can isolate her - away from the others." Stefan could still see the conflicted emotions on the witch's face so he begged once more, "please, Bonnie."

Bonnie stayed quiet as she tried to make sure this was the right thing to do. She knew there was a lot of things that could go wrong. But on the other hand, they needed to stop Katherine from hurting anyone else. "Okay," Bonnie finally mumbled as she nodded her head. She knew if Mystic Falls was to ever be safe again, then she needed to help them trap Katherine and get rid of her once and for all.

* * *

The three red used plates quietly clinked against the porcelain sink as Emily carefully slipped them into the soapy water after a couple of hours of chatting along with her aunt and blonde friend. The green eyed girl wiped her wet hands off on a small tea towel before she turned around and leaned against the counter, where she noticed her blonde friend putting on his Mystic Falls Timberwolves varsity jacket.

Emily folded her arms over her chest and twitched her head to the side as she wondered, "you leaving already?" She gave the blonde a smirk as she informed him, "Ric is probably going to show up with some pizza for the basketball game soon."

Matt chuckled lightly before he nodded his head and stated, "I would love to stay here and stuff my face with pizza all night, but sadly I have to get ready for the Masquerade party." He rose an eyebrow at the brunette girl as he suddenly remembered, "aren't you like in charge of that thing? Shouldn't you be there already freaking out about everything going perfectly?"

Emily's green eyes widened as she gasped before she slapped Matt's shoulder and mumbled, "I don't freak out."

Matt rolled his eyes and uttered sarcastically, "oh, yeah. You're right. My mistake. I guess I was seeing things when I thought I saw you yell at Elena for accidentally dropping a plate at last year's Masquerade Ball."

"It was a China plate, Matthew!" Emily exclaimed before she took a deep breath and shook her head once she heard the blonde teenager laughing at her outburst. She rolled her eyes and mumbled, "whatever," before she pushed Matt towards the front door. "Besides," Emily began as they walked through the living room, "I called Mrs. Lockwood earlier and explained what happened to Jenna and told her I wouldn't be able to help out before the event started." The Gilbert girl glanced over at the small clock above the staircase as she added, "I just have to leave in about an hour or so."

Matt opened the front door before he turned to face the brunette girl with a smirk as he stated, "well, don't let me hold you back, Ms. Perfect."

Emily rolled her eyes and ordered, "go get dressed in your lovely suit, Matty." The green eyed girl knew that the blonde despised having to wear suits and ties ever since they were children, so she always loved to tease him about it.

"Ugh," Matt groaned before he pleaded, "don't remind me. I hate those stupid monkey suits."

"Oh, don't be such a baby," Emily laughed before she gave the blonde teenager one last smile and stated, "I'll see you tonight," before she watched Matt walk to his pick-up truck, wave, and then drive away towards the Donovan house.

Emily closed the front door behind her once she couldn't see the blue pick-up truck anymore before she called out to her aunt, "Jennie? What movie should we watch before I have to leave?" However, when the Gilbert girl didn't receive a response from the strawberry blonde, Emily quickly jogged into the living room in worry but instantly sighed in relief once she noticed Jenna had just fallen asleep and that nothing was wrong.

Emily grabbed the small blanket that was thrown on the back of the leather couch before she softly placed it over Jenna's body. The brunette girl then bent down and kissed the top of her aunt's head before she headed to the kitchen to wash the dirty dishes. Emily knew she still had time, so she decided to waste a couple of minutes before she had to start getting ready for the Masquerade Ball.

Emily had barely turned on the hot water before she suddenly heard the familiar tone of her cell phone ringing. The Gilbert girl sighed as she turned the water back off before she quickly grabbed her device from the kitchen table. Emily glanced down at the screen and noticed it was the youngest Salvatore that was calling her. "Hey, Stef," she greeted the vampire.

"Hey, Emmie," Stefan's soft voice spoke through the phone before he questioned gently, "how are you feeling? I know Mason was a big part of your life." The vampire was worried about the human girl since he hasn't had a single chance to even check up on her with everything going on.

Emily carefully took a seat at the kitchen table at the mention of the deceased werewolf. She had forgotten about the horrible event thanks to what Katherine made her aunt do. Emily heaved out a sigh before she confessed truthfully, "it's tough, you know. But Lena talked me through it and helped me understand that I can't just stop living because I'm mourning. I just have to keep moving forward." Emily chuckled wholeheartedly as she added, "besides, I have my family, my friends, and I have you. So, I'll be just fine."

"I'm glad," Stefan smiled through the phone. He couldn't help but feel love in his chest as the human girl singled him out. _Maybe Bonnie's right,_ Stefan thought. Could it be possible for Emily to feel something for him, despite Stefan compelling her to not believe what Isobel had said about him being in love with her?

"I'm really sorry I didn't come by last night to check up on you, but with what Katherine did..." Stefan quickly apologized before he trailed off as he didn't want to mention the compelling done by his ex-girlfriend and upset the Gilbert girl.

"Yeah, I know," Emily muttered with a frown as she traced a small pattern on the kitchen table. "Speaking of her, did you guys come up with a way to deal with Katherine?" She questioned before she informed the brunette vampire, "I know Lena and Jer headed over to the boarding house earlier to see if you and Damon had anything planned."

"Yeah, they showed up," Stefan told the Gilbert girl. The vampire then grew silent as he thought about if he should tell Emily everything that was said at the boarding house between the vampires, humans, and the Bennett witch. He finally decided to tell her the plan as he didn't want to take the chance of Emily getting hurt. He would rather her know the truth than to be clueless. "We're planning on, uh, dealing with Katherine tonight at the ball," Stefan explained.

Emily rose an eyebrow at the vampire's explanation. "Is that code for killing her?" She wondered.

Stefan scratched the back of his neck in worry for the human's reaction as he didn't really understand Emily and Katherine's relationship. He noticed a while back that Katherine was always kind to the human girl. "Uh... yes," Stefan finally responded awkwardly.

Emily stayed silent for a moment before she mumbled, "I figured that was going to happen." She didn't really like the plan per se since Katherine has helped her understand her doppelganger, but Emily knew the town wasn't safe with her in it. "But are you sure it's a good idea to do it with every resident of Mystic Falls in attendance?" Emily questioned as she grew worried about dealing with Katherine in a very crowded place.

"It's our best option," Stefan answered before he explained to the brunette like he did to the Bennett witch, "Katherine won't think twice that we would do something to her in a public place. It'll throw her off her game."

Emily shrugged her shoulders lightly as she commented, "that's probably a good idea." She had to agree with the way they were going about it. They needed to catch Katherine off guard if they were going to succeed in dealing with the older vampire. Emily just hoped that no human would end up getting hurt.

"That is one of the reasons why I called you," Stefan began before he told the Gilbert girl, "I just wanted to warn you to stay away from the Lockwood's tonight. I don't want you anywhere near the plan or Katherine."

Emily bit down on her bottom lip and sighed before she uttered, "well, uh, that's going to be a problem."

"Why?" Stefan quickly interrogated as his brows instantly furrowed in worry.

"I have to be there, Stef," Emily stated before she explained, "I'm basically running the event with Mrs. Lockwood." There was no way she could not go to the Masquerade Ball. She was the small town's darling child after all. It would look like something was up if she wasn't at one of the most important events.

"Dammit," Stefan mumbled roughly, "I forgot." The green eyed vampire sighed before he compromised, "okay, okay. Just promise me you will stay away from Katherine and if she does find you, then I need you to look for me, Damon, Elena, or Caroline right away."

"I promise," Emily uttered before she added with a small shrug, "I'm mostly going to be busy with the event anyways, so I should be fine."

Stefan still didn't like the idea of Emily going to the Lockwood's even though there would be four vampires there that would be able to protect her. "Do you really have to go?" He questioned anxiously.

Emily chuckled lightly at the worried vampire before she told him, "I'll be fine, Stef." The Gilbert girl wasn't all that scared about going to the Masquerade Ball. Katherine had never laid a single finger on her, so why should she be frightened that the vampire would harm her now?

"Yeah, okay," Stefan mumbled in defeat as he knew there was no way to convince Emily to stay home. "But I'm going to keep a close eye on you until we know where Katherine is," he told the brunette girl before he expressed softly, "I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"Stefan, I will be fine," Emily told the vampire once more. "Now stop worrying about me and focus on the plan," she commanded with a giggle.

"I'm always going to worry about you," Stefan whispered gently to the human girl before he stated, "but I'm going to let you go now. I'm taking your advice and going to focus as I know you need to get ready."

Emily chuckled lightly and uttered, "good. I'll see you soon, Mr. Salvatore," before she ended the call. The Gilbert girl sat there for a moment as a bright smile shined on her face without her knowledge. Emily couldn't help but feel happiness in the pit of her stomach at how worried Stefan was about her. However, before she could look too deep into her newly found feelings for the brunette vampire - who happens to be her sister's boyfriend, Emily quickly shook her head and stood up from the kitchen table as she knew she had to start getting ready for the ball.

Emily headed towards the leather couch once she entered the living room and checked on her injured aunt one last time. She was still worried about the strawberry blonde, but knew as long as she was asleep, then she wouldn't be in any pain. Once Emily was sure that Jenna was okay, she headed up the staircase. However, as she silently moved through the Gilbert house, the brunette girl couldn't help but feel weird since she wasn't getting ready with her sister or Bonnie and Caroline or even Jenna. Emily was used to getting ready for an event with other people - but everyone was busy with the Katherine plan or in Jenna's case; sleeping and healing.

Emily made a beeline towards the bathroom the siblings all shared to take a quick shower. She knew she wouldn't survive in a dress all night if she didn't shower since she was stuck in the hospital and didn't have the chance to last night. The Gilbert girl only had less than an hour to get ready, so she quickly washed her hair with a strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner as well as washed her body with a mango scented soap before she swiftly jumped right back out.

Emily wrapped her wet brown hair into a small towel and wrapped a larger one around her body before she slowly tip toed into her bedroom. She headed straight towards her closet and grabbed the red knee length dress that was hanging on the back of the door. Emily had placed it there a few days ago, so she didn't waste time looking through all of her clothes. She was thankful she did that now, since she didn't have much time.

Emily threw the large towel into her blue hamper and slipped on a matching red bra and panties along with the red skater dress before she headed to her vanity table. She wanted to go with a simple look, so Emily just placed a nude eye shadow on her lids and a light pink gloss over her lips before she slipped on a silver diamond ring along with a pair of silver earrings.

Emily moved back to her closet and bent down to pick out a set of shoes once she was happy with her makeup and jewelry. She decided to settle on a pair of black open toed heels. Emily crouched down and slipped the shoes over her feet before she closed the small latch around her ankles.

Emily turned around and moved towards her dresser after her shoes were secure on her feet and noticed just the thing she was looking for; her clutch bag. Emily grabbed the small item from the top of her dresser before she opened it to put her cell phone inside but was surprised and relieved when she spotted a black lace mask.

The Gilbert girl pulled the mask from her clutch bag before she moved in front of her fully body mirror. Emily then stared at her reflection for a moment as she was busy thinking before she unwrapped the small towel from her head and placed her damp brown hair into a low messy bun. She didn't have the time to blow dry her hair or even straighten it, so this would have to do. Emily then carefully slipped the lace Masquerade mask over her green eyes.

Emily twirled her body in front of the mirror before she looked back at her reflection with a small nod and a smile. She was quiet pleased with her final product. The Gilbert girl then glanced over to the clock on her bedside table and was surprised with how fast she had gotten dressed. She was ready in record timing with twenty minutes to spare.

Emily decided she would head out now so she could ease the mayor's mind since she was supposed to be there helping out hours ago. The Gilbert girl placed her clutch bag over her right shoulder and turned off the lights in her bedroom before she slowly made her way down the staircase. However, as Emily walked down the steps, she couldn't help but feel her legs shake as she wasn't used to wearing heels lately.

The brunette girl reached the fourth to the last step when she suddenly heard the front door open. Emily stopped moving completely as she looked up and noticed Alaric walking in with a box of pizza and a full bottle of bourbon.

"Hey!" Alaric greeted the young girl. He glanced down at her outfit and wondered, "are you going to the Masquerade thing?"

Emily gave the vampire hunter a smirk as she commented, "well, I hope my mask didn't give me away," before she continued to walk down the stairs until she reached the flat surface of the hallway. "But, yes, I am," Emily stated with a chuckle before she questioned with furrowed brows, "is that a problem? Do you need me to stay with Jenna?" Emily would gladly sacrifice herself getting yelled at by Mrs. Lockwood if she had to stay and take care of her ill aunt.

"No! No!" Alaric quickly assured the brunette girl. "I was just wondering because of the whole plan to kill Katherine tonight. I would have thought your sister or Stefan would make you stay home," he whispered.

Emily rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Stefan did try. But I have to be there." She chuckled lightly as she added, "you know the mayor would have my head if I wasn't."

"Very true," Alaric commented with a quiet laugh before he told the young girl, "well, call me if you need anything."

Emily smiled and praised, "thanks, Ric." The Gilbert girl bit down on her lip before she questioned once more as she still felt nervous about leaving her aunt, "are you sure you don't need me to stay with Jenna?" Emily had been with her aunt ever since the compelled accident happened, so she didn't really like the idea of leaving Jenna's side.

Alaric rolled his eyes playfully and muttered, "she'll be fine, Emily." He glanced over at the sleeping strawberry blonde and stated, "she's probably just going to rest all night anyways." He looked back at the teenage girl and added, "besides, she would kill us if you miss going to this thing."

Emily laughed and uttered, "yeah, you're probably right." She stared at her aunt for a moment before she told Alaric, "I shouldn't be gone too long. I'll be back by eleven or so to release you from the boredness of watching Jenna sleep."

Alaric shook his head and raised the bottle of bourbon as he corrected the young girl, "I won't be too bored. I do have the company of old Jim." He chuckled lightly as he added, "besides, I think you will be more bored with talking to every resident that loves you."

"Hey! It's not my fault I have fans," Emily joked before she gave the vampire hunter a small smirk as she compromised, "well, then I'll be back at eleven, so we can both have some time with old Jim."

"You better hope there's still some left," Alaric uttered teasingly before he headed towards the kitchen and called out to the young girl that he saw as family, "have fun!"

Emily chuckled at the vampire hunter before she turned around and grabbed her keys from the small table by the door. She looked back into the living room one last time and saw her aunt still sleeping and Alaric flipping through the channels on the TV while munching on a slice of pizza. Emily knew her aunt was going to be safe with Alaric. She was more worried about the residents of Mystic Falls that were going to be obliviously in the middle of something very dangerous.


	39. Chapter 36 Part 2

The drive to the Lockwood mansion from the Gilbert house was very short for Emily. It only took her about ten minutes before she spotted the brightly lit estate that was filled with people, loud music, and entertainment. Emily guessed that the reason for the short drive was because every resident of Mystic Falls was all here instead of on the roads.

It took the Gilbert girl an extra three minutes of driving around before she finally found a parking spot in the sea of vehicles that surrounded the large estate. Once Emily pulled the keys out of the ignition, she closed her green eyes as she tried to calm her mind. She knew this event was going to be very different from all the other ones. A lot of things could happen tonight; good and bad. Emily just hoped that no one will get hurt in the process.

"I can do this," Emily whispered to herself before she grabbed her black clutch bag from the passenger seat and exited her car. She leaned against the black door once she closed and locked it as she took a deep breath before she finally nodded her head as she was ready. She then began to make her way up to the Lockwood mansion with confidence as she believed everything would go as planned.

The darling child of Mystic Falls gave each passing resident a polite smile and a small hello as she moved through the large crowd. She was surprised and relieved how successful the Masquerade Ball was already doing. However, Emily still wanted to find Mrs. Lockwood right away. She wanted to let the mayor know that she was here and willing to help with whatever needed her attention. Emily knew how important this event was to the Lockwood family, so she didn't want the older woman to have to worry too much. Plus, it also helped Emily forget about the hidden agenda that was going to take place tonight.

"Well, if it isn't Ms. Emmie Gilbert," a loud but familiar voice instantly called out from the right side of the aforementioned girl as soon as she entered the Lockwood mansion.

Emily swallowed thickly as the voice was so similar to the one of the deceased werewolf. Just the thought of Mason made the Gilbert girl's chest tighten as his death was still very fresh in her mind. However, Emily knew she couldn't let it show she was mourning for someone that everyone thought was alive. So, the brunette girl took another deep breath, in less than fifteen minutes, before she placed a smile on her face and turned towards her right, where she saw the owner of the voice, Tyler Lockwood, and her blonde friend, Matt Donovan.

"Actually, her name is Ms. Perfect," Matt corrected once Emily was standing in front of him and Tyler with the name he called her by when he was at the Gilbert house earlier.

"Oh, really?" Tyler questioned teasingly as he crossed his suit covered arms over his thin red tie while he stared at the brunette girl in amusement.

Emily rolled her eyes at the two boys that she calls her best friends before she countered, "actually, it's kiss-my-ass-Matthew." The brunette girl's expression then turned into a grin when she looked down at Tyler's and Matt's similar suits and ties. "Well, don't my boys look quite snazzy," Emily complimented.

Tyler shook his head with a chuckle before he brought the Gilbert girl into a tight hug and commented, "you don't look too bad yourself, Emmie."

"Thanks, Ty," Emily praised with a small giggle as she hugged her brunette friend before she mentioned once their embrace was broken, "it feels like I haven't seen you in forever." Emily couldn't even remember the last time she and Tyler just hanged out. There always tends to be something that comes up and needs her attention in the supernatural filled town before she could relax and have a normal and boring day.

Tyler nodded his head as he agreed, "yeah, it seems like that."

"So, where's your date, Ms. Perfect?" Matt drunkenly questioned Emily as soon as the last word fell out of Tyler's mouth in an obnoxiously loud voice while a large smirk lifted on his red flushed face.

Emily rolled her eyes and stated, "I don't need a date." However, in reality, that was the last thing on the brunette's mind with everything that has been going on lately. "Besides, I have my two favorite boys," Emily told both Matt and Tyler with a cheeky grin.

"I'm surprised Mason isn't your date," the Donovan teenager commented easily before he explained with a shrug, "you guys are always inseparable when he's here."

Emily's whole body instantly went rigid as soon as Matt mentioned Mason's name. She felt like everything in the room just stopped moving. This is what Emily has been dreading, that someone would ask her or say something about Mason or his absence. However, before Emily could come up with a quick lie, the deceased werewolf's nephew answered for her.

"He's not even here," Tyler responded to the blonde's question. He rolled his brown eyes as he added with obvious annoyance ringing throughout his voice, "Mason skipped town again." Tyler huffed out an irritated sigh before he mumbled, "no surprise there."

Emily bit down on her bottom lip as she listened to the distaste in Tyler's voice for Mason. She wanted so badly to tell her best friend the truth about his uncle, but she knew she couldn't. No one was supposed to know what really happened to Mason.

However, while on the edge of what she should do and what she wants to do, Emily thought back to what Mason told her before she left the Salvatore boarding house on that dreadful night. She had promised the older man that she would protect Tyler from this life. So, if that meant Emily had to lie to her best friend, no matter how bad she hated to do it, then she would. If it kept Tyler safe from the supernatural world, then she would lie as many times as she could to protect him and fulfill Mason's last dying wish.

"You know Mason," Emily began as she waved her hand carelessly, "he's always traveling the world and staying close to the ocean." She chuckled lightly before she added to convince her best friend, "before you know it, we'll be seeing him in a couple of years. Just like we always do."

Tyler silently nodded his head before he agreed, "yeah, you're right." He should have known Mason would just up and leave again. Tyler remembered that his father use to always complain about his brother never staying in one place. "So, did you do all this?" The Lockwood teenager questioned Emily after a short moment of silence while he looked around his decorative home.

Emily couldn't help but let a small sigh of relief escape her mouth. She had at least one person, or two if she was counting the tipsy Matthew Donovan, to accept that Mason wouldn't be in Mystic Falls for a while. Emily was glad that she didn't have to worry about having this conversation with her best friend anymore as Tyler was the person she was most worried about having to deceive.

Emily rolled her green eyes playfully at the Lockwood teenager as she could finally relax again before she slapped Tyler's shoulder and stated, "you know this was all your mom's doing."

"Ooh," the blonde teenager cooed before Matt questioned Emily teasingly, "is Ms. Perfect being modest?"

"Stop bothering my favorite girl," a loud and commanding voice exclaimed as soon as the words flew out of the tipsy blonde's mouth, along with the sound of a pair of heels clanking against the marble floors of the large estate.

"Mrs. Lockwood," Emily greeted the woman once she was standing in front of her, Tyler, and Matt. She gave the mayor a polite smile and complimented, "you look beautiful."

The Lockwood woman pulled the young brunette girl into a tight hug as she praised, "you look gorgeous, my dear." She gave Emily a bright smile once she pulled away from their hug before she spread her arms out and questioned, "doesn't everything look so perfect?" Mrs. Lockwood shook her head and told the Gilbert girl, "I can't believe how well you handled this!"

"I told you," Tyler whispered to Emily as a small smirk reached his smug lips.

Emily discreetly bumped her hip harshly into Tyler's before she focused back onto the woman in front of her as she stated sweetly, "it was all thanks to you, Mrs. Lockwood."

The brunette woman chuckled lightly before she said, "I will not take all of the credit." She shook her head with a proud smile on her face as she complimented Emily, "you did wonderfully."

The Gilbert girl bowed her head slightly and praised with a grin, "well, thank you, Mrs. Lockwood," before she requested, "if there's a problem anytime tonight, please let me know and I'll fix it." Emily wanted to be busy as much as she could, like she had promised Stefan she would be. Plus, it kept her mind from going into overdrive with wondering what was going on with the supernatural beings around the Lockwood mansion.

Mrs. Lockwood gave the brunette girl a beaming smile before she declared, "everything is going far better than I could ever imagine." She raised her point finger in the air as she added, "but on the off chance something does happen, I will find you." Mrs. Lockwood then waved her right hand and told Emily, "now go have fun. You deserve it."

"Yes, ma'am," Emily promised with a small smile as she decided to listen to the mayor. However, the brunette girl only took about three steps because she heard Mrs. Lockwood's loud and commanding voice once more.

"Not so fast, boys," Mrs. Lockwood reprimanded her son and his blonde friend, who tried to follow after the Gilbert girl. "You still need to move the chairs up from the basement," she ordered before she swiftly twirled her body around and began to strut down the long marble hallway. "Let's go," Mrs. Lockwood hollered without turning when she couldn't hear the footsteps of Matt and Tyler.

"Have fun," Emily grinned at her two friends as she waved them a goodbye before she watched the two teenagers slowly follow after the mayor with slumped shoulders. Emily shook her head with a small chuckle when she couldn't see Matt and Tyler anymore before she made her way through the side glass door, where she saw many more people out on the bright green lawn.

The Gilbert girl had barely began to greet the many residents of Mystic Falls as she slowly moved through the party before she felt a light tap on her bare shoulder. Emily turned around at the touch and noticed it was Dr. Gregory Davis who was trying to get her attention. The brunette girl recognized the older man as the Chief of Surgery at Mystic Falls Hospital.

"Hello, Dr. Davis," the Gilbert girl uttered with a polite smile once the blonde woman she had been speaking with walked away.

"Good evening, Ms. Gilbert," the doctor greeted the young girl with a nod of his head. He then glanced around the party before he informed the brunette, "I was told you're in charge of this event."

Emily chuckled lightly as she waved her hand before she told the doctor, "it has mostly been Mrs. Lockwood." Emily couldn't believe she was already having this conversation again. Why did everyone think she did all this?

"Really?" Dr. Davis wondered as his gray eyebrows rose before he explained, "well, she was the one that told me of the excellent work you did for this event. In fact, she raved about all the work you have done for our community."

Emily couldn't help the light blush that instantly rose to her cheeks. She should have known Mrs. Lockwood would have talked her up to people, especially the surgeon when almost everyone knows of Emily's dream of wanting to be a doctor.

Emily nodded her head silently before she told the older man, "she isn't wrong. I've worked very closely with her to help better our town." The brunette girl couldn't help but to be curious to where this conversation would go. The only time she had ever talked with Dr. Davis was when she used to go to the hospital with her father as a little girl, so he could perform surgeries.

"She also told me how you hope to be a cardiothoracic surgeon," Dr. Davis mentioned. "I have silently watched you grow your entire life thanks to Grayson always bragging," the doctor stated with a chuckle before he continued, "the work you have done for our community is far more than anyone could ever do at the young age of seventeen. The organization has noticed you as one of the few students in Mystic Falls that would change the world as we know it." The older man gave Emily a large grin as he told her, "you have a bright future and it would be my pleasure to welcome you to ALOS once you are graduated, Ms. Gilbert."

Emily's green eyes slightly widened in surprise. She was shocked that the Chief of Surgery wanted her to be involved with America's Leadership Of Surgeons. Emily had always dreamed to be involved with the organization that does so many things across the world. They help college students that want to be in the surgery field, and most importantly, they are involved with the best research labs and hospitals that wish to cure diseases and help better the world. Emily quickly shook the doctor's hand and praised excitedly, "it would be an honor, sir."

Dr. Davis gave the young girl another smile and stated, "we would be lucky to have you." He then placed his aged hand on her shoulder and told Emily honestly, "Miranda and Grayson would have been so proud of you."

Emily stood frozen in her spot as she watched the Chief of Surgery walk away from her without another word. "Holy crap," she mumbled to herself while she stared at nothing in particular. Emily couldn't believe the organization that only allowed twelve applicants a year wanted her once she graduated high school.

Even though two years was like light years away in Mystic Falls, Emily couldn't help but still feel happy and proud of herself. This has always been her one true dream. However, Emily knew her future and ALOS wasn't guaranteed for her since the man Darina warned her about was supposed to be coming for her. She still had to make it out alive first.

"Why do you look like you are about to explode from excitement?" A voice suddenly spoke from right beside Emily, which caused the brunette to jump as she didn't even hear anyone come up to her while she was completely lost in her thoughts.

Emily swiftly twirled to the right and noticed that the loud voice belonged to her friend and fellow cheerleader, Cheryl Blossom. Emily grinned as she told the teenager, "I just got accepted to join ALOS." Even with all the supernatural mess that surrounds Emily like Katherine, tomb vampires, her vampire mother, Niklaus, a sacrifice, Emily knew she still needed to enjoy the simplest and human things in life.

"No way!" Cheryl yelped. She immediately pulled the brunette girl into a hug as she exclaimed, "oh, my God! I'm so happy for you!"

Emily giggled lightly and praised, "thanks." She shook her head as she stated, "I feel like I'm dreaming." The Gilbert girl couldn't help but feel like a normal person at the moment. Before the town was ever introduced to the supernatural world, joining ALOS was all Emily had ever wished for. It now felt childish compared to the things she goes through on a daily basis with vampires, werewolves, and witches. But Emily was going to savor the happiness she was feeling for as long as she could until the next supernatural tragedy strikes.

Cheryl chuckled before she uttered with a bright smile, "nope. It's just your dream coming true." The two girls both giggled and hugged once more before they locked their arms together and began to slowly walk through the party.

"I heard what happened to your aunt," Cheryl announced after a couple of silent minutes had passed between them. She took a quick glance over at the brunette girl with her brows furrowed before she added, "I'm so sorry."

Emily nodded her head as she gave her friend a small smile and stated, "thank you. She's feeling much better since she got home."

"I'm glad," Cheryl commented as she squeezed Emily's arm. "Speaking of patients coming home from the hospital," Cheryl began as she gave the brunette girl a smirk, "I have a surprise for you."

Emily looked over at her friend with furrowed brows as she didn't understand what Cheryl was talking about. However, when the Gilbert girl noticed that Cheryl was staring at something, Emily followed the cheerleader's gaze and was surprised when she saw the other Blossom twin only a few feet away. "Jason!" She gasped, "Oh, my God!"

"Surprise!" Cheryl yelped before she quickly dragged the Gilbert girl with her as she rushed to her twin brother's side.

Emily pulled the tall boy into a tight hug as soon as she was in front of him. She couldn't remember the last time she had even seen the Blossom teenager outside of school. "You look so much better," Emily complimented. She had heard the gossip around town that Jason looked horrible when they had pulled him from the lake.

"I'm glad you finally find me attractive," Jason joked smugly.

Emily rolled her green eyes at the Blossom teenager before she questioned with a beaming smile, "so? How are you feeling? What are you even doing here?" She furrowed her brows as she added, "shouldn't you be at home resting?"

Jason chuckled lightly before he answered, "I feel much better. I don't need anymore medical attention." He then gently placed his point finger between the brunette's furrowed brows with a grin before he explained, "and to answer your other two questions, Cheryl told me how you were planning on stopping by, so I couldn't pass the chance in getting out of bed and seeing my second favorite girl."

Emily playfully pushed Jason's hand away from her face before she nodded her head and told the male Blossom twin, "I was going to stop by this morning, but I had so much going on." She waved her hand carelessly as she added, "you know how busy I can be."

Jason snickered as his eyes stayed connected with Emily's green ones before he spoke softly, "yeah, I do know."

"Hey, JJ," Cheryl uttered as she gained her brother's attention while a wide smirk began to shine on her bright red lips before she wondered, "did you know our amazing Emily over here is still single?"

"Cheryl," Emily told her friend in a warning tone. She knew what her fellow cheerleader was doing. When Emily was growing up with the Blossom twins, Cheryl would always try to set her up with Jason. At the time, Emily didn't mind. But once they got into the ninth grade and their families began to have problems with each other, it put a damper on the friendship between the Gilbert and Blossom twins. Which also caused Emily to not want to push what she and Jason could have had together.

"Oh, what? What was that?" Cheryl exclaimed as she looked around the party with furrowed brows before she turned back to her brother and friend. "I think I heard my name being called," she uttered with a cheeky grin. Cheryl then began to walk backwards with a smirk on her face as she told them, "maybe you guys should, I don't know, dance instead of standing around like weirdos," before she twirled her body around as she walked through the crowd of people and left Emily and Jason alone.

The Gilbert girl shook her head with a small chuckle as she watched in amusement as Cheryl quickly walked away. It was obvious what she was doing. It was a very known fact that Jason Blossom held a heavy crush for the Gilbert girl. However, Emily only ever saw him as a friend after everything went down between their families. Plus, Emily had moved on from that giggling girl that liked to go to parties and enjoy boys. Now she had a family, friends, and a town to protect.

"I think my sister is trying to set us up," Jason told Emily once he had faced the brunette girl instead of watching his sister disappear into the sea of people.

Emily tilted her head up so she could look at the tall teenager before she agreed with the nod of her head, "I think you're right." She rose an eyebrow and wondered, "so, are you up for some dancing?" Emily smirked as she challenged, "or are you too scared that you'll fall on your ass?" There was no point for Emily to just stand around, so why not dance? She did promise she would be busy during the whole Katherine plan.

"Oh, you are so on, Gilbert," Jason grinned as he grabbed the brunette's wrist and swiftly twirled her around until they were chest to chest with each other before they slowly began to dance to the soft classical music.

"I see you haven't lost your magical touch," Emily teased as her left hand rested on Jason's shoulder and her other hand was linked with her dancing partner's. Jason would always tell her as a joke when they were younger that he could move so well because he was gifted by the strong and magical, dancing God.

"You haven't seen anything yet," Jason told the Gilbert girl as he gripped Emily's right hand tightly in his own and twirled her underneath his arm before he dipped her lowly.

Emily couldn't help but giggle as she and her childhood friend continued to dance closely with laughter and memories being shared every couple of minutes. It was nice for Emily to just spend time with someone who was like her; human. She also enjoyed that she didn't have to worry and talk about the supernatural world when the person she was with had no clue about it.

However, while Jason was in the middle of reminding Emily of the time they kissed at one of the many decade dances their school always held, a familiar but tense voice interrupted the Blossom teenager's story.

"May I cut in?" The youngest Salvatore questioned as he shot the red headed human boy a fierce glare.

Emily looked over at her dancing partner, who was frowning in the vampire's direction, before she squeezed his shoulder to get his attention. Once Jason's disappointed eyes were on her, Emily gave him a soft smile and stated, "I'll see you later," before she placed her left hand into Stefan's awaiting cold one.

The Gilbert girl's fingertips had barely touched the vampire's before Stefan possessively pulled her close to his body and began to walk away from the human boy to find a quiet space. Once Stefan found the perfect spot that wasn't surrounded by people, he twirled Emily underneath his arm like Jason had done but more smoothly, before he pulled her into his chest and began to slowly dance to the soft music.

Emily chuckled lightly at the fast movement before she wrapped her arms tightly around Stefan's neck as she stared directly into his familiar and calming green eyes. "Hi," she whispered softly.

"Hi," the brunette vampire whispered right back as his mouth was only centimeters away from the human girl's.

The Gilbert girl and the Salvatore vampire then continued to dance in a comfortable silence without any words needed to be spoken. It felt like they were the only people in the world as Emily's warm body was pressed against Stefan's cold one. It was like they fitted together. They were opposites, but they completed each other perfectly.

Emily couldn't help but take back her previous thought as Stefan held her closely. It didn't matter how many times she could go back in time and change past events, she would always pick to be in danger with Stefan than to be safe in a human life with Jason or anyone else. It just felt like home when she's with Stefan.

Emily quickly shook her head mentally as her feelings for the youngest Salvatore kept taking over her brain. She couldn't think like that towards her sister's boyfriend. "So, did you need something that you had to pull me away from Jason?" Emily wondered as she immediately slammed the door on her rambling thoughts.

Stefan avoided Emily's curious green eyes for a moment before he looked back at her and told Emily truthfully, "I just didn't like how close he was to you." Stefan had decided after his talk with Bonnie, that he was going to finally tell the Gilbert girl about his true feelings. He just didn't know exactly how to confess them to Emily when he was nervous of her answer.

Emily rose her right eyebrow as she joked with a quiet chuckle, "what? Were you jealous?"

"Maybe," Stefan answered without a single hesitation as he kept his green eyes locked directly with Emily's sparkling irises.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but freeze in her spot at the vampire's answer as she had only been joking around. She was shocked that he would just flat out say that. Emily didn't even know how to respond to her sister's boyfriend and the person she was feeling things for. "So, how's the plan going?" Emily questioned as she pushed her confused feelings aside.

"It's going," Stefan responded discreetly. He didn't want to talk about what was going on with his ex girlfriend, Katherine. At least not right now when they haven't even spotted her yet. He would rather just enjoy having Emily in his arms with no regrets about his feelings for her for the first time. "How are you doing?" Stefan wondered gently as he changed the topic.

Emily grinned as she remembered, "actually, amazing despite with everything going on. I got accepted to join ALOS," before she commented with furrowed brows, "I'm not sure if I told you about it. But it's an organization tha-"

"That helps future surgeons," Stefan continued for Emily as a soft smile made its way onto his face. "You mentioned it once," he answered the confused look that the human girl was sporting. He then squeezed her waist before he stated truthfully, "I'm so proud of you, Emmie."

Emily's cheeks turned bright red as she muttered quietly, "thanks." She chuckled lightly before she commented, "I can't believe they want me."

"I can," Stefan stated immediately. He shook his head softly and explained, "you are so smart that it's crazy. You could be a rocket scientist and still make it look like kindergarten work."

"Yeah, right," Emily mumbled and rolled her eyes dismissively as she tried to ignore the warm sensation on her cheeks.

The vampire chuckled softly at the human girl's bashfulness, but didn't say anything. Instead, they just continued to silently dance perfectly with each other before Stefan wondered after a moment, "so, how are you doing with the plan? I never got to ask how you were feeling."

Emily shrugged her shoulders lightly as they slowly moved to the soft music before she muttered, "I'm fine, I guess. I'm just a little nervous that someone will end up getting hurt by the end of the night." That was what was mostly on Emily's mind. She knew their plan was dangerous and it could end up badly for anyone. The not helping out part didn't really help either as she couldn't protect her friends and siblings.

Stefan stopped moving immediately when he heard the worry in Emily's voice before he placed his right hand lightly onto Emily's cheek and promised strongly, "I won't let anything happen to you."

Emily looked up and connected her green eyes with Stefan's as she felt like she was stuck in a trance. She silently nodded her head before she subconsciously moved even closer to the vampire. "I know," Emily whispered as their lips were only a breath away from each other.

"Well, don't you guys look cozy," an amused voice suddenly spoke up from behind the human girl and the Salvatore vampire, which instantly ruined the moment they were having.

Emily quickly took a step away from Stefan and turned around to face the voice, where she noticed her doppelganger's smirking sister. "Katherine," Emily greeted the older vampire with an emotionless voice. The Gilbert girl didn't want to be anywhere near Katherine when she was the reason Jenna spent the night in the hospital.

Katherine's amused smirk instantly turned into a real smile as she laid her brown eyes on the girl that looked just like her sister. "You look stunning, Emmie," Katherine complimented as she lightly touched the small brown hairs that were falling out of the Gilbert girl's bun.

A half second had barely passed between the time Katherine's finger touched the human girl before Emily was standing behind Stefan. The Salvatore vampire wasn't going to allow his ex girlfriend anywhere near Emily. He made a promise to keep her safe and he didn't plan on breaking it. Stefan then fully turned his body to the Gilbert girl as he hid her from Katherine's eyes before he cradled her face gently between his large hands and commanded, "go find Damon."

Emily glanced between the serious Stefan and the grinning Katherine before she finally nodded her head and swiftly jogged away from the vampires. Emily knew today was the day she definitely didn't want to be involved in any of Katherine's mind games or even her talks that had to do with Darina. It wouldn't be safe to be around Katherine when Emily's friends and siblings were planning on killing the older vampire.

Apparently, Emily's luck was running out since she couldn't find the oldest Salvatore anywhere as she looked through the sea of people for over ten minutes. She would settle for anyone at this point. Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, just somebody that she could tell them what was happening.

It seemed like the old childhood myth of vampires not liking the sun was true at the moment, because Emily couldn't find any of the supernatural beings. The Gilbert girl huffed out an irritated sigh before she decided she would check the inside of the Lockwood mansion for them. However, as soon as Emily turned the corner in a hurry to enter the estate, she instantly slammed into a body.

"Emily! What's wrong?" Two worried and familiar voices hollered at the human girl at the exact same time.

The Gilbert girl sighed in relief when she looked up and saw that she had ran into her twin sister and the Bennett witch. "Thank God," Emily mumbled before she quickly explained, "Katherine's here! She's with Stefan."

At the mention of her evil doppelganger, Elena swiftly pulled her sister into a bone crushing hug. She didn't even know Emily was here already. If she would have known, Elena wouldn't have been roaming around the party with Bonnie. The Gilbert vampire pulled away from her twin sister after a moment before she began to search Emily's body carefully and questioned hurriedly, "did she hurt you?" If Katherine had harmed her sister, Elena would forget about the plan. No one touches her twin sister and gets away with it.

Emily pushed her sister's hands away from her body as she assured the vampire, "no, no. I left as soon as she arrived."

The Gilbert vampire let a loud breath of relief flow out of her mouth before she looked over at Bonnie and ordered, "stay with Emily." She then looked back at her twin sister once the Bennett witch nodded her head in agreement and begged, "please be careful," and laid a quick kiss on the top of Emily's hair before she took off in a run into the Lockwood mansion to begin their plan.

Emily pushed the loose brown hairs behind her ears as she mumbled, "I was supposed to stay out of this mess." The Gilbert girl never realized just how hard it was to stay out of the supernatural world. However, it seems to just find her.

Bonnie gave the brunette girl a small sad smile before she held her right hand out and ordered, "come with me."

Emily rose an eyebrow at the Bennett witch as she wondered, "where would we go?" There wasn't exactly a place to hide when Emily was apparently running the event along with all the supernatural beings surrounding the mansion.

Bonnie shrugged her shoulders lightly before she stated simply, "let's get some ice cream."

"Right now?" Emily questioned in disbelief as her green eyes widened. They couldn't possibly just sit around and do nothing, right?

Bonnie rolled her eyes before she explained to the brunette girl, "come on, Em. I did my job in the plan and you aren't even allowed to be involved, so why not just get some ice cream and relax for once?"

Emily stared into her friend's caramel irises for a moment before she finally nodded her head. She then linked her fingers with Bonnie's before she pulled the Bennett witch towards the kitchen of the large Lockwood mansion. "We can hide out in here," Emily told Bonnie as they walked through the swinging white doors. "The chefs won't mind that the darling child makes sure everything is running perfectly back here," she joked before she and Bonnie each grabbed a small bowl of ice cream that was supposed to be consumed later on in the night.

The Gilbert girl and the Bennett witch then moved towards a small corner in the crowded kitchen once they had their desserts in hand before they relaxed and talked about random things they hadn't talked about since the supernatural world took over their human ones. They chatted about the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy, Emily's early acceptance into ALOS, their newest cheer routine, and everything and anything in between.

Emily figured that she could lower her high guard since she was connected at the hip with the Bennett witch. She had faith that she would be protected in Bonnie's hands. Emily just hoped the vampires and her brother would be successful in taking care of Katherine or Mystic Falls would never be safe like it used to be.

* * *

In the silent hallways of the downstairs west wing of the Lockwood mansion that was off limits for the Masquerade Ball was the blonde vampire, Caroline Forbes, as she read a text message from the youngest Gilbert sibling that said, 'YOUR TURN.'

The blonde vampire bit down on her bottom lip nervously before she slipped her cell phone into her red clutch bag. She closed her blue eyes as she took a deep breath before she slowly continued to walk down the hallways as she waited for the vampire, who had turned her, so she could start her part of the plan.

It only took Caroline about two minutes of walking through the large estate as she acted like she was looking at the different paintings before her face was suddenly pushed against the closest wall by a very strong force.

"What are Stefan and Damon up to?" Katherine growled into the blonde's ear as she placed pressure onto Caroline's right arm that she had securely trapped behind the young vampire's back so she wouldn't be able to move.

Caroline whined in pain from the tight submission hold she was currently in before she hurriedly whispered, "what do you mean?"

"I've got Jeremy Gilbert luring me out to the lake," Katherine explained tensely before she asked once more in a fierce growl, "what's going on?"

"I-I-I don't know," Caroline stuttered as she tried to shrug her shoulders while her whole body was caught between a hard wall and the angry vampire. She swallowed thickly before she mumbled quietly, "nothing."

Katherine didn't bother saying anything to Caroline's answer, instead she slowly began to release the blonde vampire, which caused Caroline to breathe out a small sigh of relief as she thought she was safe from Katherine's wrath. But unluckily for the blonde vampire, Katherine was far from done as she swiftly turned Caroline around and slammed her back into the wall while Katherine squeezed her fingers around the young vampire's throat.

"Don't lie to me, Caroline," Katherine commanded in a snarl before she interrogated, "they're up to something, what is it?"

"I-" Caroline began to speak, but nothing else would come out of her mouth since she was still trying to level her heavy and erratic breathing.

Katherine's patience was growing thin as she didn't have time for Caroline's games. She was the one that played games and she definitely wasn't going to allow it to be turned around on her. Instead, Katherine squeezed the young vampire's throat once again but with more of her strength, which caused her to hear the small crackling of Caroline's neck.

"Wait! No, okay!" Caroline quickly yelped as she felt pain takeover her whole body once again. She tried to take a deep breath but Katherine's fingers was cutting off her throat, so Caroline whispered as best as she could in a strained voice, "they're trying to kill you."

Katherine rolled her brown eyes and muttered, "I figured as much." She released the blonde's throat before she questioned, "where's the moonstone?"

Caroline took a big gasp of air once she could finally breathe without the long fingers of Katherine blocking her airway. She then moved her blue eyes towards the ground in false disappointment as she confessed lowly, "Bonnie has it."

"And where's Bonnie right now?" Katherine questioned confidently as she knew she had Caroline right where she wanted her. She knew the annoying blonde would tell her whatever she wanted to hear if she didn't want to end up on the floor with a broken neck.

Caroline stared into Katherine's brown eyes for a moment before she exclaimed angrily as she spoke the three words slowly, "I don't know."

However, that wasn't the answer Katherine was looking for because not even a second later, she had the blonde vampire against the wall once again as she held Caroline in the air by just her throat.

"Okay!" Caroline hurriedly shrieked as she didn't want to go through Katherine's torture again. "She's upstairs! She's upstairs!" The blonde quickly told the brunette vampire.

Katherine swiftly let Caroline fall to the ground when she finally got her answer. "Good girl," she praised with a smirk. The older vampire then rolled her eyes when she saw Caroline was still on the floor whining about her throat. "Chop, chop," Katherine commanded as she snapped her fingers before she swiftly grabbed the blonde vampire's wrist and pulled her up before she yanked her towards the staircase.

"Why do you keep dragging me into this?" Caroline cried out as she tried to pull her arm away from Katherine's strong grasp once they had reached the second floor of the mansion, "I don't want any part of this!"

"Shut up!" Katherine growled into Caroline's ear before she let go of the blonde's red arm. Instead, she pulled on Caroline's perfectly curled blonde hair so she wouldn't fight her as much. The two vampires then slowly began to walk down a hallway with multiple doors before Katherine asked the crying Caroline, "which room is it?"

Caroline held onto Katherine's wrist tightly so the older vampire wouldn't pull too hard on her hair before she glanced between the three entrances. She pointed her head to the far right as she mumbled, "it's that one."

Katherine looked over at Caroline for a moment to make sure she wasn't lying before she released the blonde vampire completely and charged through the double doors like she owned the place. However, when Katherine looked around the room, she couldn't see or hear the Bennett witch anywhere. The brunette vampire swiftly turned around and faced Caroline, who was standing outside of the room, as she questioned impatiently, "where is she?"

Caroline didn't respond to Katherine immediately as her face was buried into her hands while she sobbed and cried before it suddenly turned into laughing and giggling. She then finally looked up at Katherine with a bright grin as she exclaimed proudly, "I did it! I really didn't think I'd be able to fool you but I did it!"

Katherine looked at the blonde vampire in confusion as she listened to her boasting before Katherine used her vamp speed to run and attack Caroline. However, she was soon stopped by an invisible line before she could even touch another single hair on Caroline's head. Katherine released a heavy breath once she stopped fighting the invisible line and mumbled, "what the -"

But as Katherine stared at Caroline's bright smile, she soon realized that this was their plan all along; to get her trapped in the room with no place to go. The older vampire sighed loudly before she questioned out loud while she kept her eyes glued on the smirking Caroline, "Stefan?"

The aforementioned Salvatore slowly walked out from his hiding spot that was behind a tall dresser so the two vampires could finally see him. "Hello, Katherine," Stefan greeted his ex girlfriend in an easy and calm voice.

"Elena," Katherine deadpanned in annoyance when she also spotted her dull doppelganger as she walked into the room with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Goodbye, Katherine," Caroline told the older vampire in an amused tone. She waited until the brunette looked over at her before she waved her hand with a smirk before she turned around and began to walk away with a pep in her step as she knew their plan was going perfectly.

Katherine rolled her eyes at the exiting blonde before she turned around to face Stefan and Elena, where she finally noticed the wooden stake in her ex boyfriend's hand. Katherine chuckled as she moved closer to Stefan and ignored her doppelganger completely before she wondered, "you don't really think that you can kill me with that now, do you?"

Stefan glanced down at the wooden weapon in his right hand with a small shrug before he told Katherine simply, "no." He lifted his head so his eyes were glued onto something over Katherine's shoulder before he added, "but he can."

Katherine quickly became alarmed at Stefan's words as she thought it was only the three of them. However, when she went to turn around to attack the wildcard in the room, she suddenly felt pain take over her lower body as a wooden stake pierced through her black dress, her tan skin, and finally settled in her spine.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the backyard of the brightly lit Lockwood mansion sat Emily, Bonnie, and Jeremy on a medium sized marble bench as they amusingly watched all of the now drunk residents of Mystic Falls dance all over the makeshift dance floor. It was something that the three of them plus Caroline and Elena used to do when they would come to social events when they were younger and got too bored.

"Look!" Jeremy suddenly exclaimed as he interrupted their calm silence. He shook his head with a chuckle as he pointed towards the left corner of the dance floor, "look at Mrs. Johnson go!"

"Oh, God," Bonnie giggled as she finally spotted who Jeremy was pointing at and saw the older woman dancing drunkenly. The Bennett witch glanced over at Emily with a smirk and stated, "see, this is why you shouldn't drink." She pointed her finger to the crowd and added, "you will turn into the lady that thinks she has to dance when she's drunk."

Emily rolled her green eyes playfully as she told her friend, "please, I have more control than that." The Gilbert girl would rather stop drinking than to become that type of drunk. Emily opened her mouth with a teasing grin as she planned on defending her alcohol habits, but that was quickly forgotten as the brunette girl suddenly felt an agonizing pain shoot up her back.

"OW!" Emily yelped as she swiftly doubled over from the pain and placed her now shaky hands onto her bare knees.

"Emily!" Bonnie shouted at the same time as Jeremy swiftly jumped out of his seat and moved in front of his sister before he questioned worriedly, "what's going on?"

The Gilbert girl couldn't even connect any letters into words as the only sound that would leave her wide opened mouth was a cry. She had never felt pain like this in her entire life, not even when she broke her arm in third grade from doing a cartwheel. It felt like something was lodged into her back. However, when Emily tried to pull whatever was in her back out, all she could feel was something wet and sticky.

"What's happening!?" Jeremy quickly questioned as he tried to figure out what was wrong with his oldest sister. But he was coming up short and helpless as he couldn't find the cause of her pain.

Emily took a shaky deep breath after three minutes of uncontrolled torture as she could now only feel a dull pain. She slowly brought her wet hand to her face when she could finally move and saw bright red blood dripping down her fingers. The human girl didn't understand what was happening to her. It didn't make sense.

Emily looked up at her worried brother with a small nod as she hid her hand and tried to assure him that she was fine. But that was quickly thrown out of the window when she felt the same agonizing pain on her left arm. Emily cried out even louder as she felt the pain all over again before her sore body toppled onto the spiky green grass.

"Jeremy, it's Katherine!" Bonnie exclaimed as she was the first one to realize what was happening. "Emily's linked to Katherine," the Bennett witch hurriedly told the youngest Gilbert as she helped the injured girl lean against the bench. Bonnie then quickly turned and faced Jeremy as she ordered, "get them to stop! Now," before she focused all her attention on Emily.

Jeremy quickly rushed through the crowd of people as soon as his brain processed what Bonnie had said. He ignored all of the angry shouts he got from the people he pushed out of his way. Jeremy didn't care in the slightest. He only cared about stopping the torture his human sister was in.

The Gilbert boy dashed up the stairs once he reached the empty part of the mansion and skipped two or three steps at a time before he swiftly threw the double doors open to the room that held the four vampires.

"Stop!" Jeremy yelled as soon as he was in the large room and saw both Stefan and Elena holding Katherine on the ground while Damon stood above her with a wooden stake in his hand. "You're hurting Emily!" He hurriedly shouted as he grew scared for his sister's life, "everything you're doing to her is hurting Emily!"

Katherine smirked when all three vampires froze in their spots in shock. She lightly pushed Elena and Stefan off of her before she jumped up from the ivory carpet. She dusted the nonexistent dirt from her black dress before Katherine questioned in amusement, "you think you three are the only ones with a witch on your side?" She shook her head and stated with a grin, "wrong and something tells me my witch is better than your witch."

The Gilbert vampire growled at the easiness in her doppelganger's voice before she rushed towards the door, but of course was stopped by the invisible line that they used to trap Katherine. "I need to check on my sister!" Elena cried out. She had to help Emily. Elena knew her sister had to be in a lot of pain after what they did to Katherine. She felt guilty that she didn't just stay with her twin sister. Instead, her hatred for her doppelganger got in the way.

"Lena," Damon whispered into the Gilbert's ear as he brought her into his chest. "She'll be fine," he promised as he tried to calm down the crying Elena even though he was worried himself for the human girl.

"Jeremy, go check on Emily," Stefan commanded as he moved closer to the door before he was stopped by the invisible line like the rest of the vampires, "make sure she's okay. Go!"

Katherine ripped a wooden stake from the wall once the youngest Gilbert left their presence before she trailed the weapon down her hand as she slowly walked around the room. "I do feel bad about hurting Emily," Katherine stated with a pout. She shot her annoying doppelganger a glare as she added, "I wish it was you instead of sweet Emmie." Katherine then pushed pressure onto the weapon so it would pierce her hand as she commented, "because this would have been so much more satisfying."

* * *

"DAMMIT!" Emily shouted before a small whimper escaped her mouth as she pulled her hand towards her tear eyed face and saw a bloody slice in the middle of her palm. Emily had thought the pain was over when she hadn't felt anything in over ten minutes. However, the pain was back and it was much worse.

"Bonnie, it hurts," Emily gasped as sobs and cries continued to leave her sore body while she held the Bennett witch's hand in a death grip with her good one. She just wanted it all to stop. It was becoming too much for the human girl to handle.

Bonnie stared at the green eyed girl with a sad look as she didn't know what to do. She had never seen Emily or anyone in so much pain before. It also didn't help that her witch powers couldn't even help her friend. "I can't break the spell, Emmie," Bonnie told the crying girl before she apologized, "I'm so sorry."

The Bennett witch brought the hurting girl closer to her body as she tried to comfort Emily before she suddenly popped her head up. "I can take away some of the pain," Bonnie quickly suggested as she thought of a way she could help her friend. She brought her hand up to Emily's pale white face as she asked desperately, "okay?"

Emily looked up at her friend instead of watching her constantly bleeding wounds before she slowly nodded her head. She tried to keep her movements to a minimum so she could keep breathing and not pass out from the agonizing pain.

The Gilbert girl couldn't take the chance of her passing out as she was scared she would never wake up again. Emily had to stay strong. She still had people that needed her. So, Emily sucked up the pain and whispered through clenched teeth, "okay." The brunette girl then leaned her sweaty forehead against Bonnie's purple sweater as she prayed the pain would stop soon.

"Alright," Bonnie whispered to herself before she quickly wiped the tears from her brown eyes. She took a deep breath to clear her mind before she squeezed Emily's hand and began to chant a spell so she could ease the Gilbert girl's pain, "ascinda, mulaf, hinto, ascinda..."

* * *

Katherine twirled the wooden stake that was soaked in her blood between her fingers as she hummed a small tune before she faced the three distressed vampires with a wide smirk on her lips. She loved torturing her two ex playthings and her annoying doppelganger. Katherine then placed the thin wooden stake on the center of her stomach before she uttered, "tell dear Emmie that I'm sorry about this."

Katherine didn't lie when she had said she felt bad about what she was doing. Well, she didn't feel bad about killing that human girl outside earlier or that her doppelganger was going crazy being stuck in the room. No, she felt bad for causing the human Gilbert, Emily, any harm. Katherine had saw the brunette girl like her own sister since the moment she laid eyes on Emily and her protectiveness and her selflessness. It was like Darina was still alive.

"Wait!" Elena quickly yelped before Katherine could stab herself and cause her twin sister anymore pain. Even though the Gilbert vampire wanted to attack her doppelganger for hurting Emily, she knew that it had to wait or she would be harming her sister too and that was the last thing Elena wanted to do.

Katherine smirked as that was exactly what she wanted to hear. She knew Emily's twin sister nor the Salvatore brothers would allow her to hurt the Gilbert girl anymore. Katherine was sorta glad about that since she wanted to help Emily, not hurt her. However, Katherine would do whatever was necessary to get her way.

The older vampire silently sauntered over to the red velvet couch as slowly as she could and took a seat before she crossed her left leg over her right knee while she threw her arms over the back of the comfortable furniture. Katherine wanted to watch the vampires sweat over her next move. She enjoyed the panicked looks and the helplessness in the expressions of the Salvatore's and Elena. "So, how about that moonstone?" Katherine finally spoke as she questioned with a confident smirk shining all over her face.

* * *

It was another long seven minutes of agony for the Gilbert girl as the Bennett witch continued to chant a spell to help ease her pain. Bonnie did take some of her pain but Emily could still feel it; like a dull stabbing. The multiple large opened wounds didn't really help when she could feel the cold air slapping against them. However, the pain was more bearable now.

The youngest Gilbert sibling swiftly came to a fast stop when he finally reached his sister and the Bennett witch again. He sighed in relief when he saw Emily was still sitting up and breathing. "Are you okay?" Jeremy questioned as he lightly rubbed his sister's right shoulder.

Emily nodded her head once with a tight lipped smile. No matter how badly she gets hurt, Emily will always put a smile on her face and assure everyone that she's okay. The Gilbert girl just didn't like when people worried about her. That was her job. "How are they?" Emily asked her brother once she could finally speak through the pain.

Emily was worried about the vampires with Katherine, especially her twin sister. She knew how Elena felt about the older vampire and she didn't want Elena to do anything stupid right now when she's stuck with her doppelganger. Emily also was worried about what Katherine would do to Stefan and Damon, even though she still isn't the oldest Salvatore's biggest fan. Emily knew how erratic Damon is when it comes to Katherine and Emily felt uncomfortable with Stefan being locked in with his ex girlfriend for some reason - but she quickly pushed that last thought away.

Jeremy glanced back at the Lockwood mansion before he faced his sister and responded discreetly as he didn't want to worry Emily, "they're stuck in there with her. But yeah, they're fine." He then looked over at the chanting Bennett witch and told her, "you were right," before Jeremy explained, "Katherine had a witch link Emily with her."

"Perfect," Emily mumbled sarcastically under her breath. The wounds from Katherine was a real pain in her ass. Emily just tried to have a normal night and to stay out of the way. But here she was, stuck in the very middle.

A few silent minutes passed by with only Bonnie's low chanting before the Bennett witch suddenly popped her head up as she recalled something. "The girl I saw," she muttered to herself before she stated in a louder voice, "the one inside!" Bonnie swiftly jumped up from her crouched position in front of the Gilbert girl and told Jeremy, "stay with Emily and keep pressure on her wound!"

"Where are you going?" Jeremy hurriedly questioned the Bennett witch in confusion as he watched Bonnie quickly stand up from the grass.

"There's another witch here!" Bonnie exclaimed as she began to walk backwards. "I'm gonna find her!" The Bennett witch promised before she turned around and began to rush through all of the residents to find the witch she had noticed earlier tonight.

Jeremy didn't bother giving the running Bonnie a response as there was no point when she was already gone and they didn't have time to stop when his sister's life was in the unknown witch's hands. Instead, Jeremy moved to his knees and sat in front of Emily before he pressed his hands onto the open wound on his sister's left middle rib. "It's okay," Jeremy whispered to his sister before something caught his eye.

It was the black and silver ring that uncle John had gave Jeremy before he left town. But not just any type of ring, no, it was the ring that would bring a person who wore it back to life if they were to die by a supernatural being. Jeremy hurriedly pulled the ring off of his finger and held it in front of Emily's pain stricken face. This was his only way in knowing Emily would still be here in the morning as he wasn't sure Bonnie would be able to find the witch in time.

Emily slowly shook her head when she saw the familiar ring that her biological father and history teacher along with her brother wears to protect their human lives. She took a deep breath as the pain she had felt was starting to come back all at once since Bonnie wasn't chanting the spell anymore. "No," Emily mumbled through clenched teeth as she denied the ring. She would never take the one thing that kept her baby brother alive in the supernatural filled town.

"Take it," Jeremy begged as he kept the ring in front of Emily's green glazed over eyes. However, when he saw his sister shaking her head once again, Jeremy stated strongly, "you need this more than I do, Emmie." He wasn't going to allow Emily to just die on him when he could do something about it. "Please, take it," Jeremy pleaded desperately. He didn't care if giving Emily the ring would put him in grave danger. He just wanted to know with complete certainty that he was going to be able to fight over the first cup of coffee tomorrow morning with his oldest sister.

Emily wrapped her shaky fingers around Jeremy's equally shaky wrist and stared into his sad brown eyes before she stated truthfully, "I don't care what happens to me, Jer. I just need you to be safe." That was the only thing Emily had ever cared about her entire life; that her family would be okay. "So, put the damn ring back on your finger, Jeremy," Emily ordered as she fought through the pain.

Emily knew her commanding voice was all Jeremy needed as she watched him slowly put the Gilbert ring back on. The brunette girl grabbed her brother's hand tightly in her own once Jeremy looked back at her with a worried look before she tried to relax against the marble bench.

The truth was, Emily was scared out of her mind as the pain kept getting worse. But she wasn't scared for herself. No, Emily was scared for Jeremy and Elena. The human girl couldn't care less about the pain, even though it was still bothering her. Emily would rather take all of the heat from Katherine's torture if it meant her siblings was safe from the older vampire's wrath.

* * *

Katherine bounced her left leg up and down over her right one with a smirk glued on her lips as she watched the turmoil that adored the faces of the other vampires in the room. She thrived and enjoyed the pain that was caused by her doing. It was like her very own hobby.

"The three of us together just like old times," Katherine stated as her voice was the first one to speak since the Salvatore's ignored her when she had asked for the moonstone. Katherine rolled her eyes as she added dully to her statement, "plus my boring doppelganger."

Katherine's amused brown eyes moved over to the vampire who had obsessed over her for centuries as she introduced her bored companions to cause some trouble and entertainment until her witch arrives, "the brother who loved me too much." She then moved her eyes to Stefan as she continued, "the one that didn't love me enough," before she settled on Elena, "and the wrong sister."

"Which means you are the evil slut vampire who only loved herself," the oldest Salvatore added to Katherine's speech as his back was faced to the aforementioned vampire while his arms were securely wrapped around Elena's body. The Gilbert vampire was still trembling from worrying about Emily, so Damon was trying to convince her that nothing was going to happen to her sister.

Katherine twitched her head to the side as she stared at Damon's backside for a moment while she thought before she wondered curiously, "what happened to you, Damon? You used to be so sweet and polite."

Damon turned his body around and faced his ex girlfriend as his right arm moved to the silent Elena's neck and shoulder before he told Katherine with a smirk, "oh, that Damon died a long time ago."

Elena looked up from Damon's shoulder and glared at him. She had to disagree with the oldest Salvatore's statement. Damon was always sweet and kind to her. Even when she was still with Stefan, but had ignored his advances at the time. Damon made her feel something totally different from any other relationship, more special and real.

Damon looked down at the vampire in his arms with a cheeky grin as he whispered into her ear, "not for you, babe," before he laid a light kiss on the top of Elena's brown hair.

Katherine shot Damon a smirk as she ignored their couple moment and stated, "good. He was a bore."

"Oh, why don't you two stop antagonizing each other," Stefan mumbled with a heavy sigh while he looked in Katherine's direction. He was tired of listening to the ex lovers bicker with each other. It also didn't help when his mind was swimming with worry for Emily. He wanted, no needed, to check on her and make sure she's okay. Stefan felt guilty that he couldn't be there for her and heal her wounds. He just wanted this horrible night to end already.

Katherine moved her brown eyes over to Stefan as she asked the question she had apparently been asking the whole state of Virginia all night, "where is the moonstone?" She was tired of not getting the answer she wanted.

The Gilbert vampire moved away from burying her head into Damon's chest as she turned around and faced her doppelganger. "What do you want with it?" Elena questioned as she couldn't help herself. She didn't understand why Katherine was so stuck on finding the moonstone when the white rock was used to break the werewolf curse.

Katherine rolled her eyes as that still wasn't the answer she wanted. Instead, Katherine decided she would play with her toys. She had nothing better to do, so why not stir up some trouble? Katherine twitched her head to the side as she stared at the youngest Salvatore before she wondered with a smirk, "did you know your brother over there tried to kiss sweet little Emmie?"

The two pair of identical brown eyes and the one pair of green eyes instantly moved over to Damon as soon as Katherine uttered the sole name that everyone cared and loved for, Emily Gilbert. While Katherine's brown irises held nothing but amusement, Elena and Stefan definitely didn't think it was funny. They were both confused and angry at the new information.

Damon rolled his eyes as he ignored his brother's angry glare and looked directly at Katherine before he stated, "wow. That was really desperate, even for you." He then finally looked over at Stefan and down at the confused Elena as he explained with a shrug of his shoulders, "besides, we didn't. I was drunk."

Elena definitely was going to have a talk with Damon about him almost kissing her twin sister. She didn't understand why Damon nor Emily never told her about it, even if they didn't actually kiss. They still should have told her.

The Gilbert vampire just wanted to get out of this room already. She was tired of listening to her doppelganger's voice. Elena crossed her arms over her chest as she pleaded in a bored tone, "just stop, Katherine. We aren't falling for your tricks."

Katherine twitched her head to the side as she stared directly at the uncomfortable Elena. She rose an eyebrow as she wondered, "so, it doesn't bother you that Stefan is in love with your sister? Even when he was still with you?"

"Oh, stop it," Stefan commanded with a heavy sigh. Katherine's voice was starting to get on his nerves the longer they stayed in here. Stefan just wanted to focus on Emily right now. But, of course, he couldn't since he was locked in a room with his brother and two of his ex girlfriends.

"Or what?" Katherine challenged, "you'll hurt me?" She shook her head as she slowly stood up from the red couch before she moved closely to the green eyed vampire. "Come on, Stefan," Katherine taunted, "everything I feel, Emily feels. So, go ahead."

Katherine then moved her eyes over to Damon as she came up with an idea. "Or better yet, kiss me, Damon," the older vampire commanded as a smirk covered her red lips. She slowly walked over to the blue eyed vampire as she wondered, "don't you want to know what it feels like?" She tsked as she added teasingly, "you know a drunk mind speaks a sober heart."

"My sister isn't you, Katherine," Elena growled as she was completely done with her doppelganger's constant games. She just wanted to check on her twin sister. That was the only thought on her mind; to make sure Emily's okay.

"Or you, right?" Katherine questioned. She smirked at the Gilbert vampire as she added, "I mean, you did the same thing I did." Katherine shrugged her shoulders and stated, "I'm not ashamed of playing my games. You, however, gave up too easily and won't even admit that played with their poor hearts."

"You know, this whole Mason thing has me a bit confused," Stefan spoke after the room grew silent once Elena had stormed out of their area thanks to Katherine's taunting and went into a smaller room. "Why a werewolf?" He questioned, "the moonstone can break a curse that would help them destroy all vampires, so what's in it for you?" Stefan didn't understand why Katherine would want to help the werewolves when they are the enemy of her species.

Katherine only gave the curious Salvatore a small grin as an answer. She wasn't going to tell them about her need for the moonstone. No, that would ruin one of the reasons for her coming back to Mystic Falls.

"Sorry about your pet wolf," Damon told Katherine once he realized his ex wasn't going to answer his brother's question. He shrugged his shoulders with a smirk as he added, "probably should have kept him on a tighter leash."

Katherine clenched her jaw tightly before she swiftly faced Damon and exclaimed, "I'll have to remember that for next time." She glanced at both brothers as she added with a hard glare, "he's not the only wolf in town."

Stefan and Damon instantly looked at each other with a worried gaze as soon as Katherine mentioned the last wolf in Mystic Falls. They knew exactly who she was talking about.

 _Tyler Lockwood._

* * *

"Do you remember that one time when mom and dad took us to that zoo all the way in Atlanta?" Emily questioned in a small whisper to her brother as the two Gilbert siblings sat on the spiky grass.

They had been sitting against the marble bench ever since Bonnie left to find some witch she saw earlier. The first fifteen minutes had been filled with Emily's moaning and groaning from her opened wounds, but now she could barely feel her brother's hand pressed against the bloody slices on her body. Emily wasn't really sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Jeremy glanced down at his sister's green eyes with his brows furrowed at the mention of their childhood. He then shook his head and mumbled, "we are not doing this, Emmie. We are not going to reminisce about the good times before you croak on me."

Emily rolled her eyes before she gently placed her pale white hand on top of Jeremy's with a small smile. "I'm not giving you my death speech," she promised before the brunette girl explained, "it's just never me and you anymore. It's always vampire this werewolf that. I don't want you to forget about the happy moments." Emily softly bumped her good shoulder into her brother's with a tiny smirk as she added, "besides, my death speech would be so much more badass. You would be crying on the floor."

Jeremy chuckled lightly before he joked in a mumble, "I'll definitely be skipping your death speech then." He sighed heavy after a moment of silence before he finally agreed with his sister, "alright, fine. But if you decide to croak on me when you said you wouldn't, then I'll kill you myself."

Emily gave her brother a grin before she held out her pinky finger and said, "I promise."

Jeremy rolled his brown eyes before he locked his pinky finger with his sister's. He then laid Emily's head on his shoulder before he finally answered her question, "so, which time are you talking about? We went to the Atlanta zoo a couple of times. Are you talking about the time we acted like we were going to push Elena into the water with the alligators?"

Emily nodded her head as she laughed hysterically before she stopped a second later as she groaned. Apparently the pain was still there. Emily guessed that was a good thing. It meant she wasn't dying yet. "Dammit, that hurt," she mumbled before she took a deep breath to ease the pain.

Emily waved her hand carelessly as she tried to push Jeremy's fingers away from checking on her large side wound. "I'm fine. I'm fine," she promised. "But, yes," Emily stated before she chuckled more softly this time, "Lena is still scared of the water till this day."

Jeremy relaxed next to his sister once he was sure that no new wound was popping up. It was just the same ones that wouldn't stop bleeding, which still worried him. "We're horrible siblings," Jeremy joked with a small chuckle as he remembered the crying Elena when they went to the zoo with their parents when he was seven years old and his sister's were nine.

Emily shrugged her shoulders gently before she muttered, "debatable." The two siblings then sat in a peaceful silence before the brunette girl looked up at her brother and confessed softly, "I love you, Jer." Emily felt like she never said it enough to her siblings. She always wanted them to know she loves them when life isn't always guaranteed in Mystic Falls.

Jeremy kissed the top of his sister's head and whispered against her brown hair, "love you too, sis." He then glanced down at the wounds that he could see; the ones on her left arm, middle rib, and left hand before he questioned worriedly, "how are you feeling?" He knew it wasn't good that she was still bleeding as the time kept on passing by.

"I feel better," Emily lied. She didn't want her brother to worry too much about her. But Emily could still feel her warm blood dripping down her back, side, and arm. She shrugged her healthy shoulder as she concluded, "I guess they stopped trying to kill Katherine for now."

Jeremy didn't believe his sister for a second. He knew she was lying about the pain. Jeremy could see it on her face. But he figured she was trying to make him feel better, so Jeremy didn't bother commenting on it. Instead, Jeremy stood up from the ground and wiped the grass from his black pants before he carefully grabbed a hold of Emily's good arm.

"Come on," Jeremy ordered softly. "We should wrap these wounds up before they get any worse," he told his sister before he slowly helped her off of the hard ground. Jeremy didn't know how long it was going to take for Bonnie to find the witch and end the spell, so he decided to do the one thing he could think of. He just hoped treating the wounds will stop the heavy blood flow.

* * *

"Dammit!" Damon complained for the third time in less than fifteen minutes. "Where's that witch?" He questioned in a grumble to no one in particular. He was tired and annoyed of being stuck in a room with the bitch devil herself.

"We could play charades," Katherine suggested with a smirk as she slowly walked around the room. She was enjoying being stuck with her ex playthings and her doppelganger far more than she intended. They just kept falling right into her traps.

Stefan pointed his finger over at the grinning Katherine as he stated, "you bargained the moonstone." While his brother and their ex had bickered back and forth, Stefan had been busy thinking about why Katherine would want the moonstone so badly when it wouldn't help her.

Damon sluggishly took a seat next to Elena, who had joined the rest of the vampires after Katherine's taunting, on one of the many couches in the room. He threw his arm over Elena's shoulder and brought her into his chest before he questioned his brother boredly, "what are you mumbling about over there?"

Stefan ignored his brother as he began to explain his theory on why Katherine would need the moonstone, "you struck a deal with George Lockwood." Stefan remembered the conversation he and Katherine had in the Salvatore basement, so he just put two and two together. "He helped you fake your death," Stefan uttered as he continued, "you told me that you gave George something that he needed." Stefan twitched his head to the side as he stared at Katherine before wondering, "it was the moonstone, wasn't it?"

"Good for you, Stefan," Katherine praised with a smirk before she elaborated what happened that night, "and it would have worked except that people found out that I wasn't in the tomb." She glared over at the relaxed Damon before she continued, "thanks to you." Katherine rolled her brown eyes and uttered, "by the way, have I mentioned how inconvenient your obsession with me has been?"

Damon raised his crystal glass of bourbon as he toasted the older vampire and stated with a smirk, "you and me both, honey."

"Why do you need it back?" Stefan questioned as he wanted to keep these answers coming. He knew if he stopped now, then Katherine would close herself off and they would never get the real answer about Katherine's involvement with the moonstone.

Katherine turned her body fully towards Stefan instead of glaring at Damon and acted like she was thinking over the question before she stated with a bright grin, "I love you in a suit." She smirked when she saw the deflated expression on Stefan's face when he didn't get his answer. Katherine then slowly moved closer to the green eyed vampire as she muttered seductively, "so dashing."

Stefan ignored Katherine's advances and her way of avoiding the question as he continued his interrogation, "what were you doing with it in the first place?"

"She's not going to tell you anything," Elena mumbled as she picked the pale pink fingernail polish off of her nails. She wished her doppelganger would just stop talking as Elena was scared and worried about Emily. Elena just wanted to check on her sister already. She didn't like not being able to help Emily when she's in obvious pain because of what they did to Katherine.

The room grew silent for a couple of minutes as it seemed like Stefan listened to Elena's suggestion before the aforementioned Salvatore spoke up once again. He pointed his finger at Katherine as he took a guess, "unless it wasn't yours to begin with." Stefan nodded his head when he noticed Katherine was avoiding his gaze which meant he was right. "In 1864, you faked your death," Stefan stated the obvious before questioning, "who were you running from, Katherine?"

The older vampire ignored Stefan's questioning once more as she changed the subject. "In 1987, you were in Chicago," Katherine recalled as she decided to bring up old memories like Stefan had done. She rolled her eyes as she added irritably, "at a concert of all places with that wench, Lexi."

Katherine giggled when she noticed the shocked look on Stefan's face and the saddened expression on Damon's. She ignored Damon's pathetic look, instead, she enjoyed that she finally caught Stefan off guard as she hoped he would stop asking all these questions.

Katherine smirked brightly and exclaimed, "oh, come on, Stefan. Don't look so surprised." She trailed her long fingernails down the front of Stefan's suit as she explained to him sweetly, "of course I checked in on you over the years."

However, when Katherine noticed the disbelief look on Stefan's face, she decided to explain what she remembered from that memory so he would believe her, "you were standing in the front row dancing all night." She then moved her red lips by Stefan's ear and whispered, "you were watching Bon Jovi and I was watching you."

Stefan growled as he shoved Katherine off of him and took a few steps away from her. He knew she was just trying to make him fall for her games. But that wasn't going to happen. No old memory was going to make him ever feel that way for her again. "Who were you running from, Katherine?" Stefan questioned once more but with a stronger voice. He was done playing her games.

Katherine once again ignored Stefan's constant interrogation. She wasn't going to give him what he wanted, no matter how many annoying questions he asks her. Even though it was starting to push her buttons. But she knew she had more self control than the irritated Salvatore. She could play these games all day and better. Katherine placed her right hand back onto Stefan's chest while her ruby red lips mouthed, 'I love you.'

Stefan snarled at his ex girlfriend before he pushed her shoulder and walked passed her. He wasn't interested in Katherine's flirting. He stopped wanting that a long time ago. He just wanted to know the truth; the real reason for Katherine's need for the moonstone. But he knew Katherine wasn't going to tell him, so he decided to focus his mind on Emily instead of wasting his breath on Katherine.

The older vampire pouted as she watched Stefan walk away from her and towards the other side of the room. She had enjoyed pushing and teasing him. Katherine truly believed she could get Stefan to fall for her again just like she did in 1864. But Katherine only shrugged her shoulders for now as she knew she would have a lifetime to do so once she got her hands on the moonstone.

The large room grew silent once again as no one uttered a single word. However, Katherine was quickly growing bored being in here with nothing to do with the three vampires. She huffed out a sigh and quietly moved over to the ivory curtains that hid the party that was going on outside. "We're missing all the fun," Katherine complained as she watched all the smiling people. She wished she could be down there dancing, drinking, and causing trouble. But no, she's stuck in this stupid room thanks to the annoying Bonnie Bennett.

The three other vampires didn't even flinch at Katherine's voice as they were done listening to anything she had to say. Instead, the oldest Salvatore stood up from his spot next to Elena and walked over to the small wooden table that held a bottle of bourbon.

"Ooh, I'll have one of those," Katherine beamed as she heard the sound of the amber liquid sloshing into the crystal glass. If she couldn't drink and dance, then she was at least going to do one of those things until her witch came to release her from the room.

Damon took a quick glance over at Katherine with an eye roll before he turned back to the alcohol. "Right away, Miss Katherine," the blue eyed Salvatore uttered as he imitated a young servant's voice before he poured another glass of bourbon for the bitch devil herself.

Katherine grinned as she watched Damon pour her a drink. She loved how easily he got angry. It caused her so much joy seeing and hearing Damon's irritation because of her. Katherine slowly moved to stand behind Damon once he held her drink in the air before she swiped her glass of bourbon over his shoulder with a sneer, "thank you."

Katherine brought the glass up to her nose and smelled the aroma before she shrugged her shoulders and took a small gulp of the bourbon. It would have to do. It wasn't the best she had ever drank over the years. However, as Katherine lowered the glass from her red lips, she was soon blindsided as a body rammed her harshly into the wall before she saw an angry Damon Salvatore standing in front of her with a wooden stake in hand.

"Damon! No!" The silent Elena Gilbert cried out before she vamp sped over to Damon and tried to pull him off of her doppelganger. If it was any other time, Elena would have enjoyed watching Katherine being harmed but she knew her twin sister would be feeling the exact same thing and Elena didn't want that.

"No, no! Damon, don't!" Stefan shouted at the same time as Elena did and joined her as he tried to pull his brother away from Katherine. Stefan didn't want anymore harm to be put on Emily, especially when he didn't even know how she was right now. He couldn't let Damon hurt Katherine for Emily's sake.

"Yes, Damon, please," Katherine pleaded with a wide grin covering her red lips. _Now this is entertainment,_ the older vampire thought to herself as she enjoyed the way Damon was losing control because of her.

"Damon, no!" Elena begged as tears began to slip through her brown eyes, "if you do this, you will be hurting my sister!" She then placed her hand over Damon's unbeating heart as she tried to get him to stop. Elena would hate herself if they caused Emily anymore pain when they knew they were doing it.

The angry Salvatore's body instantly relaxed under Elena's touch but he still kept his hard glare on Katherine. "The second the spell is lifted," Damon growled as he held the wooden weapon high above his head before he added fiercely, "I'm gonna drive a stake right through your heart."

Katherine shook her head softly as she stared into Damon's blue eyes before she moaned, "God, you're hot." She then trailed her long fingernails down the front of Damon's white button up shirt as she wondered with a smirk, "when did you get so hot?"

The newly turned vampire couldn't help but let out a growl when she heard what her doppelganger said to Damon. "Watch it, Katherine or I'll be the one with the stake once my sister is safe," Elena threatened. She was still trying to get used to her heightened emotions since becoming a vampire but it was still hard when every word out of Katherine's mouth angered her.

Katherine easily pushed both Stefan and Damon off of her like they were light as a feather before she turned to face her annoying doppelganger. "Oh, poor Elena," Katherine pouted falsely before she imitated Elena's loud and high voice, "I think everything is about me." The older vampire rolled her eyes and snarled, "newsflash, it's not and you better watch your mouth or I will kill you where you stand."

Elena's emotions were going into overdrive as she worried about her sister plus all of the teasing and pushing Katherine has done. However, before Elena could say anything or get the chance of getting her neck snapped, there was suddenly a new and unfamiliar voice that called throughout the large room.

"Katherine," the dark skinned woman, Lucy, called out as she took a small step into the room filled with the tense vampires. She held the milky white rock or the moonstone in the air with a grin as she informed Katherine, "the spell on this room has been broken. You're free to leave."

Katherine sighed in relief, "thank God." She couldn't be anymore glad to finally get out of this room. She felt like she's been in here for days. Katherine swiftly made a beeline through the irritated and annoyed vampires, which she proudly caused, before she stood directly in front of her witch with her hand out.

"When I hand this over," Lucy began as she glanced down at the moonstone before she stared into Katherine's brown eyes and concluded, "my debt to you is over."

"Done," Katherine agreed as she couldn't wait to have the moonstone in her possession again. It was just one step closer to her freedom.

"I owe you nothing," Lucy continued as she wanted to be sure she would finally be free of Katherine. She was tired of being the vampire's lap dog for years. She was exhausted from taking orders from someone, a vampire no less.

"I said done," Katherine snapped in annoyance. She was getting irritated with all these questions being asked when she and the witch had already gone through this. "Give it," Katherine commanded.

"I wouldn't do that," Damon told Lucy in a warning tone. He didn't care if she was a witch, Damon wasn't going to let Katherine leave with the moonstone after everything they been through tonight. This was just supposed to be about killing Katherine, but now they were in jeopardy of losing the bitch devil and the moonstone.

But unluckily for Damon, the witch didn't even flinch at his threat. She was used to that when she has worked with Katherine for years. Instead, Lucy silently placed the moonstone into Katherine's eager opened palm.

Katherine smirked excitedly as soon as she felt the smooth and cold surface of the moonstone in her possession once again. This was what all the trouble in Mystic Falls was about. Katherine couldn't help but feel happy as she knew she was close to not having to run all the time. She would soon be able to live her life how she wanted.

However, as Katherine slowly closed her fingers around the moonstone, all at once she felt her breathing stop completely. It was like her insides just stopped working. Katherine quickly glanced up at the witch with her eyes widened before Katherine realized Lucy was the cause of her pain when she noticed the glare on the witch's face.

"You should have told me another witch was involved," Lucy exclaimed as she looked down at the panicked vampire. "She's a Bennett witch, Katherine," she stated before she added with a bitter smile, "but I'm sure you already knew that."

Lucy waited and watched until Katherine was down on her knees before she turned around with a proud smile on her face as she was ready to leave this town and get back to her life. However, before Lucy could get too far, she was soon stopped by Katherine's doppelganger's scared voice, "wait! My sister!"

"You're hurting Emily!" Stefan shouted in a panic as he watched Katherine choke and groan as she rolled around on the ground. Stefan didn't want Emily to feel what the older vampire was feeling as he could tell Katherine was in a lot of pain.

"Emily's fine," Lucy assured the other vampires with a soft smile while she watched little by little as Katherine stopped fighting. "The spell is broken," Lucy stated, "and she'll heal quickly."

Lucy took one last look at the vampire who controlled her life for years before she looked over at the obvious sister of the human girl and apologized, "I'm sorry for my involvement in hurting your sister." She gave the three vampires a quick smile before she swiftly left them alone with Katherine. Lucy was happy and excited that she could stop looking over her shoulder in fear for her life and finally go back home.

Damon smirked as he glanced over at Elena and Stefan before he looked down at the passed out vampire. "Well, it looks like you're going right where you belong, Kitty Kat," the oldest Salvatore uttered as he clapped his hands loudly. He was going to enjoy every second in putting Katherine into the tomb where she should have been for years.

* * *

The human and newly healed Emily Gilbert slowly stepped out of the almost empty Lockwood mansion with her brother's arm securely wrapped around her waist as he helped her walk. Emily was feeling much better now. She had stopped feeling the torturous pain when her brother had began to wrap up all of her wounds. It was like Emily could finally breathe again.

"Jer, I'm okay," Emily told her brother with a chuckle as he kept glancing over at her while they walked down the grassy hill. Emily knew she looked like hell with a pair of Tyler's black sweatpants, Mystic Falls Timberwolves hoodie, and her hair pointed in every direction, but Emily felt normal; like nothing even happened.

"Are you sure?" Jeremy questioned worriedly as he looked down at her wrapped body with furrowed brows, "you aren't still bleeding, right?"

"Yes, mom," Emily joked before she moved away from Jeremy's arms and stood up straight on her own. "See?" She exclaimed before she twirled her body around. "I'm fine," Emily promised with a grin.

Jeremy rolled his eyes as he mumbled, "alright, stop showing off." Even though the Gilbert boy looked like he was annoyed, Jeremy couldn't be anymore grateful that his sister was safe and not in anymore pain. He hated having to watch his strong sister fall apart like that.

"Emily!" A voice suddenly shouted once the two Gilbert siblings had continued to walk away from the Lockwood mansion. Emily and Jeremy both turned around at the yelling and saw the Bennett witch jogging to catch up with them.

"How are you? You're healing, right?" Bonnie quickly questioned as she looked around Emily's body once she was in front of the siblings. Lucy, her cousin she didn't know she had, explained that the human girl would start healing once the spell was lifted.

The Gilbert girl didn't respond to Bonnie's questions, instead she pulled her friend into a tight hug. "Thank you," Emily praised breathlessly. She was pretty sure that they would be mourning her right now if Bonnie didn't help heal her wounds earlier.

"So, you're okay?" Bonnie questioned as she needed assurance that the Gilbert girl wasn't in anymore pain after everything that happened tonight.

Emily shook her head with a chuckle before she exclaimed, "yes, Bonnie. I'm all good." She knew her friend was worried about her. But Emily didn't need that. She was the one that was supposed to be worried about everyone.

A loud breath of relief escaped Bonnie's mouth as she could tell Emily was going to be fine. She pulled the human girl into a tight hug as she whispered, "I'm so glad you're okay." Bonnie had been so scared and nervous that she wouldn't have been quick enough to find the other witch.

"You and me both," Emily giggled before a heavy yawn left her lungs. She glanced between her brother and friend as she announced, "I think I'm going to head home." Emily then looked down at Tyler's large outfit on her body before mumbling, "I'm literally covered in blood, sweat, and tears."

"Do you want me to drive your car home?" Jeremy questioned with furrowed brows. He didn't really like the idea of Emily driving on the roads right now in her condition as he could tell she wasn't exactly at one hundred percent yet.

Emily quickly shook her head and waved her hand carelessly before she assured her brother, "no, no. I'll be fine." She shrugged her shoulders as she added, "besides, it's not that far away."

Jeremy stared at his sister for a moment before he nodded his head. "Alright, fine," he muttered before he ordered, "but you better be home when I get there."

Emily grinned at her brother before she pulled him into a hug. "I'll be on the couch with Jenna and a big tub of ice cream," she promised. She then pulled Bonnie into another hug and praised, "thank you so much, Bon Bon."

Bonnie gave the brunette girl a smile before she quickly called out, "drive carefully," while she watched the healthy Emily slowly walk away from her and Jeremy. Like the youngest Gilbert, Bonnie was still worried about the green eyed girl as she went through a lot of trauma today.

"I will!" Emily yelled to her worried brother and friend along with, "I love you," before she turned her body fully around and began to make her way to the makeshift parking lot.

The exhaustion must have been something the spell couldn't fix because Emily was beginning to feel the tiredness rush through her body like a speeding train. Emily's whole body was sore and on fire. But Emily knew she could at least hold it together until she got back to the Gilbert house.

The Gilbert girl felt like she had been walking for hours as she tried to find her black Honda. She remembered she had parked it a little bit passed the Lockwood lake. It took three more very slow minutes of dragging her body before Emily finally reached the aforementioned water source. The brunette girl stood there for a moment as she caught her breath and looked down at the dark water. However, Emily's peaceful and calm silence was soon interrupted by the familiar swishing of a vampire.

Emily had barely enough time to turn around at the unknown vampire before she felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around her body. "God, you scared me," the vampire whispered softly into Emily's ear.

The Gilbert girl smiled against the vampire's chest as she recognized right away that it was Stefan Salvatore. "I'm okay," she whispered right back as she knew he must have been worried about her, which made Emily's stomach flutter instantly.

Stefan pulled away from the human girl after a few minutes of holding her before he grabbed her face gently between his hands. "Really?" Stefan questioned as his green eyes furrowed deeply, "you're not in any pain?"

Emily shook her head with a grin, "nope." She took a step back before she held her arms out and stated proudly, "I'm good as new." Emily couldn't help but feel much happier and healthier in Stefan's presence. It was like all the exhaustion just left her body as soon as Stefan was close to her.

Stefan didn't say anything to the brunette girl. Instead, he just stared into Emily's green eyes as he still couldn't believe that she was standing and walking right now after everything they did to Katherine. Stefan brought his lips down to Emily's forehead before he finally spoke in a whisper, "I don't know what I would've done if you weren't okay."

Emily slowly moved her empty hand to lightly graze Stefan's fingers with her own as she assured him, "I'm okay, Stef." Emily couldn't help but want to feel Stefan's body against hers. It was like she was suddenly starving for his touch. Emily didn't know if it was from her near death experience or her feelings she kept having for him, but she didn't want it to stop.

Stefan nodded his head silently as he knew Emily was going to be okay and that she was now safe from the wrath of Katherine since Damon and Elena was dealing with the aforementioned vampire. He felt like he could finally breathe again knowing that she wasn't in any pain.

Stefan glanced down at his and Emily's fingers that were gently touching before he slowly linked them together in a tight hold. Stefan knew he needed to take his chance now to finally tell Emily how he feels about her. There was no Katherine to interrupt them again or any problem that needed their attention. It was just them; Stefan Salvatore and Emily Gilbert.

The vampire gently pushed the human girl's messy brown hair behind her left ear before he settled his hand on her warm cheek. "I need to tell you something," Stefan uttered as he stared directly into his favorite pair of eyes. He swallowed thickly before he added, "something important."

Emily tilted her head up as she gently nodded with her brows furrowed. The brunette girl didn't understand why Stefan looked so nervous to tell her something. He was never nervous around her, so why now? "Uh... yeah, of course," Emily told the vampire curiously.

Stefan took a deep breath before he stated, "alright. Firstly, I need to tell you something else before I tell you the important thing." He then rubbed the back of his neck nervously with an awkward chuckle at his confused statement before he ripped the band-aid right off, "Elena and I broke up."

Emily's green eyes instantly widened in shock as soon as the words came out of Stefan's mouth. "Oh, my God!" She gasped. "W-When? What happened? Are you okay?" Emily quickly interrogated as questions flew through her mind. She didn't understand why she was hearing this from Stefan and not her twin sister or why it even happened. She thought everything was fine.

"Um, it was right before the volunteer picnic," Stefan mumbled as he grew more nervous as the conversation went on.

Emily frowned as she thought back to that day. She should have known something was wrong as she remembered Elena would avoid talking about Stefan and the younger Salvatore became more touchy with her after that day. "What happened?" Emily questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest, "and why didn't my sister tell me?" She couldn't believe she was just now finding out about something so big.

"Well..." Stefan trailed off before he told the Gilbert girl, "it happened right after Elena turned. She started to feel differently for Damon." He shrugged his shoulders before he continued, "and I realized I wasn't in love with her anymore." Stefan took a deep breath before he explained, "Elena and I decided that I should be the one to tell you since I have something to confess to you." The vampire then grabbed Emily's hand and rubbed it softly as he began, "I realized that I'm in lo-"

However, before Stefan could finally confess his true feelings to the brunette girl, they were soon interrupted by Emily's cell phone ringing in her black clutch purse. "Sorry," Emily quickly apologized before she took a step away from Stefan and pulled out her cell phone.

Emily glanced down at her device to see who was calling before she looked back up at Stefan with a small smile. "It's Elena," she stated, "I should probably take this." Emily then rose an eyebrow as she wondered, "can we finish this conversation later? Maybe you can come by in an hour?"

Stefan's green eyes swarmed with disappointment as he didn't get the chance to tell Emily what he had been craving to do for months. But he still gave the Gilbert girl a small nod and a tiny smile. "Yeah, of course," Stefan stated before he leaned down and left a lingering kiss on the top of Emily's head. "I'll see you soon, Emmie," Stefan promised before he vamp sped away from the human girl.

Emily shook her head with her brows furrowed once she was standing alone. She definitely wasn't going to let this conversation go; not with Stefan nor her sister. Emily wanted to know the whole story plus whatever Stefan was so nervous tell her about.

"Hey, Lena," Emily greeted as she answered her cell phone just as it reached the last ring.

"Finally!" Elena exclaimed as she had been waiting nervously for her sister to answer her call. "How are you feeling? You're not in any pain, right?" She questioned after she took a deep breath of relief once she heard Emily's calm voice.

Emily chuckled lightly before she told Elena, "I'm fine. I'm just about to head home." She rose an eyebrow to herself before she wondered, "where are you?"

"Damon and I are dealing with Katherine," Elena explained with a heavy sigh as she stood outside the tomb while Damon was inside with her doppelganger. Elena was really starting to wish that she had checked on her twin sister first. She needed to see with her own eyes that Emily was okay or she wasn't going to be able to relax anytime soon.

"Speaking of Damon, you and I need to have a little chat, Missy," Emily exclaimed as she recalled what Stefan had just told her. She wasn't going to allow Elena to get away without a scolding about not telling Emily about her breakup with Stefan and apparently her new relationship with Damon.

"Uh... should I be worried?" Elena asked awkwardly.

Emily shrugged her shoulders to herself before she stated, "possibly." The Gilbert girl was only joking around as she pushed Elena's buttons. Emily really just wanted to have a sister to sister chat about the things she was obviously out of the loop in.

Elena groaned loudly before she mumbled, "fine. I'll be home soon."

Emily grinned and uttered, "good." The Gilbert girl's smile brightened when she could finally see her black Honda. "I'm at my car now, so I'll see you soon," Emily told her sister before she quickly added, "oh! Pick up some more ice cream. I think we're almost out."

Elena shook her head with a chuckle. She didn't know how Emily does it. How she could go back to her bubbly self after basically being attacked for over an hour. There was no one like Emily Gilbert that was for sure. "I'll pick up some chocolate ice cream," Elena promised before she ordered, "drive carefully on the roads and send me a text when you're safe."

Emily rolled her eyes at how worried her sister and everyone else has been about her. She didn't like when everyone got worried, that was her job. But Emily would let it slide for tonight. "I promise, Lena," Emily stated before she said a quick goodbye to her sister and ended the call.

The Gilbert girl placed her cell phone back into her clutch bag before she stretched her sore body as she reached her car. Emily's body was aching all over the place. She really hoped Alaric still had some bourbon left because she definitely was going to need it.

Emily let a heavy sigh leave her mouth as she heard the multiple popping of her limbs before she reached back into her clutch bag for her car keys. However, the brunette girl frowned when she couldn't feel or hear them. "Ugh," Emily groaned, "come on."

After a long two minutes, Emily finally found what she was looking for. "Ha!" Emily cheered to herself before she went to place the keys into the hole to unlock her car. However, that was not what happened. One moment Emily was looking into her reflection in her window and the next she saw a tall figure standing behind her with a Masquerade mask before everything instantly turned dark and she was knocked unconscious.

The man in the black hood grinned excitedly as he looked down at the passed out human girl in his arms. He then glanced around the party for anyone watching him before he easily tossed the girl over his shoulder and quickly placed her into the back of his SUV. The man knew he was going to be getting a big reward in the form of him finally turning into a vampire for bagging the much needed human Petrova doppelganger.


	40. Chapter 37

Emily Gilbert felt like she was inside of a go-kart while driving down a bumpy hill when she was suddenly awoken from her unconsciousness. However, when she finally opened her green eyes, she soon realized that she wasn't in fact having fun in the small vehicle like she did when she was ten years old. Instead, she noticed the white walls with paper pealing off along with a strange design of cracks on the mildew invested ceiling.

The brunette girl furrowed her brows as her groggy mind finally connected the rocky movements and her surroundings. The sway of her body wasn't from a go-kart like she had first thought, it was instead from an unknown man carrying her as he roughly trotted through a dark and silent house.

"Ah, look who's up," the man uttered quietly when he noticed the wide eyes staring up at him.

Emily instantly tried to fight the arms that was carrying her once she realized she was being kidnapped. "Let me go," she mumbled as she pushed against the stranger's hard chest. Emily was not just going to let someone take her when she deals with vampires, werewolves, and witches on a daily basis.

The mysterious man ignored the human girl as he silently walked through the abandoned house before he carelessly tossed her down onto the gray wool couch that was centered in the middle of the spacious living room. He then swiftly took off his black hat, sunglasses, and gloves before he began to untie the thick rope from around the human girl's ankles.

"Watch it!" Emily yelped as she felt her head bounce off of the arm of the couch and the painful sensation of the rope rubbing against her skin. She then slowly sat up once her legs were free and lifted her tied up hands to the back of her head before she brought them towards her face and noticed the fresh blood. Emily huffed out an irradiated sigh, despite being kidnapped, when she saw the red liquid trailing down her fingers. She was tired of being injured and having her blood split when she barely just got done being tortured by her doppelganger's sister.

The unknown man swiftly raised his blue eyes towards the human girl's lifted fingers as soon as he got a whiff of her fresh blood. He then slowly scooted his body across the couch as he stalked the brunette girl while his senses stayed glued to the delicious smelling blood. "Just a taste," the man muttered as he was stuck in a hungry trance.

Emily rolled her eyes for a brief second, despite her current dilemma, when she noticed the black veins crawling underneath the man's now red eyes. She mentally scolded herself because, of course, the only type of people that would threaten her life are always supernatural.

However, when the brunette girl noticed the vampire's fangs closing in on her, Emily's annoyance instantly disappeared and turned to panic. Emily's mind soon went into instinct mode as she realized the danger she found herself in before she dug her heels into the wooden floorboards as she tried to keep herself at a safe distance from the hungry vampire. "Leave me alone!" Emily yelled as she moved her rope covered hands in front of her face to protect herself from being bitten.

"Trevor!" A loud feminine voice suddenly snapped as the unknown person arrived in the room with the sound of boots stomping against the wooden floor. "Control yourself," she commanded as she stood over her companion and glared down at him.

The man with the blue eyes and the dirty blonde hair or better know as Trevor, glanced over his shoulder and greeted his friend in a frustrated tone, "Rose." He then slowly stood up from the couch and bumped his shoulder into the glaring vampire's before he exited the room with a quiet mumble, "buzz kill."

Emily squeezed her green eyes shut with a shaky breath as soon as she felt the hungry vampire's weight lift up from the couch. Emily realized she definitely needed to be more careful. It wasn't like dealing with the vampires in Mystic Falls since she didn't even know her captor's motive.

After about two long minutes of trying to control her rapid heartbeat, Emily finally opened her eyes back up and took notice of the body that obviously belonged to the feminine voice. _Probably another vampire,_ Emily thought.

The Gilbert girl then studied the silent woman in front of her as she took in all of her features. She noticed the female vampire was a little shorter than the man who tried to attack her and had spiked up brown hair with a pair of fierce green eyes.

Emily twitched her head to the side when she noticed the woman was staring at her in a way she couldn't explain. "What do you want with me?" Emily questioned as she slowly leaned her back against the uncomfortable couch and brought her knees to her chest.

The calm and silent vampire or Rose, shook her head with a look of remembrance on her face before she slowly took a couple of steps closer to the human girl. "You look just like Darina," Rose mumbled mostly to herself.

Emily's green eyes slightly widened when she heard the vampire mention the all too familiar name. "You knew Darina?" She quickly questioned. Emily had never even known anyone that actually knew her doppelganger except, of course, for Katherine.

Rose stared down at the human girl in silence for a moment as she had her arms crossed over her brown leather jacket before she decided to finally answer Emily's question. "She was a friend," Rose murmured before she swiftly turned her back to the young girl and began to stomp her way out of the room like she did when she had arrived.

"Wait!" Emily hurriedly called out. "Why am I here?" She asked in a quiet and nervous voice. The Gilbert girl didn't understand why she was taken by someone that was obviously from the 1400's. She thought the only vampires, besides the ones in Mystic Falls, that knew of her was Katherine and, of course, this Niklaus guy that her doppelganger had mentioned.

Rose glanced back at the human girl with a quiet sigh. A part of her felt bad for what she was doing as soon as she had connected her eyes with the doppelganger's. It was like she was looking right at Darina Petrova. However, Rose knew that this wasn't the girl she used to be close with. "Just be quiet," Rose commanded before she swiftly rushed out of the room.

Rose knew she couldn't let her guard down even though the doppelganger was a measly human. The vampire remembered when she had lived in England and met Darina Petrova and Maria Radkova. The witch that protects the innocent had told Rose how her kind could convince anyone, supernatural or not, by just the kindness of their souls and Rose knew that was exactly what happened when she had first looked into the human girl's green irises.

A deep frown slowly formed onto Emily's face as she watched the vampire speed away from her. She honestly felt like she was hungover as she was beyond confused and tired. Emily just didn't understand what exactly was happening to her. What did two vampires from the fifteen century want with her?

Emily shook her head along with a small groan as she felt like her head was about to explode - thanks to the man that had knocked her out at the Lockwood mansion. Everything was just too difficult to process when Emily knew she probably had a concussion. The brunette girl decided to just relax as she busied herself by untying the binds that were around her wrists as she prayed that someone had figured out she's missing and was coming to save her.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the human girl's hometown, the loud bell that signaled for second period rang clearly through the parking lot of Mystic Falls High School, where the two Salvatore brothers leaned against Damon's blue Mustang with their arms crossed over their chests while the Gilbert vampire paced up and down the asphalt paving.

The three vampires along with the youngest Gilbert had came to the conclusion by eight in the morning that everyone's favorite person, Emily Gilbert, had been taken when no one heard from the human girl in over twelve hours. It was a major red flag when Emily had made three separate plans with her siblings and Stefan along with the fact that her car was still sitting at the Lockwood mansion and she was nowhere to be seen.

Stefan ran his right hand though his already ruffled brown hair as he broke the tense silence and stated, "this has Katherine written all over it." The Salvatore vampire was angry with himself because he didn't even realize Emily was in trouble. He had just thought she went to Bonnie's or Caroline's and forgot about the conversation they were supposed to have last night.

"Katherine's in the tomb," Damon told his brother in a bored tone before he pointed his head in the pacing Elena's direction as he added, "we slammed the door on her."

"Did you?" Stefan questioned as he rose an eyebrow at the blue eyed vampire. He knew with Damon's attachment to Katherine, even though he was now with Elena, that it wasn't guaranteed that his brother would actually leave Katherine in the tomb to die but instead fall for one of her tricks.

Damon glared over at Stefan for the accusation he was assuming. However, before Damon could open his mouth to defend himself, the emotional Gilbert vampire answered for him in an angry and erratic shout, "of course we did!"

Elena grinded her teeth together as her emotions were screaming at her before she went back to pacing up and down the parking lot. She could barely focus or breathe as her mind was swimming with worry for twin sister and moving was the only thing that was helping her at the moment.

"See?" Damon exclaimed with a grin as he pointed in Elena's direction to prove his point, "she's in the tomb. Period. End of story."

The parking lot soon grew silent once again after Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother. They all had one single thought on their minds; Emily Gilbert. However, after about three quiet minutes had passed, Damon decided to tell his brother and girlfriend something he realized might be important. "But she did mention something right before I closed her in," he mumbled with a nervous tick as his blue eyes looked anywhere but at Stefan and Elena.

The Gilbert vampire swiftly stopped her pacing before she took three large steps until she was standing directly in front of Damon and quickly asked, "what did she say?" Elena didn't even remember Katherine saying anything but she guessed it happened when she was talking on the phone with Emily while she stood outside of the tomb.

Damon looked into Elena's erratic brown eyes and Stefan's glaring green ones before he innocently lifted his arms up and exclaimed, "I thought she was lying!"

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest as he took a threatening step closer to his brother before he repeated Elena's question but in a more calmer voice, "what did she say?"

Damon glanced between the two impatiently waiting vampires before he finally answered in a quiet murmur, "Emily's in danger."

"No, no, no," Elena mumbled to herself as she pressed her palms against her eyes before she went back to pacing in an angry manner. She didn't know what to do or how to even act when her sister had never been away from her while also in danger since Elena had became a vampire.

"What!?" Stefan shouted as he ignored the pacing Gilbert and got right in his brother's face. "And you didn't think you should of asked her to elaborate?" Stefan growled as he grew even more worried for the girl he was in love with.

Damon pointed his finger at the glaring Stefan as he exclaimed, "don't blame this on me! You know everything she says is a damn lie!" He then glanced over at the distressed Elena as he mumbled as his shoulders slumped, "how was I supposed to know she was going to start spouting the truth?"

"It's my sister, Damon," Elena snarled before she suddenly vamp sped over to her boyfriend. She then began to punch his chest with all the energy she had left as she felt tears build up in her brown eyes. "You should have told me!" Elena shouted in anger and in fright for her twin sister's safety.

Damon wrapped his fingers around Elena's pounding fists and hugged her closely before he whispered into her ear, "I am so sorry. I wasn't thinking."

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at the two other vampires before he stated, "we have to go talk to her." The youngest Salvatore knew that was the only way they were going to be able to get any answers to where Emily could be since Katherine obviously knew something.

"No, no, no," Damon quickly uttered as he moved Elena to the side and threw his arm over her shoulder. "Let me tell you how that's gonna go," Damon began to explain, "we're gonna go ask her for help and she's gonna negotiate her release." He then glared over at his brother as he continued, "and we're gonna be dumb enough to give it her, then she's gonna get out and kill us!" Damon shook his head before he exclaimed, "that is exactly what she wants!"

Stefan lifted his shoulders as he shrugged before he stated with complete certainty, "I don't really care." The youngest Salvatore would go through hell and back just to make sure the Gilbert girl is safe. He didn't care what was the cost.

Damon stared into his brother's calm but confident green eyes as he muttered, "it's a bad idea, Stefan." Damon wanted to find Emily just like everyone else but he knew going to Katherine would just end up with them all dead.

Elena took a step away from Damon as she spoke for the first time in a level headed voice, "I agree with Stefan." She stared up at her boyfriend, who was frowning down at her, before she told him softly, "it's my sister, Damon." Elena gave the blue eyed vampire one last look before she quickly walked away with the youngest Salvatore to come up with a plan to find her twin sister.

* * *

Emily sighed as she stared up at the ceiling while she tapped her bare foot against the arm of the couch. She was growing bored of just sitting here in an empty house. _Shouldn't they be doing something or asking me questions by now?_ Emily thought.

The brunette girl huffed out a loud breath as she sat up straight instead of lying down before she slowly got up from the couch. Emily decided if they weren't going to tell her anything, then she was going to get her own answers.

Emily tip toed as quietly as she could as she walked through the silent house before she finally heard the voices of her captors when she reached the large staircase. "You didn't touch her, did you?" Emily heard the feminine voice of Rose ask the other vampire, Trevor. Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes in disgust as the woman mentioned Trevor touching her as the Gilbert girl remembered when Trevor tried to get close when he had checked on her about fifteen minutes ago.

"Give me some credit," Trevor mumbled with annoyance ringing throughout his voice. "Besides, I couldn't get close enough," he angrily whispered to himself as the human girl was a lot stronger than he had first thought. "So, did you call him?" Trevor questioned as he changed the topic to the reason for them to be hiding in a dark house in the middle of nowhere.

A sly grin instantly lifted on Emily's chapped lips as they were finally talking about something that could help her figure out why she was taken. "No, I called one of his contacts," Emily heard Rose say before she added, "you know how this works."

"Did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?" Trevor nervously questioned as his loud but shaky voice echoed throughout the whole house.

Emily furrowed her brows when she heard the unknown person come out of the vampire's mouth. She didn't even think she knew anyone that's named Elijah. The brunette girl slowly continued to walk across the wooden floorboards of the long hallway before she could finally see the two vampires in a small room. _Just a little bit closer,_ Emily thought as she wanted to be able to hear better.

"They say he got it," Rose told Trevor as the human girl watched her pace back and forth through the dark room.

"Wonderful," Trevor mumbled sarcastically in his thick English accent before he wondered as he crossed his arms over his chest, "now what?"

The female vampire came to a stop in front of her companion before she lightly shrugged her shoulders and stated, "that's it, Trevor. He either got it or he didn't. We just have to wait."

Trevor stared into Rose's green eyes for a silent and tense moment before he quickly shook his head. "Look," he hurriedly exclaimed, "it's not too late." Trevor pointed his hand towards the door without noticing the human girl and stated, "we can leave her here. We don't have to go through with this."

"I'm sick of running!" Rose shouted in an erratic voice as she threw her hands up in the air.

"Yeah?" Trevor asked with a raised eyebrow before he shrieked, "well, running keeps us from dying!"

Rose shook her head and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. She then opened them up once she got control of her emotions and spoke in a calm voice as she assured Trevor that everything would work out for them, "Elijah's old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free."

The Gilbert girl had totally forgotten that she was secretly listening on the vampire's conversation as she slowly kept moving forward. She had gotten sucked into their story as she wanted to hear why they were running from this Elijah guy. However, Emily's curiousness got the better of her because next thing she knew, the female vampire was glaring over at her when she had accidentally stepped on a squeaky spot in the hallway.

"You!" Rose snarled as she charged towards the human girl, "there's nothing around for miles!" She shook her head with a chuckle as she told Emily, "if you think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically mistaken."

Emily rose an eyebrow as she asked, "who said I was running?" The Gilbert girl already knew the routine with being kidnapped by vampires. There was no point in running, especially when she didn't have Stefan or Damon here to help her. So, Emily would rather learn all the information she could as she hoped and waited that the two brothers were on their way to get her out of this mess.

Trevor pointed his finger at the brunette as he muttered with a smirk, "feisty."

Rose glared over at her companion before she turned around and faced the human girl. "What do you want to know?" She questioned.

Emily stood up straight instead of being scrunched down before she asked the one question that had been on her mind for the past couple of minutes, "who's this Elijah guy?"

Rose smirked and whispered, "he's your worst nightmare," before she passed the human girl and silently jogged down the old wooden staircase.

Emily glanced over at the grinning Trevor before she rolled her eyes and quickly made her way down the stairs to catch up with Rose. "I'm not going anywhere like I told you," Emily exclaimed as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against a large round table while she looked at the female vampire, "so you might as well tell me who he is."

Rose made her way around the large open spaced foyer with an eye roll as she complained, "why can't you just be quiet?"

Emily dismissively shrugged her shoulders as she told the vampire, "I just want to know what you want with me." That was what was mostly bothering the Gilbert girl so much. Emily didn't like not knowing what was going on, especially when it had to do with her.

Rose turned on a small lamp to her left before she swiftly charged over to the windows, where she began to place wooden boards across all of the spaces that would allow any sunlight into the house. "I personally want nothing to do with you," Rose finally answered Emily's question as she glanced over at the human, "I'm just a delivery service."

Emily rose an eyebrow as she guessed, "to this Elijah guy?"

"Two points to the eavesdropper," Rose cooed with a quiet chuckle as she avoided looking too much into the human girl's memorizing eyes. She was not getting trapped again like she did with Darina and that witch. Rose was going to do what she sat out to do - which is deliver the human and nothing was going to get in her way.

"He's a vampire, right?" Emily continued her questioning about the unknown man. She guessed if old vampires are delivering her to someone, then it had to be another vampire.

"He's one of _the_ vampires," Rose explained easily as she began to stack up all of the book that sat on the round table, "the originals."

Emily furrowed her brows at the unknown term. "The originals?" She repeated before she wondered, "like one of the first ones?" That was the only guess Emily could come up with for the unknown term, that this Elijah guy was one of the very first vampires. It shocked the Gilbert girl to even think about the possibility of the oldest vampire in the world wanting her.

Rose shook her head in disbelief as she kept her eyes glued on a random book as she flipped through the pages. "Nice guess," she muttered before she wondered, "haven't the Salvatore's been teaching you your vampire history?"

Emily's eyebrows instantly lifted to her forehead as the vampire she just met today mentioned two of the closest people in her life. "You know Stefan and Damon?" She asked curiously.

"I know of them," Rose corrected before she explained, "a hundred years back, a friend of mine tried to set me up with Stefan." The vampire's voice then grew clouded with amusement as she added, "she said he was one of the good ones. But I'm more of a sucker for the bad boys."

Emily nodded her head silently as she ignored the tightness in her chest at the mention of the youngest Salvatore. Instead, she decided to keep the conversation on topic so she could learn as much as she could about this unknown guy before he came for her. "Who are the originals?" Emily questioned as she continued her interrogation.

Rose sighed quietly before she closed the large book and finally faced the human girl. "Trevor and I have been running for 500 years," Rose explained with a tint of sadness in her voice before she shrugged her shoulders, "we're tired. We want it over." Rose then looked at the human girl dismissively as she added, "so, we're using you to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess."

"What do I have anything to do with whatever problem you got yourself into years ago?" Emily wondered as she rose an eyebrow. She didn't understand why she was being dragged into the middle of the vampire's problem when she wasn't even born when it happened.

Rose stared at the human girl in silence before she finally told Emily the reason behind her kidnapping, "because you are the last human Petrova doppelganger. You're the key to breaking the curse."

Emily's green eyes widened as she whispered to herself, "Darina's journal." She instantly remembered reading about the curse. But what confused the Gilbert girl was that she now have heard of two separate curses. The sun and the moon curse that allows werewolves to change whenever they want and the curse her doppelganger had mentioned about how this Niklaus guy needed her to become a hybrid.

Like the human girl's, Rose's eyes instantly widened when she heard what Emily had said with her vampire hearing. "You know," she mumbled in shock. The vampire always thought she was the only one that knew of the true nature of the curse, besides, of course, the original who revolved around it. Rose quickly moved closer to the human girl and whispered as she was afraid that the aforementioned original would hear her, "you know about Klaus."

"So it is about his curse?" Emily questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest. She then shook her head as she began to slowly pace before she wondered, "is the werewolf curse even real?" The brunette girl was starting to feel like they were the same thing when her doppelganger never even mentioned anything about a werewolf curse.

Rose sighed before she told the human girl in a whisper, "it's a lie. A cover-up." The female vampire only knew about the true curse because she was so close to Darina and the Petrova doppelganger trusted her with this secret.

Emily nodded her head silently as she realized all along that everything comes right back to the sacrifice her doppelganger mentioned. Everything the Salvatore's, her siblings, and friends thought about the moonstone that breaks the werewolf curse was just all a bunch of lies. It was really connected to Niklaus's hybrid curse. "So, the moonstone doesn't break the curse?" Emily questioned the female vampire as she needed to know all she could. Emily wanted to get her facts straight since she knew Darina never mentioned anything about the moonstone, just about her being scarified.

Rose shook her head as she explained, "the moonstone is what binds the curse. The sacrifice is what breaks it." The vampire bit down on her bottom lip as she added, "the one that took Darina's life and the one that will take yours."

"Oh," Emily mumbled to herself. Even though she already knew that, it felt more real when she hears it come out of someone else's mouth - that she is how the sacrifice is completed. Emily looked up at Rose with unshed tears in her green eyes as she nodded her head once before she swiftly turned around and made her way back into the living room.

Emily didn't know why she never really processed the fact that she's going to die when she had read about how dangerous and serious it is in Darina's journal. Emily just always thought there was no way that a vampire from the fifteen century would actually come and find her to just kill her. It sounds crazy, but Emily knew now that it wasn't just a folktale. It was true and he's coming for her.

* * *

In the busy hallways of Mystic Falls High School, there stood underneath a staircase in the corner was two vampires and one witch as they spoke in quiet whispers about all that has happened in the last twenty-four hours. Stefan and Elena were both now trying to convince the Bennett witch to help them open the tomb that holds the answers to finding the missing girl.

Bonnie shook her head at the two vampires after she got the whole story. She was also worried about Emily, but Bonnie knew she couldn't help. "I'm sorry," the Bennett witch apologized as she stared at the missing girl's twin sister. "I can't undo the tomb spell," she stated before explaining, "even if I wanted to, it took both me and Grams to undo it the first time."

"But we can open the door, right?" Stefan questioned, "we can talk to her?" That was really the only thing he wanted to do. Stefan definitely didn't want to release the spell so Katherine could just escape after they barley put her in there. He just needed to know what danger was after Emily and how to help her.

Bonnie nodded her head as she told Stefan, "yeah, but Damon's right." She glanced over at Elena as she continued, "Katherine's not gonna tell you anything. At least not without getting something in return."

"I know," Stefan explained in a whispered shout, "but I have to do something!" Stefan shook his head as he looked at the Bennett witch with a helpless expression before he murmured, "I have no idea who has Emily and I have no idea where she is."

Bonnie glanced between the now pacing Elena and the heartbroken Stefan with tears clouding her brown eyes before she whispered as she came up with an idea, "what if there was another way to find her?"

Stefan rose an eyebrow at the Bennett witch as he wondered, "what do you have in mind?" He didn't even think there was a possibility of another way to find Emily when Katherine was the only one that knew something.

Bonnie stayed silent for a moment as she thought over a spell she remembered seeing in Grams' grimoire before she told the two vampires, "I need you guys to find an empty classroom, candles, and we need Jeremy for this."

"Wait, why do you need Jer?" The Gilbert vampire questioned at the mention of one of her siblings. She didn't like the idea of bringing Jeremy more into this life, especially when Emily was missing and couldn't help her get their brother to stay out of the supernatural like she always does.

Bonnie lightly placed her hand onto Elena's cold one as she stated sincerely, "just trust me."

"I think we can use Alaric's classroom but I'll ask him," Stefan quickly uttered as he spoke up. They didn't have time for Elena to pick this day to yell at Jeremy to stay out of the way. If it helps find Emily then Stefan was going to make sure Jeremy was there like Bonnie said.

Bonnie moved her eyes over to Stefan as she nodded her head. "I'll meet you there with the grimoire," the Bennett witch stated and gave Elena one last look before she took off down the hallway in a fast walk.

"We'll find her," Stefan whispered to the emotional vampire as he squeezed her shoulder before the two ex-lovers and now friends, began to walk down the hallway to get the things Bonnie needed.

It was about fifteen minutes of gathering supplies through Mystic Falls High School, before Elena and Stefan found themselves walking through their history class, where they spotted the Bennett witch and the youngest Gilbert.

Bonnie looked up when she heard footsteps and sighed when she saw the two vampires. She then quickly walked over to Elena and grabbed the candles from her hands. "I found Jeremy on my way here," Bonnie explained as she sat the candles around a large map.

Elena walked over to her brother at the mention of Jeremy and brought him into a tight hug. "Are you okay?" The vampire questioned as she stared up at her brother's brown eyes. Elena felt even more worried about her brother since their other sibling was missing.

Jeremy nodded his head as he gave Elena a tight-lipped smile. "I'm fine," he mumbled as he bounced his leg up and down. Just like everyone else, Jeremy was worried about Emily. He just wanted to get this over with so they could find her.

Stefan made his way over to Bonnie and the two Gilbert siblings as he told the Bennett witch, "Alaric said we've got to clear out of here within ten minutes." He then sat a heavy black bag onto the aforementioned teacher's desk as he exclaimed, "we got weapons. He stocked us up." Stefan didn't know what they were walking into, so he knew it would be best to be ready for anyone that he had to go through to get to the Gilbert girl.

Bonnie only gave the Salvatore a small nod before she began to light the candles that stood on the edge of a large map. Once the candles were lit and she could feel the energy flowing, Bonnie looked up at Jeremy as she asked, "are you ready?"

Jeremy glanced up at Elena before he looked into Bonnie's brown eyes with a shaky breath as he slowly lifted his right hand and placed it into the Bennett witch's palm. _It was now or never,_ Jeremy thought as he knew it didn't matter if he was ready. He had to do it when his sister could be hurt somewhere.

The Bennett witch took a deep breath before she slowly slid the small blade down the center of Jeremy's hand. Once she saw the blood oozing from his palm, Bonnie turned his hand around until the red liquid was dripping onto the map. The Bennett witch then closed her eyes and began to chant the spell to herself as she felt the energy flow through the room.

"There," Bonnie exclaimed after about two minutes of chanting the location spell. She pointed towards the map that read Reidsville and stated, "she's there."

Jeremy glanced down at the map and noticed the name of the town his blood had stopped on. "That's 300 miles away," he stated in shock.

Stefan shook his head as he uttered, "no, Bonnie. We need a more exact location than that." It would take days if they searched through an entire town and Stefan guessed Emily didn't have that much time.

"That's as close as I can get," Bonnie stated disappointingly as she stared down at the map. She felt helpless. Bonnie felt like she failed Emily when she couldn't even help her with her witch powers.

"We can map it!" Jeremy quickly told Stefan as he came up with an idea. He nodded his head as he explained, "aerial view will show us what's around there. It'll help us narrow down the area."

"Perfect," Stefan muttered as he pointed at the youngest Gilbert before he quickly grabbed the bag of weapons from Alaric's desk. "Call me or Elena with whatever you find," he told Jeremy as he headed towards the door.

"No, no. I'm coming with you!" Jeremy quickly hollered. Jeremy definitely wasn't just going to sit on the sidelines when he could be helping find his older sister.

"Jeremy," Elena warned as she glared at her brother. "You are not coming," she told Jeremy. There was no way she was going to allow another one of her siblings to be put in danger. "You need to stay here, Jer," Elena hurriedly told her brother as they didn't have time to waste.

"I'm not going to just sit here!" Jeremy yelled as he quickly went to follow after Stefan and his sister. "What if she's hurt, okay?" The brunette boy questioned with worry throughout his voice. He couldn't just do nothing as it will drive him crazy. Jeremy lifted his brown eyes over to Elena as he mumbled, "or worse? What if she's...?"

Elena quickly turned around at the shaky words that were coming out of her brother's mouth. "She's going to be okay," Elena whispered into Jeremy's ear once she had pulled him into a tight hug.

"She's not dead," Stefan uttered the words Jeremy couldn't in an emotional voice. He couldn't let himself even think it for a second. He had to stay positive that they would be able to find Emily in time. "You two go back to your house," Stefan ordered Jeremy before he promised, "I'll call you the minute we find her."

Jeremy lifted his arms up in the air as he exclaimed, "well, you guys can't do this alone!"

However, before the two vampires could utter a single word to Jeremy, they were soon interrupted by the arrival of the oldest Salvatore. "They're not alone," Damon told the male teenager before he looked over at his brother and stated, "let's go."

Elena's brown eyes brightened as soon as she saw her boyfriend walk through the door of the history classroom. "You're coming?" She questioned hopeful as she stared into his ocean blue eyes.

Damon took a few steps across the classroom until he was standing in front of Elena before he gently placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "It's Emily," Damon stated simply as he repeated what Elena had said this morning. Damon saw Emily as one of his few friends, so he wasn't just going to let his brother and girlfriend do all the work. They were going to get Emily Gilbert back no matter what.

* * *

Emily groaned loudly as she felt her body fall onto the hard wooden floor. She then slowly turned on her back and stared up at the dirty ceiling for a moment as she took a deep breath. Emily guessed that she must have fallen asleep while she was processing her looming death.

The Gilbert girl sighed before she slowly sat up and got off of the hard floor. Emily wanted to get all the answers she could if she was supposed to die in the sacrifice. Emily remembered Darina mentioning that someone close to her was going to deliver something to Emily that will help her but Emily just pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She couldn't count on someone from the 1400's that would just help a stranger out of the kindness of their heart. Emily needed to be prepared for what she could control and what was coming for her now.

Emily slowly tip toed back into the room, where she had realized her fate and spotted Rose still picking up books. "Tell me more about the originals," the brunette girl commanded as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Captivity has made her pushy, eh?" Trevor questioned in amusement as he slowly made his way down the staircase to join the human girl and his companion. "What do you want to know, doppelicious?" He wondered with a smirk as he looked at the interrogating brunette.

Emily rolled her eyes at the male vampire before she repeated her question, "the originals. Who are they?" Emily didn't have time for jokes when it was her life on the line. She needed to know as much as she could before she was delivered or taken by this so called 'original.'

Trevor sighed dramatically before he explained as he aimlessly walked around the now spotless foyer, "they are the first family from the old world." He pointed over to the cleaning vampire as he added, "Rose and I pissed them off."

Rose swiftly twirled her head around at the statement and glared over at her companion, which automatically caused the male vampire to roll his eyes before he innocently lifted his arms in the air and stated in annoyance, "correction. I pissed them off. Rose just had my back and for over half a millennium they've wanted us dead."

Emily shot the male vampire her own glare as she side stepped a book he kicked in her direction before she questioned curiously, "what did you do?"

Rose scoffed as she rolled her eyes before she answered for Trevor, who avoided looking at her and the human girl. "He trusted Katerina Petrova," Rose stated with obvious bitterness in her voice.

Emily chuckled softly as she shook her head. It seems like Katherine has a pattern of trapping people and screwing them over just like she did with the Salvatore brothers, Emily's best friend, Caroline, and her twin sister. "Ah, Katherine," Emily uttered with a smirk. She rose an eyebrow as she glanced between the two vampires and questioned, "I'm guessing you fell for her games too?"

Trevor glared over at the human girl before he continued to kick things out of his away as he released all of his anger from remembering his past mistake. "I helped her escape her fate," Trevor snarled, "and now I've..." The male vampire then paused before he threw Rose a sarcastic smile and continued, "sorry, I mean, we've been marked ever since."

"Which is why we're not gonna make the same mistake again by trusting another Petrova doppelganger," Rose told the human girl with a pointed look. She was not going to ever trust another one of those doppelgangers again. They only bring trouble with them.

"Good thing I'm nothing like Katherine," Emily stated in the same way Rose had done before she added to make her point, "and if you really knew Darina, then you would know that us being doppelgangers, we are the complete opposite of Katherine."

"There is no one like Darina," Rose whispered so quietly that Emily thought she imagined it.

Emily nodded her head silently as she thought it wasn't the best choice to bring up more old memories for the two vampires as she already seen Trevor's angry behavior because of Katherine. Instead, Emily decided to get off the topic altogether to keep the calm atmosphere going. "So, where's the bathroom in this place?" Emily asked the female vampire.

Rose looked at the human girl in complete disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" She questioned. Did the girl think she was stupid? There was no way in hell that Rose was just going to leave her alone just so she could escape and mess everything up.

Emily rolled her green eyes as she stated in annoyance, "I have to use the bathroom." She then rose her eyebrow as she challenged the vampire, "or would you rather I go in front of you?"

The female vampire sighed before she pointed towards the staircase and told the human girl in a strict voice, "you have three minutes. If you are not back by then, I will bust down the door and I will not hesitate to knock you out."

"Three minutes," Emily repeated as she nodded her head, "you got it," before the Gilbert girl quickly headed up the long staircase. Once she reached the silent and dark hallway, Emily then began to open random doors before she found the one she was searching for.

"Finally," Emily mumbled as she stepped foot into the bathroom before she made her way towards the large dirty mirror. She then placed the sleeve of Tyler's Timberwolves sweater on the glass before she began to rub away the dust. However, Emily sighed instantly when she saw her horrible reflection. She looked more zombie than human after all the stuff she had gone through thanks to the supernatural beings that are vampires.

Emily tried to enjoy the few minutes she had alone as she messed with her dirty hair. It helped with keeping her mind calm from any bad thoughts of the future or in better words, Emily's looming death by sacrifice. However, as Emily stood there in silence, she suddenly heard a crunching sound and the feeling of extra weight in her black sweatpants. The brunette girl furrowed her brows before she stuck her hand into the pocket and pulled something out. Emily then brought her hand towards her eyes and took notice of a scrunched up piece of paper between her fingers.

 _That wasn't there before,_ Emily thought as she remembered picking out a clean pair of pants from Tyler's closet. Emily curiously opened the piece of paper before she instantly sighed in relief when she read the note.

 _ **Stefan, Damon, and Elena are coming for you. - B**_

Emily smiled in content as she brought the note to her chest. She was glad that at least something was looking up for her. Emily felt like she could finally breathe again with knowing that they were coming to get her out of this mess - or at least until this Niklaus guy came for her.

True to her word, Emily made her way down the stairs after a couple of minutes in a much better mood once she had calmed her fast and excited heartbeat. Emily guessed it hadn't been three minutes yet since she didn't see Rose glaring over at her.

However, what confused the brunette girl as she made her way down the staircase was that she couldn't see or hear either of the vampires anymore. Emily decided to see what was going on as she quietly tip toed out of the foyer and into the only other room she had been in; the living room. But what shocked Emily when she stepped foot into the room was that the vampires were in complete and utter chaos.

Trevor was stomping as he paced up and down the dirty floor like a chicken with it's head cut off while he kicked anything in his way. "He's here," Trevor cried out as he nervously ran his hands through his messy dirty blonde hair. He shook his head as he mumbled under his breath, "this was a mistake."

Rose looked over at her companion after she placed her brown leather suitcase on the ground. "No, I told you I would get us out of this," the short haired brunette uttered softly as she tried to get Trevor to calm down, "you have to trust me."

"No!" Trevor shouted in fright as he tripped over his own feet when he tried to walk backwards. He shook his head and cried out, "he wants me dead, Rose!"

The green eyed vampire pointed her right hand over to the human girl as she heard the small sound of her toes pattering against the wooden floors before she told Trevor, "he wants her more."

Trevor either didn't hear his companion or his mind blocked it out because he continued to pace in nervousness as he mumbled, "I can't do this." He then swiftly came to a stop and looked up at Rose with his eyes widened as he came up with a plan, "you give her to him. He'll have mercy on you but I need to get out of here."

"Hey!" Rose called out as she tried to get Trevor to stop thinking about the original for a second. She gently grabbed a hold of his shaky hands while she connected her calm green eyes with his scared blue ones before she questioned softly, "what are we?"

Trevor closed his eyes briefly as he took a shaky deep breath before he responded in a hoarse voice, "we're family." The male vampire stared directly at Rose as he nodded his head before he added confidently, "forever."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but feel bad for the two vampires, despite them kidnapping her to just deliver Emily to her death as she watched them closely. If Emily was in their place, she would without a single doubt be doing the exact same thing if it was Elena or Jeremy in trouble.

However, the tranquility that settled between the two vampires and the human girl was soon interrupted when there was a loud sound of knuckles pounding against the front door that Emily could only guess belonged to the original, Elijah.

Emily's legs began to shake with nerves when her brain finally processed that the original was here to deliver Emily to her death. So, the Gilbert girl decided to relax as much as she could as she took a seat on the uncomfortable couch. Emily then looked over at the two vampires once she calmed her heart and took notice of how rigid and silent they were. "You're afraid," Emily concluded in a small whisper.

Rose shot the human girl a quick glance before she focused back on Trevor. "Stay with her and don't make a sound," she hurriedly ordered before she quickly turned around and rushed towards the front door that would welcome their death or if they were lucky, their freedom.

Once the female vampire had walked out of the living room, Emily couldn't help but feel terror crawl up into her chest as she felt like her heart was going to pop out of her body. With knowing that Elijah was actually here, it made everything much more serious for the Gilbert girl.

Emily shakily fluttered her eyes shut as she tried to calm her erratic breathing and fast heartbeat. She knew she needed to stay calm right now. _They'll be here,_ the brunette girl kept repeating in her mind as she prayed the Salvatore's and her sister were only seconds away.

The human girl swiftly stood up from the uncomfortable couch when she heard two pair of footsteps; one pounding against the floor and the other was more calm and elegant. Emily thought it would be better to be standing, so she can at least try to fight her way out if things got ugly.

However, Emily's breath got caught in the back of throat when her eyes landed on the man she guessed would be Elijah. In the simplest of words, he was gorgeous. He was everything Emily thought he wouldn't be. She had basically imagined a monster from what Rose and Trevor had told her about their past with the original.

The brunette girl silently studied the man as he and Rose talked with each other. Emily guessed that he was in his late twenties or early thirties. She also noticed the original had short brown hair that was swiped to the right side of his face. But the one thing that definitely shocked Emily was what he was wearing. Elijah was sporting a navy blue suit that looked like it came right out of a Gucci catalog with a pair of shiny black shoes.

The fact that her new kidnapper was attractive and could possibly kill her made Emily more nervous. It was like she staring right at a gorgeous version of the grim reaper. Emily swiftly closed her eyes as she tried to calm herself down as she was getting jittery. She just had to remember help was coming.

However, when the Gilbert girl opened her green eyes, she was shocked when she noticed the vampire was standing only an inch away from her. It frightened Emily to be so close to Elijah, so the brunette girl slowly tried to take a step away from the original but was soon stopped by a surprisingly soft grip on her upper arm. Emily was stunned with how gentle the fierce vampire was with her. It was definitely different from any other captor she had ever experienced.

The original vampire, Elijah, stared into Emily's eyes for a moment before he slowly lowered his nose to her neck as he breathed in her scent. Elijah cherished the lovely smell. It was like his love Darina was standing right in front of him. With that thought in mind, the vampire couldn't help but press his soft lips against the human girl's skin as he listened to her heartbeat.

However, Elijah's content smile turned into a frown when he realized the heartbeat didn't match up with the familiar one he had grown to love in the fifteenth century. It was a slower pattern. It didn't follow his favorite song he used to hear when he would lay with Darina as the sun rose on the south side of England.

Emily couldn't help but jump in fright as she felt the vampire's touch against her skin. She didn't know if she was supposed to be turned on or scared as the original was touching her so softly. It was weird when she had heard bad things about the man. However, for some reason, Emily didn't feel like she was going to die by the hands of this man. _It must be Darina's blood in hers,_ Emily thought as she remembered her doppelganger could feel certain things. But the Gilbert girl was still going to keep her guard up as she didn't know this vampire like the ones in Mystic Falls.

"Hello, there," Elijah greeted smoothly as he connected his brown eyes with the human girl's green irises. He then placed his cold palm onto Emily's warm cheek as he whispered, "you are such a lovely creature."

Emily rose an eyebrow as she muttered nervously in a question, "uh, thank you?"

The original vampire continued to stare right into the human girl's eyes, but felt like he was staring into her soul for the brunette girl. However, when Emily gently cleared her throat, Elijah shook his head before he looked away from her gaze.

"Well, we should be going," Elijah uttered before he gently grabbed a hold of the human girl's wrist and added, "we have a long journey ahead of us," as he began to walk towards the direction he had entered from.

"You don't have to do this," Emily quickly sputtered as she tried to dig her heels into the wooden floor as best as she could. The Gilbert girl knew it wasn't a good idea to argue with the original vampire, but she needed to get Elijah to stay in the house for as long as possible since her rescue team wasn't here yet.

"Now, love, I don't want to force you," Elijah told the human girl before he stopped moving like Emily wanted and released her wrist. He then turned and faced the two nervous vampires as he exclaimed, "just one last piece of business."

Trevor shot a worried glance over at Rose before he slowly took a couple of steps in Elijah's direction until he was standing in front of the older vampire. "I've waited so long for this, Elijah," Trevor uttered as he shook his head before his eyes went to the floor in shame as he quickly apologized, "I'm truly, very sorry."

Elijah slowly circled the dirty blonde vampire as if Trevor was his prey before he uttered smoothly, "oh, no. Your apology's not necessary."

Trevor kept his eyes glued to the floor as he only stared at the black sneakers on his feet. "Yes, yes it is," he stated as he was afraid to even look up at the original. "You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you," Trevor muttered shakily.

"Ah, yes," Elijah mused as he continued to walk around the nervous vampire, "you are the guilty one." He raised his brown eyes over to the female vampire as he continued, "Rose aided you because she was loyal to you." Elijah gave Rose a small nod and uttered, "and that, I honor." He then stood directly in front of Trevor as he questioned with a threatening twitch of his head, "where was your loyalty?"

Trevor closed his eyes with a shaky breath as he knew he didn't have an answer for the original. He knew that any word that would come out of his mouth would just be an excuse and he didn't want to anger the vampire. "I beg your forgiveness," Trevor finally uttered once he gained the courage to look into Elijah's strong brown eyes.

"So granted," Elijah told the shaking vampire in the calmest of voices.

Trevor smiled instantly when he heard the two words he had dreamed of hearing for over five hundred years. He realized he had been worrying for nothing. Trevor knew he should have known Rose would be right, once again, when she told him that they would be free. It was just all a big misunderstanding and by the end of the night he and Rose will be laughing about it in some bar over a bottle of bourbon.

Emily watched the exchange with a thin line gracing her chapped lips. She didn't know what it was, but something felt off. Emily glanced over at Elijah with her brows furrowed and noticed he was already staring right at her.

"Close your eyes, love," the original vampire commanded gently with a single nod of his head.

Emily didn't know why, but she felt like she could trust Elijah. It was just a feeling in the pit of her stomach, and it was never wrong before so she decided to listen to the original as she squeezed her eye lids shut. It only took about two minutes of complete silence before the Gilbert girl heard the distinct sound of something rolling onto the ground and not even a second later there was another sound of a hysterical cry coming, from who Emily could only assume, Rose.

The tense Gilbert girl kept her eyes closed for a moment more before she decided to open them when she didn't hear anything else. However, when she finally gained her eye sight, Emily was in complete and utter shock. The first thing she noticed was by the staircase laid the head of Trevor with his wide blue eyes staring back at her before she swiftly moved her gaze elsewhere and saw the calm Elijah standing directly over Trevor's decapitated body.

Emily couldn't help but take a few steps away from the dead vampire and the original that killed him. The Gilbert girl finally realized that Elijah was someone she did not want to mess with even though he had been kind and gentle with her. Emily had to remember that the original was dangerous and was the reason why she was getting closer to her death.

The silent vampire, Rose, finally gained her barrings after watching her best friend for centuries die right in front of her. "You!" She shouted as she slowly walked into the original vampire's direction but was soon stopped.

"Don't, Rose," Elijah warned the female vampire as he raised his point finger into the air, "now that you are free."

The original vampire then smoothly moved around the crying vampire and her dead companion before he stood in front of the stunned human girl. He held out his clean hand with a kind smile as he ordered gently, "come."

Emily knew she was definitely running out of time for her sister and the Salvatore's to come save her. So the Gilbert girl quickly racked her brain with everything she learned today before something stood out in her mind. "The moonstone!" Emily shouted nervously. She knew it wasn't a smart idea to tell the original vampire about the milky rock as she knew that it was needed to complete the sacrifice but it was the only thing she had left to stall the vampire.

Elijah rose an amused eyebrow at the human girl before he took a step closer so there wouldn't be any room between them. He then lifted his hand and placed it against her cheek as he questioned, "what do you know about the moonstone?"

Emily bit down on her bottom lip as she was forced to stare into the vampire's brown memorizing eyes. She acted like she was thinking instead of what she was actually doing and that was wasting time. "I know you need it," Emily finally uttered in a small voice.

Elijah twitched his head as he softly stroked the right side of her face before he questioned in a whisper, "where is it, love?"

Emily's slowly shook her head before she joked, "ah, you see, I don't have the best memory. But I could take you to it." The brunette girl really hoped the original vampire didn't know she was stalling or this was definitely going to end badly.

The original vampire chuckled gently as his brown eyes shined with amusement. He then glanced over his shoulder at the crying Rose before he questioned, "did you know about this?"

Rose looked up in Elijah's and the doppelganger's direction from her spot on the floor as she held Trevor's dead body close to her. She wiped the tears from her face as she told Elijah in a small voice, "it's the first I've heard of it."

"Hmm," Elijah hummed before he turned his head back around and stared down at the human girl. He gazed into her green eyes with a look of sadness before he tried to control her mind. However, when Elijah noticed Emily's eyes weren't dilating, the original vampire glanced down to Emily's chest. He chuckled silently before he gently brought his fingertips to Emily's collarbone and mused, "what is this vervain doing around your neck?"

The Gilbert girl had barely enough time to even blink before she felt her vervain necklace being ripped off from around her neck and heard the sound of the silver chain being thrown across the room. Emily's eyes widened instantly when she went to touch her vampire protection necklace but came up empty handed like she had dreaded.

Once the toxic necklace wasn't in the way anymore, Elijah connected his irises back with the human girl's as he tried to compel her once again. "Where is the moonstone?" Elijah asked in a gentle whisper.

Emily tried to fight the compulsion as best as she could, but of course, it was worthless as the words came pouring out of her mouth like a waterfall. "It's inside of the tomb," Emily uttered. The brunette girl was really starting to regret not drinking vervain tea like they always made Jenna do. She definitely wouldn't be spilling out secrets right now if she did.

"What is it doing there?" The original vampire questioned as he continued to compel the information out of the human girl.

"It's with Katherine," Emily responded without hesitation thanks to the annoying vampire powers that the Gilbert girl was really starting to hate.

"Interesting," Elijah uttered to himself before the silence was broken by the sound of glass shattering. The original vampire swiftly broke the compulsion link and grabbed a hold of Emily's wrist before he wondered, "what is that?"

"I don't know," Rose quickly murmured as she looked up at the ceiling.

Elijah glanced around the large open spaced living room as he used his vampire hearing for any more noises before he continued to interrogate the brunette vampire, "who else is in this house?"

"I don't know," Rose answered as she repeated her last statement once again. She was quite confused herself as no one had been inside of the abandoned house since she and Trevor took shelter here for over two days without hearing or seeing a single person.

Elijah didn't bother responding to the female vampire as he didn't know if she was lying or was actually confused. Instead, he gently pulled Emily with him as he moved out of the living room. The original vampire knew he needed to get out of the house as soon as possible. There was lots of people after the Petrova doppelganger and he didn't feel like dealing with anyone now that he has her in his possession.

Once the two vampires and the human girl entered the spacious foyer, there was suddenly an all to familiar sound of another vampire running through the house. At the noise, Elijah gently pushed Emily to stand next to Rose as he was ready to end whoever was stupid enough to challenge an original.

However, as Elijah stood in the center of the foyer, he noticed that there wasn't just one supernatural being swishing through the house, but there was three. Elijah glanced over at the female vampire as he was fed up with these games. "Rose," he uttered in a warning tone.

"I don't know who it is," Rose hurriedly promised as she heard the anger in the original's voice while she held the Petrova doppelganger close to her body. Even though she traded the girl for her freedom, Rose still couldn't help but feel bad for Darina's doppelganger. Rose could see just how similar they are by just the young girl's aura.

It was only a half of a second after the last word was out of the female vampire's mouth before there another sound of the three vampires swishing in the foyer before it was followed along with a voice calling from the staircase, "up here."

At the threat finally showing itself, Elijah vamp sped up the wooden staircase to deal with the unknown vampire. However, as the foyer was overcome with silence as the original tried to find his target, Elijah heard a different voice calling from where he had just stood, "down here."

The original vampire growled in frustration before he turned around to face Rose and Emily, where he had heard the second voice. Elijah went to charge down the stairs to find the teasing vampires, but was soon stopped when a wooden stake went flying through the air with a small whistling sound before it landed in the center of his palm.

Emily was shocked that Elijah didn't even flinch like all the other vampires she had seen attacked. It seemed like it was only a small poke for the original vampire. However, what stunned the Gilbert girl even more than the fact that Elijah wasn't in pain, was that one moment she staring up at Elijah and the next she was pushed against a wall.

Emily slowly opened her eyes, that she didn't even know she closed, and smiled instantly when she realized she was staring directly into her twin sister's brown irises. She quickly pulled Elena into a tight hug as well as did Elena with all her vampire strength.

Once the sisters pulled away from each other, Elena swiftly placed her finger over her lips as she silently told Emily to be quiet. The human girl nodded her head at the motion before the two girls hugged once again like they haven't seen each other in centuries. It felt so good for both sisters to be in the same room again as they never been away from each other this long while also being in danger.

"Excuse me," Elijah's loud but elegant voice called out through the large house along with the sound of his polished shoes pattering across the foyer, "to whom it may concern, you're making a great mistake if you think that you can beat me." He paused dramatically before the original uttered cockily, "you can't."

Emily looked over at her sister, where she saw the worried look in Elena's brown eyes before she squeezed her sister's hand. 'I'm okay,' Emily mouthed to her sister with a small nod of her head. She knew Elena was just still worried so she tried to assure her as much as she could while be silent.

The large house was dead silent for a moment before there was suddenly the distinct sound of wood breaking along with the original's loud and commanding voice, "I repeat, you cannot beat me. So I want the girl on a count of three or heads will roll. Do we understand each other?"

Emily watched her sister dig into her light blue zip up jacket before she placed something into her hand. The green eyed girl furrowed her brows in confusion before she noticed Elena point her head in the original's direction and mouthed, 'throw.'

The human girl nodded her head in understanding as she gripped the curricular item before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Emily felt a tint of sadness at the idea of hurting Elijah for whatever reason she felt in the pit of her stomach. However, this man was threatening her sister and friends, so Emily couldn't do anything but defend and protect them like she always does.

Once Emily had calmed herself down enough, she slipped the weapon of some sort into the right arm of Tyler's sweater before she carefully took a couple of steps until she standing in the center of the staircase. "I'll come with you," Emily called down to Elijah, who turned around at her voice. She shook her head and begged, "please don't hurt them. They just wanted to help me."

Elijah swiftly vamp sped up the stairs until he was standing in front of the human girl. He then brought his empty hand that wasn't holding the long wooden stake up to her pale face before he wondered, "what game are you playing, love?"

Emily stared into Elijah's dark brown eyes as she apologized softly, "I'm sorry," before she lifted up her right sleeve and threw the weapon at the vampire's face, which instantly burned as she realized it was filled with vervain. Emily did feel bad for some reason that annoyed her. The vampire wanted to harm her friends and sister but she couldn't help but want to stand up for him. _Stupid doppelganger blood,_ Emily thought as she watched in sorrow as Elijah cried out in pain.

However, that didn't last as long as she thought, but Emily realized she shouldn't be so surprised as she had seen a stake not harm him. The human girl's green eyes widened a second later as she saw Elijah was standing up and was about to charge at her. But the original was swiftly stopped as the youngest Salvatore stood directly in front of Emily while he shot a wooden stake from a compressed gun.

Unluckily for the Salvatore, it was like the wooden stakes were just small taps to the original because he kept on walking up the stairs with an amused expression on his face. Stefan soon realized the stakes weren't going to stop him, so Stefan quickly threw himself down the stairs and attacked the vampire the old fashion way.

The two supernatural beings rolled all the way down the stairs until they reached the hard ground, but the stronger and older vampire was the first one to stand as he stared down at Stefan with a confident smirk on his face. However, as Elijah went to get rid of the brunette, he was soon stopped when another vampire came charging at him with the stake he had made before his body was thrusted against the wall as the weapon was pieced straight through his heart.

Emily was frozen as she stood at the edge of the stairs. She had just witnessed Damon kill the original with ease. However, what confused her was just how easy it was. It didn't make sense. Emily knew Elijah was an old vampire and it's usually hard to kill the older ones like Katherine. Emily just felt something in the pit of her stomach that was telling her this wasn't over.

However, before Emily could dwell on it too much, she was soon caught off guard by her sister's body being thrown against hers. Emily chuckled softly before she whispered, "I missed you too," while she hugged her sister just as tightly.

The Gilbert girl glanced over her shoulder and noticed Rose staring at her with tears in her eyes. Emily gave the vampire a small nod and mouthed, 'go.' Emily knew Rose was still mourning of her friend and she deserved to be free after running for centuries, despite putting the human girl in all this mess.

Rose gave the Petrova doppelganger a tiniest of smiles that she could muster before she swiftly vamp sped out of the house and out of the place that she had gained her freedom back and also lost the most important person in her life, Trevor.

Once Emily watched Rose run out of the house, she pulled away from her sister's tight embrace before she was surprised by another set of arms that she recognized instantly like it was a second layer of skin.

"You got to stop scaring me like this," Stefan whispered against Emily's forehead after he had placed a gentle kiss on her temple. The Salvatore vampire couldn't help but relax now that he had Emily in his arms again. It was like he had to experience the same night two days in a row as he felt just like he did when he had finally got out of the trapped room at the Lockwood mansion.

"You can't get rid of me that easily," Emily joked as she wrapped her arms tightly around Stefan's neck. She breathed in his scent like it was home for her. It calmed her down instantly with knowing that she was safe for now.

The Gilbert girl glanced over Stefan's shoulder as they continued to hug, where she saw her twin sister leaning against Damon's chest, who was staring directly at her with his brows furrowed. Emily gave the Salvatore a small nod as she mouthed, 'thank you.' Emily still wasn't in the best terms with Damon after what he did to Jeremy, but Emily couldn't help but feel thankful for his help in rescuing her.

Emily unwrapped herself from Stefan's hold after a couple of calm minutes before she questioned the vampires with a raised eyebrow, "so, home?" She was so ready to go back to Mystic Falls and shower and sleep in her own house for once. Emily felt like she hadn't seen her room in years.

Damon and Elena both chuckled at the Gilbert girl before they nodded their heads and made their way out of the dark house. Stefan also moved to follow after his brother and ex-girlfriend, but turned around when he didn't hear Emily following along. "Emmie? You coming?" He questioned with his brows furrowed.

Emily's gaze had been stuck on the dead original when she went to follow after the vampires. She just felt this strange connection to Elijah and she felt like he wasn't actually dead. At the sound of Stefan's voice, Emily swiftly shook her head before she looked into his green eyes and smiled. "Let's go home," she whispered before she walked with the youngest Salvatore as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

* * *

The two Gilbert twins silently walked through the door of their childhood home after a long three hour drive from the hell hole of a house that Emily had been trapped in. Emily never realized just how exhausted she's been since all the adrenaline running through her veins was quickly leaving her body. She just wanted to take a nice hot shower and sleep in her soft bed for at least forty-eight hours.

Elena helped the human girl up the stairs as gently as she could. She was still worried about her sister after everything she went through. Emily had told her to stop babying her, but that was the last thing she was going to do. Elena didn't even want to let go of Emily, but she knew she couldn't keep her under watch forever.

"Emily?" The familiar voice of the youngest Gilbert called out through their house as the twin sisters reached the landing strip of the quiet hallway.

The Gilbert girl had barley enough time to look up instead of staring at her bare feet before she felt a cold pair of arms wrap around her body. Emily chuckled lightly as she smelled the scent of lavender that could only belong to her friend, Bonnie. "Miss Bennett, you are a Godsend," Emily muttered into her friend's ear with a bright smile. She knew if it wasn't for the witch, then they would have never found her in time.

"I'm glad you're okay," Bonnie stated before she added with a giggle, "again."

Emily chuckled as she nodded her head. She felt she was having deja vu after having this exact conversation at the Lockwood mansion. The Gilbert girl pulled away after a moment and lightly swiped the tear falling from Bonnie's brown eyes. "Hey, no crying," Emily ordered softly.

"Fat chance," Bonnie mumbled as she tried to keep her tears from pouring down her face. But she knew there was no way to stop them with how happy she was to see the oldest Gilbert sibling okay and alive.

"We'll cry if we want to," Jeremy muttered with an eye roll before he swiftly rushed at his sister and pulled her into a tight hug. "Are you okay?" He whispered into Emily's ear as he held her into his chest.

Emily nodded her head against Jeremy's shoulder as she whispered right back, "I told you I didn't give you my death speech yet."

Jeremy snorted out a laugh as he remembered their conversation from less than twenty-four hours ago. "Good," he mumbled before he gently laid a kiss on the top of his sister's brown hair.

The two siblings stood in the middle of the hallway in silence as they embraced each other before they were soon interrupted by the young vampire. "I think we should let Emily get some rest," Elena told her brother and friend as she shot her sister a wink.

Emily pulled away from Jeremy and rose an eyebrow at her sister. Why in the hell was her twin winking at her? "Uh... yeah," Emily mumbled, "I really need a shower and sleep."

The Gilbert vampire turned to Bonnie and Jeremy as she suggested, "why don't we head down to the Grill?" Elena then looked at her sister with a knowing look as she told Emily, "so, you'll be all alone in the house since we'll be getting dinner and Jenna's stuck at the library for the night."

"Uh..." Emily murmured, "that's fine." The human girl was still confused why her sister was being so secretive. It was even weirder that Elena just wanted to leave her alone after being kidnapped today and attacked by Katherine yesterday.

Bonnie and Jeremy both agreed as they didn't even realize Elena's weird behavior. They just pulled the human girl into one last big hug before they headed down the stairs to wait for the vampire so they could head down to Mystic Grill.

Emily furrowed her green eyes suspiciously at her twin as she muttered, "I'm watching you."

Elena playfully rolled her eyes at the human girl before she pulled Emily into another hug as she stated, "we'll talk later," before she jogged down the stairs to catch up with the Bennett witch and her brother with a secret smile on her face.

Emily shook her head as she watched her sister leave. It was very strange Elena behavior. However, Emily just pushed that thought away. _I'm just tried_ , Emily thought. Once the Gilbert girl heard the front door close, she headed to her bedroom and grabbed a pair of black jogger shorts and a gray spaghetti top before she went straight to the bathroom.

It was about twenty minutes later when Emily finally opened the adjacent door that connects her bedroom to the bathroom. The hot shower definitely helped her sore body and now all she wanted to do was relax in her own bed while watching Sam and Dean Winchester fight their own vampires; like a normal teenager should do.

The Gilbert girl silently tip toed over to her vanity table as she wanted to brush her hair before she started to watch TV and fall asleep for the next two nights. Emily looked at her reflection with a frown when she didn't see her necklace. She had totally forgot that Elijah had threw it off of her after the whole ordeal at the abandoned house.

Emily felt naked without the necklace resting on her chest as she only had it off twice since she received it. The Gilbert girl gently placed her fingers against the empty space before she was suddenly interrupted by a calm voice, "hi."

Emily swiftly twirled around at the voice and took a deep breath once she saw Stefan's easy smile shinning down at her. "You scared me," Emily mumbled as she relaxed down on her white chair and crossed her legs at her ankles.

"Sorry," Stefan whispered even though an amused smile adored his face. He then silently placed his hand in the front right pocket of his jeans before he pulled something out. "I went back and picked this up," Stefan explained before he hung Emily's vervain necklace in the air.

A bright smile instantly lifted on Emily's face when saw the one thing she had just been thinking about. The Gilbert girl swiftly stood up fro her vanity chair and walked up to Stefan before she reached for the necklace as she praised, "thank you so much."

However, before Emily could even touch her necklace, Stefan moved the silver and red jewelry out of Emily's reach as he uttered, "I'll give you this, but first I need to say something."

Emily rose an eyebrow as she wondered, "why do you have I say it with my necklace and does it have anything to do with what you tried to tell me at the Lockwood mansion before I got taken?" The Gilbert girl was confused as it why Stefan wouldn't just give her the necklace that protects her from vampires. She hated not being able to wear it when she's in Mystic Falls. Especially now that word of the Petrova doppelganger is out.

Stefan nodded his head before he turned away from her gaze and began to pace up and down the small room. He was confused at what he should do. Stefan did plan on telling Emily the truth about his feelings before she had gotten kidnapped, but now he wasn't sure. Was it worth it when she could be in even more danger with him? Or would it be safer to let her believe that he didn't feel anything for her like she has been thinking since the whole Isobel thing that happened months ago?

Emily watched the pacing Salvatore for a few minutes but couldn't stand the silence any longer, so she carefully walked up to him and asked gently, "Stef? What's going on?" She never seen Stefan so rattled before. It was strange and new.

Stefan shook his head as he continued to pace. He either didn't hear Emily or chose to not answer. However, when Emily's touch sparked something inside of Stefan's chest, he finally decided what he was going to do. The Salvatore vampire stopped pacing altogether and grabbed Emily's hand before he slipped the vervain necklace into her possession as he kept his eyes glued on hers.

Emily glanced down at the cold touch and saw her necklace sitting in her hand. She then placed the necklace on her vanity table, that was in arms reach before she looked back at Stefan. "Are you sure you're okay?" Emily worriedly questioned, "what's wrong?"

Stefan didn't say a single thing, he only continued to stare into his favorite pair of eyes. Finally, after a couple of seconds passed, he then laid his large cold hand onto Emily's warm cheek. Stefan swallowed thickly before he stated slowly without any hesitation or regrets, "You are the one I'm in love with."

Emily furrowed her brows in confusion before she realized that is what he tried to tell her while at the Lockwood mansion last night. But that thought was quickly washed away as she was in shock at the confession. "W-What?" Emily whispered so quietly that no human would have heard.

Stefan licked his lips nervously before he stated, "let me show you something." He took a step closer to Emily before he began to compel her since she wasn't wearing any vervain, "remember."

Emily felt like she was stuck in a trance as memories she didn't remember happening began to flash through her mind at light speed.

* * *

... _Elena looked at Isobel in realization, "you were never going to hurt him."_

 _"No," Isobel pouted, "I was going to kill him." Noticing Elena's furrowed brows, Isobel spoke, "don't look for any redeeming qualities in me. I don't have any."_

 _Emily rose an eyebrow at Isobel, "how did you know Damon was going to give her the device?"_

 _Isobel smirked over at her two daughters before focusing on Elena, "because Damon is in love with you," Isobel turned back to Emily with a brighter smirk, "and Stefan is in love with you."..._

* * *

... _Emily threw her hoodie on her desk chair before turning to Stefan, "so what did you want to talk about?" Emily really hoped it wasn't the conversation she knew they needed to have._

 _Stefan looked into Emily's green eyes before closing his eyes with a sigh, "I need to get this off my chest and if I don't, I'm going to explode."_

 _Emily's eyes furrowed, "what is it?"_

 _Stefan walked closer to her and spoke quietly but passionately, "Isobel was right. I am so in love with you that sometimes I can't breathe when I'm around you."_

 _Emily's eyes widened in shock, "Stefan…"_

 _"Please let me finish," Stefan begged. Once Emily stayed quiet, he continued, "every time I look at you, my heart tightens when I can't just walk right up to you and kiss you."_

 _"Why are you telling me this?" Emily whispered._

 _Stefan grabbed the side of Emily's face softly and stared into her eyes deeply, "because it is killing me from not telling you. I just need to tell you the truth. I love you, Emily Gilbert." Before Emily had the chance to say anything, Stefan molded his lips with hers. Emily's eyes widened, but she couldn't stop what she was feeling, and kissed Stefan back. But it was over before she could enjoy it. Stefan looked into Emily's eyes with tears in his eyes, "I am going to hate myself for doing this."_

 _"What are you talking about?" Emily questioned with wide eyes._

 _Stefan looked right into Emily's eyes before compelling her, "you talked to Elena after you came home. You made up with Elena. You don't believe what Isobel said about me being in love with you. You took off your necklace so you could clean it. You will not remember this conversation."..._

* * *

"Oh, my God," Emily gasped as soon as the memories ended and focused back on the nervous looking Stefan. The Gilbert girl couldn't believe that Stefan has feelings for her like she has for him. But what was more surprising, was that he already confessed them to her. "B-But y-you were still with Elena then," Emily mumbled in confusion as she was still trying to wrap her mind around the new or old information.

Stefan silently nodded his head before he told the stunned girl, "I've felt something for you the moment I saved you from Wickery Bridge."

"Y-You were the one that pulled us out of the water that night?" Emily questioned in a voice of disbelief. She had never even heard about this. It was completely new information. She honestly never really thought much about how she and Elena could have survived that night.

Stefan awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as he uttered, "uh, I think I forgot to tell you about that." He shook his head as he got back on topic and stated, "but, yes. I saw it happen and pulled you and Elena out. I tried to go back for Miranda and Grayson but I was too late."

Emily swallowed thickly as she nodded her head. This was one thing she hated talking and thinking about as it always brought back horrible memories of that night. But it stirred something different in her chest as she finally knew Stefan was there and that he was the reason she was alive.

Stefan gently grabbed a hold of Emily's hand when she stayed silent and squeezed it before he continued his confession, "ever since that night, I couldn't help but feel something for you. I always knew that I would love you. I just got scared of what I was feeling." Stefan shook his head with a low chuckle as he stated, "I guess Katherine was right. I went after Elena because she was the easy choice. My feelings for you made me nervous because of what you made me feel. You made me feel new, different, and most importantly; human."

"I'm so in love with you, Emily Nicole Gilbert," Stefan continued his confession with an easy smile on his face, "I can't hold it in any longer." He shook his head, "for so long, I felt guilty for feeling this way when I was with Elena. But that's all over, as I guess you know." Stefan brought his hand to Emily's cheek and stroked it softly, "you are the brightness that has been missing from my life. I love how protective and sweet and caring you are for everyone. I love the way you bite your lip when you are focusing or the way your eyes sparkle when you talk about something you are passionate about. I love th-"

However, before Stefan could continue his heartfelt speech, his words were soon cut off by the soft lips of the Gilbert girl's on his. Emily couldn't hold it in any longer. All the feelings she had been hiding was bubbling out of her chest when she now knew Stefan felt the same way.

Emily slowly pulled away from Stefan's lips after a couple of minutes as she needed to take a large breath of air. She looked into the vampire's confused eyes before she chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck. Emily placed a small kiss onto Stefan's lips as she whispered between each one, "I. Love. You." She pulled away and looked into his green eyes as she confessed, "and I'm tired of feeling guilty for thinking that every time I was in a room with you."

"You love me?" Stefan asked with a large grin shining on his face. That was what he always wanted to hear from the human girl. He just never thought it would actually happen. Stefan felt like he was having the best dream of his life right now.

Emily nodded her head as she had an identical happy grin on her lips. She rubbed her fingers up and down on the back of Stefan's neck as she uttered, "you make me feel something I have never felt in my entire life. You make me feel like I can conquer the world." Emily chuckled lightly as she continued, "you make my heart feel warm and gooey. It's like I need to have you in my life." She then shook her head as she muttered, "I-I just always felt guilty about my feelings when you were with my sister. It felt wrong."

Stefan slipped his large hands down Emily's backside until they rested onto her waist and squeezed her body. He rested his forehead against the brunette's as he told her, "there is nothing wrong about this."

"I know," Emily whispered right back before she brought her lips back to Stefan's like she was starving for his touch. Emily felt like she was on cloud nine and nothing else mattered. It was just them.

Stefan trailed his lips down Emily's neck after a few minutes of kissing the love of his life. He left small feather-like touches across both of her shoulders and collarbone before going lower until he reached the edge of her gray top. "Where's everyone?" Stefan finally uttered as he whispered against Emily's warm skin.

Emily's head was pointed towards her ceiling as her eyes was closed. She was in heaven with Stefan's soft lips against her body. "They're all gone," Emily whispered as a soft moan flew out of her lips.

The Salvatore vampire smiled against Emily's skin before he whispered, "good." He then swiftly slid his hands down to Emily's bottom and lifted her up as he wrapped her legs around his waist. Stefan brought his lips back to Emily's before he vamp sped over to her queen sized bed and gently laid her down.

The brunette girl giggled as she looked up into Stefan's green eyes. "Are you about to have your way with me, Mr. Salvatore?" Emily questioned with an amused smirk as she trailed her fingers across Stefan's navy blue Henley.

Stefan kissed down the human girl's neck before he looked into her eyes as he questioned with a grin, "is that a problem, Ms. Gilbert?"

Emily lifted her head up as she brought her lips to Stefan's before she shook her head and assured him, "definitely not, Mr. Salvatore."

"Well, I don't want to disappoint," Stefan murmured before he trailed his hands up Emily's body until he reached her fingers and lifted her arms over her head. He then kissed down her neck and shoulder before he moved a strap of her shirt out of the way as he continued. "I love you," Stefan whispered against Emily body's as he showered her with love and adoration.

Emily moaned out in pleasure before she whispered right back in the most heartfelt voice she could muster, "I love you too."

It was like nothing else existed as Emily felt her spaghetti top being lifted off of her body and the feeling of Stefan's cold chest pressed against her heated one. It was just her and Stefan, finally together as they showed their love by the movement of their bodies. Emily knew this was what real love was all about and Emily couldn't wait to spend it with Stefan.


	41. Chapter 38 Part 1

Emily groaned as she was awoken from her very enjoyable sleep by the nuisance of her cell phone ringing loudly into her ear as it laid on her wooden bedside table. The brunette girl slowly rubbed her tired green eyes as she knew she couldn't fall back to sleep without seeing who was trying to call her.

However, Emily swiftly froze before she could even sit up as she felt extra weight lying on top of her. But when Emily glanced down, she smiled instantly when she saw that the youngest Salvatore was settled between her legs with his head resting against her chest.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but forget about her cell phone at the moment and let it go to voicemail as she silently watched how peaceful Stefan looked while he slept. All the memories from last night swiftly flashed through Emily's mind as she studied the brunette vampire's bare form. She remembered everything; from Stefan's confession, to the first kiss, to her confession, and most importantly, the passionate and loving way they showed how they feel for one another.

Emily slowly lowered her right hand down to Stefan's body and began to run her fingers through the vampire's messy brown hair as she enjoyed the tranquility that settled in her bedroom. Emily felt like this was the first time in a long time that she could just relax as it was only her and Stefan; together.

However, the silence in the small and dark room was soon broken as the supposed asleep Salvatore vampire spoke as he mumbled against the human girl's warm skin, "you're staring."

The aforementioned human girl almost had an out of body experience as soon as she heard the sound of Stefan's voice as she had thought he was dead to the world. "Jeez," Emily mumbled before she placed her hand over her chest and tried to get control of her rapid heartbeat, "give me a little warning next time."

Stefan's body shook against Emily's with heavy laughter before he lifted his head up and looked into his favorite pair of eyes with humor shining in his own. A soft smile slowly rose onto Stefan's lips as he stared at the girl of his dreams before he wondered teasingly, "so, there's gonna be a next time?"

An equally soft smile lifted onto Emily's lips as she nodded her head. "Well, yeah," she muttered like it was obvious while she continued to run her fingers through Stefan's brown hair. The Gilbert girl then paused her movement and rose an eyebrow as she curiously wondered in a small voice as she felt like she needed assurance, "right?"

The Salvatore vampire shook his head in amusement as the thought of not being with the human girl was humorous. Stefan brought his hand to Emily's cheek and softly rubbed her skin as he uttered, "of course," before he brought his lips down to Emily's for a sweet and slow kiss.

Emily couldn't help but smile into the kiss as she felt like she was finally home. The brunette girl slowly wrapped her legs around Stefan's waist as the kiss progressed and got more passionate along with wrapping her arms around his neck as Emily wanted to feel all of him. It was like nothing could ruin what they had at the moment as they were in their own happy little world.

However, before anything else could happen between the vampire and the human, the annoying nuisance of Emily's cell phone rang loudly through the small room once again. At the loud sound, Stefan instantly groaned against Emily's lips before he pulled away and begged, "please answer that. It's been ringing nonstop for the past three hours."

The Gilbert girl pouted when she couldn't feel the vampire's soft lips against hers before she nodded her head with a sigh and reached over to the wooden bedside table to her left, where she grabbed her now silent cell phone. However, Emily's vision was instantly blinded as soon as she turned on her device as there was zero source of light in her dark bedroom.

Once Emily could actually read the letters on her cell phone, she quickly shoved Stefan's body to the side and sat up before she began to scroll down on her notification feed with a deep frown embedded on her face. She had a couple of normal text messages from Elena that said she was staying at the boarding house with Damon for the night along with a text from her brother that said he was staying out late. However, what caused the quick action and the panic from the human girl was the fact that she had seventeen text messages and twelve missed calls from one of her best friends, Tyler Lockwood.

The Salvatore vampire leaned his head into his palm once he sat up after Emily had pushed him out of her way and onto her soft pillows. "What's wrong?" Stefan gently questioned as he looked up at the brunette girl and noticed the worried expression on her face.

However, Emily didn't give the vampire an answer like Stefan wanted. Instead, she swiftly jumped out of her bed and walked over to her closet. She then hurriedly pulled the door open along with pressing the _'accept'_ button on her cell phone when she noticed she was getting another call from Tyler. The Gilbert girl placed the device between her ear and shoulder and began to grab a pair of black leggings and an overlarge red sweater while she waited for a greeting from her best friend.

"Ty, what's going on?" Emily questioned when she never got a greeting from the aforementioned teenager in over three minutes of dead silence. The only thing she could hear was the loud sound of Tyler's breathing.

The Gilbert girl decided she was going to get dressed as she patiently waited for Tyler to finally speak. So, she quietly made her way towards the wooden dresser in the corner of her room. Emily then tossed her clean clothes onto her bed and partly onto the worried Stefan before she grabbed a pair of black panties from her drawer and swiftly slipped them over her legs.

"Can we meet up?" Tyler's rough voice finally questioned through Emily's cell phone along with the sound of what Emily could only assume was Tyler moving around as she heard a lot of static on his end of the call.

Emily glanced over to her bedside table and read the bright green numbers on her alarm clock as she was curious of what the time was. However, the Gilbert girl was instantly in shock when she saw it was only four-thirty in the morning. _No wonder I'm so tired,_ Emily thought as she had only fallen asleep about three hours ago.

"Yeah, sure," Emily answered Tyler's question along with a soft yawn while she held her cell phone between her ear and shoulder as she slowly slipped her lower limbs into a pair of black leggings.

There was another loud noise of movement from Tyler's end of the call before the Lockwood teenager's voice sounded through Emily's cell phone once more as he questioned in a mumble, "our old place?"

"I'll be there in fifteen," Emily quickly promised before she said goodbye to her best friend and ended the call. The Gilbert girl was starting to become worried about Tyler as he wanted to meet at their childhood spot in the middle of the night along with the fact that Tyler only gave her short questions and answers. That was definitely a sign that something was wrong with the Lockwood teenager.

Emily swiftly tossed her phone onto her bed once her touch screen turned dark and slipped the red sweater over her head as she wanted to hurry up and get to Tyler as soon as she could. The Gilbert girl then walked back to her closet once she was dressed and pushed her feet into the first pair of shoes she could find, which happened to be a pair of black combat boots.

However, when the brunette girl stood up and turned around to go back into her bedroom, she instantly gasped in shock as she noticed the Salvatore vampire was standing right in front of her with only his faded blue jeans hanging lowly around his hips.

Once Stefan realized he finally had Emily's attention, he gently grabbed ahold of her face between his cold hands as he was confused and worried about the human girl since she wouldn't tell him anything about what was going on. "Talk to me, Emmie," Stefan begged as he softly rubbed her right cheek with the pad of his thumb.

Emily placed her right hand over Stefan's that was settled on her cheek and gave him a small but assuring smile. She then lifted onto her tippy toes and brought her lips to Stefan's before she pulled away after a couple of minutes and finally told him in the simplest of terms about what was causing her to rush around like a madwoman, "Tyler needs me."

Stefan nodded his head in understanding as he knew how close Emily was to the Lockwood teenager. "Do you want me to come with you?" Stefan questioned with his brows furrowed as he slid his hands down to the human girl's waist. The Salvatore vampire didn't really like the idea of Emily going out while it was still pitch black dark in the dangerous and supernatural town, especially when she was just kidnapped.

Emily patted the concerned vampire's chest as she told him softly, "no, it's okay." She shrugged her shoulders lightly and added, "he sounded upset anyways, so I should probably do this alone." Emily then went back onto her tippy toes once she realized Stefan wasn't going to argue with her decision and kissed the tip of the vampire's nose, which instantly caused Stefan to scrunch up his face. The Gilbert girl couldn't help but chuckle as she shook her head at the vampire's action before she told him with a soft smile, "I'll see you later."

Emily then went to walk away from the vampire to leave but was soon stopped by the hold Stefan had on her waist. The Gilbert girl rose an eyebrow at Stefan in question before she immediately got her answer as he brought his lips down to hers for a long and sweet kiss.

The Salvatore vampire pulled away from Emily after a couple of minutes as he knew the human girl needed to breathe. He then whispered against her soft lips, "I love you," before he took off and left the Gilbert house with only a gust of wind as he used his vampire speed.

Emily shook her head while she bit on her bottom lip as she tried to hold down the bright smile that was working its way onto her face. The Gilbert girl still felt like everything that happened since last night was just a really good dream. Emily never thought the day would come where she would be with Stefan and finally happy in the disastrous town of Mystic Falls.

It took the Gilbert girl an extra couple of minutes before she finally calmed down from her happy thoughts and made her body move as she grabbed her cell phone off of her bed along with her black and white purse that held her school books and supplies. Emily didn't know how long she was going to be with Tyler as it depended on how serious the situation was and Emily wanted to be prepared in case she had to head straight to school.

Once Emily had her purse in hand, she grabbed her leather jacket from her dresser and quietly headed downstairs. Emily didn't know if Jenna was home yet or if she was staying on campus, so she tried to keep her steps as silently as she could with her heavy combat boots.

The brunette girl glanced around the hallway once she was on the flat surface and noticed that the house was silent and dark. Emily came to the conclusion as she quietly walked towards the living room and the kitchen was that Jenna wasn't home as she couldn't see her aunt's signature black flats or her brown school bag.

Emily let out a small sigh of relief at the fact that Jenna wasn't here. There was just so much she wasn't telling her aunt, so Emily was glad that she didn't have to add another lie to the pile. Emily hated lying, especially when it had to do with her legal guardian and close friend. However, the Gilbert girl knew she had to keep her aunt in the dark or she would be in danger and Emily would never want that to happen.

The sleepy but worried brunette girl swiftly jogged through the empty house and made her way towards the small, wooden alcohol cabinet that Alaric had put in the Gilbert residence since he stays over most of the time. Emily may had convinced Alaric to make his own in their house. She told the idea to Jenna because she saw Alaric as family plus it's free alcohol without leaving the comfort of her home.

Emily bent down and looked through the alcohol cabinet for a couple of seconds before she grabbed a half bottle of bourbon. She then shoved it into her purse before she made her way over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a box of playing cards. It was a rule she and Tyler had. Whenever someone needed some time at their spot, it was the other person's responsibility to grab the aforementioned supplies to make the other one feel better.

The Gilbert girl quickly shoved the playing cards into her purse and grabbed a bright yellow banana from the counter before she jogged her way out of the kitchen and towards the front door. Emily wanted to get to Tyler as fast as she could. She was worried as her brain ran wild as she tried to think of what was going on with her best friend. But sadly, Emily kept on coming up blank, so she just moved as quickly as she could before she swiftly jumped into her car.

 _I'm coming Ty,_ Emily kept thinking to herself as she drove through the empty town of Mystic Falls at four-forty in the morning while she tapped her fingers against the steering wheel with nervousness racking all through her body.

* * *

It took Emily about five minutes to reach hers and Tyler's special hangout spot from the Gilbert house. It wasn't, in fact, actually _'special'_ as it was located at Falls Park, where everyone who grew up in Mystic Falls spent their childhood. The spot was just special because the two teenagers got to call it their's when they needed a place to relax and take a break from the world.

Emily remembered coming here right after the funeral of her parents with Tyler. He had dragged her to their spot once everyone came back to the Gilbert house for lunch. Emily couldn't stand being around so many people that knew and felt bad about the death of her parents, so she and Tyler went to their spot in the middle of the woods at Falls Park and they drank Richard's, the now deceased mayor's, whiskey and played their favorite childhood game, Goldfish.

Emily pushed her brown hair out of the way of her green eyes as she paused and looked around the dark park for her best friend. However, the Gilbert girl soon gave up after a moment and pulled out the small black flashlight from her purse before she slowly began to walk through the woods that surrounded the park.

Finally, after about three minutes of walking around the large park, Emily spotted her best friend sitting underneath the oak tree that had their writing carved all over it. "There you are," she murmured to herself before she fast walked up to Tyler, tossed her purse to the side, and took a seat on the hard ground next to her best friend. Emily then turned her body as she carefully studied the side of Tyler's face before she whispered worriedly, "what's going on, Ty?"

Tyler slowly lifted his head up at the familiar speaker and looked into Emily's soft green eyes before he confessed in a shaky voice, "I'm scared."

Emily's brows furrowed instantly when she heard the short words fall from her best friend's mouth. She slowly grabbed ahold of Tyler's left hand and gave it a small squeeze before she asked in a gentle voice, "why are you scared?"

The Lockwood teenager bit down on his bottom lip while he avoided Emily's gaze as he was ashamed of what he was about to tell her. Tyler then took a shaky deep breath as he played with his fingers before he finally whispered after a few minutes that the Gilbert girl almost missed it, "I killed her."

A million thoughts immediately began to run through Emily's mind at the confession her best friend just made. But the first one that came up was something that scared the brunette girl. Emily had seen plenty of death recently, so it wasn't really shocking to hear someone died, but the fact that Tyler Lockwood, her childhood best friend, was the one to do it. Another thought that ran through Emily's mind was that she was saddened as she knew what it meant. However, Emily knew she had to hide the truth from Tyler thanks to the promise she made to the deceased werewolf.

Emily's green eyes falsely widened as if she was shocked by a death like a normal teenager should when Tyler finally looked over at her. She knew she needed to act normal or Tyler would be suspicious to why she wasn't scared or afraid. "W-Who was it?" Emily questioned in a small whisper. The Gilbert girl wanted to get all the information she could as she needed to know if Tyler knew what was going to happen to him when the full moon arrives.

Tyler stared up at Emily with warm tears clouding his brown eyes before he whispered the name that has been haunting his dreams and also his life for the past two days, "it was Sarah. I-I killed Sarah."

Emily's brows furrowed as she absorbed what Tyler was telling her. She knew exactly who Tyler was talking about. The young brunette girl, Sarah Jones, always sat in the seat behind Emily in English class. Emily also knew of the small crush the girl had on her brother. Sarah was always so nice and sweet. The Gilbert girl couldn't believe Sarah was the person to trigger Tyler's fate.

"Please say something," Tyler begged desperately as Emily hadn't said anything in over five minutes since he told her the truth. The Gilbert girl was the one person that Tyler thought would help him get through all of this. So, it made Tyler more frightened when the brunette girl wouldn't even speak.

Emily still didn't say anything, once again, like Tyler wanted. Instead, she dug through her purse until she pulled out something that she knew her best friend was going to need in a moment like this. "Here," Emily exclaimed as she handed Tyler the bottle of bourbon. The Gilbert girl still needed time to gain her composer and she knew the alcohol would give her that opportunity.

"Thanks," Tyler mumbled before he took a large gulp of the alcohol. He enjoyed the burning of the liquid as it slid down his throat instead of the feeling of constant grief and guilt that has been swallowing him whole.

Emily shook her head after a couple of silent minutes had passed as her thoughts weren't getting her anywhere. "Ty, I don't understand," she mumbled as she expressed what she was thinking. "I mean, how did it even happen?" Emily questioned as she tried to figure out how sweet Sarah ended up dead because of her best friend.

"I-I d-don't know," Tyler mumbled before he hurriedly explained to Emily what happened that night, "one moment we were all having fun and drinking in my dad's office and then she just came at me! S-Sarah attacked me!" Tyler nervously ran his fingers through his messy dark hair before he continued, "I pushed her away and the next thing I know, she's on the floor with a broken neck and s-she's dead!"

Emily lifted her knees to her chest as she listened to the Lockwood teenager's story before the brunette girl's brows furrowed as something felt off to her. "When did this all happen?" Emily questioned as she had a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach, and her instincts were usually always right.

Tyler threw his head back, which caused his skull to bounce off of the old oak tree, while he stared up at the bright lights of the stars that shined in the dark sky. "It happened at the Masquerade Ball," Tyler roughly mumbled as he finally answered the Gilbert girl's question.

Emily instantly realized that it was too of a big coincidence for Tyler to _'accidentally'_ kill someone as sweet and kind of a girl like Sarah, especially at the biggest event of the year along with the fact that Katherine Pierce was in attendance that night. Emily made a mental note that she was going to ask someone about Tyler's turning as she was being hurt when this all went down.

Once more, Falls Park was overcome by silence as the two teenagers were busy thinking about the same thing which was Tyler's _'accident'_ before the Lockwood teenager uttered in a nervous and scared voice, "t-t-there's something else I need to tell you."

The Gilbert girl was afraid of what Tyler was about to tell her, even though she was eighty-nine percent sure that she already knew what he was going to say. "What is it?" Emily questioned in false confusion as she knew she needed to act like she's clueless to Tyler's new identity, if she was right.

The Lockwood teenager took an extra large gulp of the bourbon before he turned his body to the side and looked at the brunette girl. Tyler knew he needed to tell his best friend now or he was going to chicken out. "I'm a werewolf," he hurriedly uttered as he ripped the band-aid right off.

Emily's green eyes softened at the confessed she already knew was coming. In all honesty, Emily didn't know what she was going to do. Mason never told her what or how she was supposed to help Tyler when she made that promise on that horrible day. So, Emily did the only thing she knew she could do as she brought the Lockwood teenager into a tight hug and whispered, "I'm here for you, Ty."

The newly triggered werewolf instantly wrapped his thick arms around Emily's waist and sighed in relief as he finally knew that Emily wasn't judging him or thinking of him any differently, which he was most worried about. "I'm scared," Tyler whispered against Emily's shoulder as the Gilbert girl consoled him.

"I know," Emily whispered as she rubbed Tyler's back while she tried to be there for him as best as she could in a situation like this one. "Does anyone else know?" The brunette girl questioned after a moment as she needed to make sure Tyler wasn't telling people about his new identity when it could put everyone in danger.

Tyler sluggishly shook his head as he looked down at the brunette girl with his saddened brown eyes. "Well, uh, Caroline found out... somehow," the Lockwood teenager mumbled as he changed his answer before he added disappointingly, "and Mason since he's a werewolf too, but he left town."

Emily quickly avoided Tyler's eyes at the mention of the deceased werewolf and didn't say another word. Instead, she grabbed the bottle of bourbon and took a large gulp as she tried to calm her nerves. Emily felt guilty that she couldn't tell Tyler the truth about what really happened to Mason.

However, as Emily sat there and stared down at the bottle between her fingers, she remembered the promise she made to the deceased werewolf to protect the Lockwood teenager. The brunette girl knew she couldn't deny Mason of his last dying wish, so she sucked it up and placed a comforting smile on her lips as she finally looked back to her scared best friend. "I'm going to be right here with you the whole way, Ty," Emily promised as she grabbed ahold of Tyler's hand in a tight grip, "I'm going to be here for you during the full moon and whenever you need me. Just call me and I'll be there."

The Lockwood teenager nodded his head with tears in his brown eyes. "Thank you," he murmured as he rested his head back onto Emily's shoulder. "I don't want to be alone in this," he confessed in a small, scared voice.

"I'm not going anywhere, Ty," Emily told her best friend before she pressed a kiss to the top of Tyler's head. The two teenagers then stayed silent once the words were out of Emily's mouth with the only sound coming from the crickets and birds. It was very calming for the best friends as Tyler finally got his secret off of his chest. "Now," Emily exclaimed as she squeezed Tyler's hand before she looked into her purse and pulled out a small item. "How about just like old times?" The Gilbert girl questioned as she showed Tyler the box of cards.

"Goldfish?" Tyler questioned as he rose an eyebrow at his best friend with a small smile. The Lockwood teenager was feeling much better now as he finally got to tell Emily his secret and knew that she was going to be there for him.

"You know it," Emily exclaimed with a cheeky grin before she pulled the cards out of the box and began to shuffle them as the sun slowly began to rise in the sky of Mystic Falls. The Gilbert girl was glad that they could push pass Tyler's new identity. She knew everything was going to get more difficult, but at least for right now, everything was okay. Emily could just enjoy her time with her best friend and act like a normal teenager that doesn't deal with supernatural beings on a daily basis. It was just like old times.

* * *

Emily yawned as she softly closed the large white door behind her before she sluggishly made her way down the steps of the Lockwood mansion. She and Tyler had stayed at their spot in the middle of Falls Park for a couple of hours as they talked about old things, played card games, and drank the rest of Alaric's bourbon to help get the fact that Tyler is a werewolf off of the Lockwood teenager's mind.

Emily paused when she reached her black Honda and pulled out her cell phone from her purse, so she could see what time it was. The Gilbert girl decided after checking her device since she had at least forty-five minutes before she had to be at school, that she would go back home and get in a quick nap as she was still exhausted with only a couple of hours of sleep and all the bourbon she drank.

However, as Emily closed her car door and started up the vehicle, the Gilbert girl heard the sound of her cell phone ringing loudly. Emily groaned in annoyance as she just wanted to shut her eyes for a little while. The brunette girl was really starting to regret not taking a bed in the Lockwood mansion like she used to do as a child.

Emily didn't even bother looking at the screen to see who was calling, she just pushed _'accept'_ before she brought the device to her ear and instantly heard the familiar voice of her twin sister. "Hey, are you awake yet?" The newly turned vampire questioned once she heard the breathing of her other half as she got straight to the point.

Emily rolled her green eyes and mumbled along with another yawn, "I wouldn't be talking to you if I wasn't, Elena."

The vampire Gilbert stiffed out a laugh through the cell phone as she shook her head at the crankiness in her sister's voice. "Fair point," she muttered before she told her twin, "we need you to come to the boarding house right now."

Emily furrowed her brows as she leaned her head against the cold glass window of her car. "Why? What happened?" She questioned even though the Gilbert girl wanted to add with the stress she was feeling with knowing Tyler was now a werewolf, _what else could possibly go wrong?_

There was silence along with the sound of static on Elena's side of the phone for a couple of seconds before she nervously uttered, "uh, I think we should talk about this in person." The vampire didn't think it was a good idea to have this conversation over the phone with the knowledge that her sister was still in danger.

Emily groaned as she was really hoping she could sleep for a little while. But no, that was quickly thrown out of the window thanks to her twin sister. "Fine," Emily mumbled into her cell phone before she added, "but you better have some coffee."

Elena rolled her eyes before she agreed to her sister's antics, "okay, yes. I'll have coffee waiting for you."

Emily grinned happily as she was at least going to have something to keep her up as she was close to falling asleep. "I'll be there in thirteen minutes," Emily told her sister before she ended the call and slowly began to drive away from the Lockwood mansion as she thought of the hot coffee she soon would be having to cure her sleepiness.

* * *

It took the Gilbert girl exactly nine minutes and forty-eight seconds before she pulled into the long driveway that welcomed her to the Salvatore boarding house. Emily guessed the drive was so short because every normal person was just barely getting up for work and school unlike Emily, who has been having a very eventful morning.

Emily closed her eyes once she parked her car and let out another yawn before she grabbed her black and white purse from the passenger seat and made her way up to the large estate. However, as the brunette girl reached the entrance, she barely had enough time to lay her knuckles against the door before it was thrown open by a grinning Elena Gilbert.

"Hi!" The Gilbert vampire instantly greeted her sister with wide smile before she quickly thrusted her hands towards Emily that held a large styrofoam cup of coffee from her twin's favorite coffee and pastry shop; Mystic Café. Elena was extremely nervous with how Emily was going to react with her still being in danger as it was making the aforementioned vampire worry horribly for her sister's safety.

Emily took the coffee with her brows furrowed at her sister's weird behavior, like the one she used last night, before she took a big gulp of the heavenly drink. "Now, what's the problem?" Emily questioned once she had caffeine in her system and felt more awake to actually have a conversation.

"Well, you see," Elena began as she jogged to catch up with her sister, who was quickly walking through the hallway of the boarding house, but the brunette vampire didn't say anymore as she wasn't sure how she was supposed to tell Emily the truth as her emotions were all over the place.

However, before Elena could come up with a complete sentence, she was saved by the youngest Salvatore brother appearing in front of them. "Hi," Stefan whispered as he didn't even bother looking over at Elena, instead he kept his eyes locked on the beautiful brunette that is Emily Gilbert.

The human girl instantly grinned when she saw the vampire that she had woken up to this morning. Emily then swiftly wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his lips to hers as she loved the feeling of him against her. Once she pulled away as she needed to breathe, Emily frowned as she noticed the distressed look on Stefan's and her sister's face. She took a step away as she was growing annoyed and confused with not knowing what was happening. "Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Emily asked as she rose an eyebrow while she glanced between the two vampires.

Emily's question was soon answered, but it wasn't from her sister or Stefan. Instead, it was answered by a vampire walking into the hallway that she never thought she would see again; Rose.

"I think we all need to have a chat," the oldest Salvatore exclaimed as he walked into the deadly silent area that held the three tense vampires and the one confused human girl.

Emily glanced up at Stefan with her brows furrowed as she silently questioned what the hell was going on. But the only response she got was the vampire giving her a small smile before he grabbed ahold of her hand and pulled her towards the living room. The green eyed duo then sat down on the Victorian-style love seat before Stefan brought his lips down to Emily's forehead as he waited for the dreadful conversation to begin once more as he already knew what the meeting was about as the three vampires told him the majority of what was going on when he had first arrived home.

"Okay, so you have to understand," the short haired vampire, Rose, began as she paced in front of the two set of siblings, "I only know what I was told." Rose then swiftly stopped her walking and stared directly at the human girl as she knew Emily was the only one that knew of the information she was going to tell them. "I met Katherine and her sister, Darina, along with the witch, Maria, when they first arrived in England. Darina, your doppelganger, befriended me instantly and we became friends. It took a couple of months, but she did tell me what they knew about Klaus."

"Well, who is he?" Elena questioned as she impatiently interrupted the older vampire while she tapped her sneakers against the hardwood floors of the boarding house. The Gilbert vampire didn't care much for the story Rose wanted to tell as she just wanted to know how she was supposed to keep her sister safe.

"He's one of the originals," Damon told his girlfriend as he took a seat on the arm of the couch by Elena. He shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest before he added, "he's a legend."

Stefan nodded his head in agreement as he subconsciously squeezed Emily's small hand before he told the two Gilbert sisters as they weren't familiar with all the old vampire knowledge that he and his brother knew, "he's from the first generation of vampires."

Emily lifted an eyebrow as she questioned no one in particular, "you mean like Elijah?" The human girl didn't really get all of the information out of Rose while she was being kidnapped, seeing as Elijah was trying to take her away, so she didn't really know all that much about "the originals" like she wanted.

"No," Rose uttered as she responded to the human girl's question. "Elijah was the Easter bunny compared to Klaus," she further explained, "he's a foot soldier. Klaus is the real deal."

Emily silently nodded her head as she absorbed all of the information Rose and the Salvatore's were saying before she asked the older vampire the question she wanted to ask when she was being kidnapped but couldn't as she was worried about her safety with Rose and Trevor at the time, "so, what else do you know about the originals and the sacrifice?"

However, before the older vampire could answer the human girl's question, Emily quickly held up her hand as to stop Rose from speaking. She then swiftly dug through her black and white purse before she pulled out her doppelganger's journal and told Rose, "I don't really understand most of this, but it might help jog your memory."

"Is that the journal?" Elena questioned at the same time as Stefan asked in confusion, "what is that?"

Emily gave her sister a small nod as she had told Elena about the journal when she had gotten back from their birth mother's office at Duke University all that time ago. But the Gilbert girl soon realized that she never told Stefan anything about it. She only told him and Damon about how her doppelganger is Katherine's sister, Darina Petrova.

There was no point for the brunette girl to explain everything to the Salvatore brothers as they would soon understand, so Emily jumped up from her spot on the couch and moved over to the black grand piano that stood to the side of the large living room. She then opened up the journal once the four vampires were circled around the beautiful musical instrument. "I haven't read all of Darina's journal," Emily stated as she flipped through the pages before she settled on a folded piece of paper and pulled it out. "This is from Maria Radkova, the witch you were talking about," Emily told Rose as she handed it over to the older vampire, "she explained how Klaus needed Darina's blood to become a hybrid; a vampire and a werewolf."

Rose nodded her head as she scanned the paper before she began to flip through the journal. She slowly ran her fingers over the familiar writing that belonged to the girl she used to call her best friend. "Maria told me a little bit about it. I don't think she trusted me that well, but she did warn me that Klaus needed Darina for the sacrifice."

"You knew about this all along?" Elena asked her sister with a deep frown embedded on her face. She couldn't believe Emily didn't trust her enough to tell her about this when it was about her being in danger. They could have been coming up with a way to save her all this time.

"Why didn't you tell me?" The voice of the youngest Salvatore questioned not even a second after the Gilbert vampire did once he read the words from Emily's doppelganger about how she was suppose to die because of the feared one that was named Klaus.

Emily hurriedly ran her fingers through her messy brown hair with her nervous tick before she just finally exploded, "I didn't want you guys to worry!" The human girl hated that her twin sister and Stefan were ganging up on her about this. "I didn't tell you guys because I wanted to protect you," Emily explained before she shook her head and mumbled, "this guy is bad news."

Rose nodded her head as she agreed with Emily, "she's right," before she pointed to a page in the journal. "Darina told me about this. Maria spelled her blood with the protector spell, so she would be safe and that the future doppelganger would be protected as well with the same blood," Rose explained before she told Emily, "you cannot let anyone know about your blood or Klaus will kill you without a single hesitation before moving to the next doppelganger." The older vampire then avoided everyone's eyes in the room as she sadly murmured to herself, "that's why Darina had to die."

"Wait," Elena interrupted the older vampire as her brows instantly furrowed in confusion. "Wouldn't Klaus just use Katherine since she and Darina were twin sisters?" The Gilbert vampire questioned as she didn't understand.

Rose shook her head before she grumbled in annoyance, "he would have, but Trevor and I tried to help Katherine." The older vampire stared at Elena as she added, "however, Katherine had her own plan in mind as she made the same choice you had to make."

"She turned herself into a vampire," Elena muttered in a whisper as she realized what Rose was trying to tell her. She then glanced over to her human sister and watched as Emily bit down on her bottom lip out of nervousness. "So, out of your whole story, you're saying the oldest vampire in the history of time is coming after Emily?" Elena questioned as she wanted to know everything so she could try to keep her sister safe.

The older vampire leaned her side against the grand piano as she nodded her head and stated simply, "yes."

However, the youngest Salvatore vampire quickly disagreed as he uttered, "no," before he placed a gentle kiss on top of Emily's brown hair as he tried to make her feel better. Stefan knew that the human girl was nervous seeing as she wasn't speaking and she kept bouncing her left leg at a fast pace. Stefan just wished he could take her away from all the mess that comes with being in Mystic Falls as he hated seeing her like this.

"What they're saying is," Damon began as he threw his arm over Elena's shoulder and glanced over to the human girl he saw as a friend before he corrected himself while he pointed over towards Rose, "I mean, if what she's saying is true..."

"Which it is," Rose interrupted the blue eyed vampire in a voice that said she was right and there was no changing her mind.

"And you're not just saying it so we don't kill you," Damon continued his statement as if the short haired brunette didn't even jump in the middle of his speech.

"Which I'm not," Rose added, once again, along with an eye roll as she was annoyed with the blue eyed vampire not taking her words seriously. She didn't have time for these silly games when Klaus was coming for the human doppelganger, who Rose had began to like.

"Then we're looking at a solid maybe," Damon finally concluded as he glanced at each face around the room; from his girlfriend, to the new vampire, to Emily, and finally to his brother, Stefan. The older Salvatore was trying to be as optimistic as possible since he knew Klaus was someone they certainly did not want to see walk into their small town.

"Look, Elijah's dead, right?" Stefan questioned the group of vampires as he squeezed Emily to his side. He then looked down into the human girl's green eyes and uttered softly, "so no one else even knows that you exist." Stefan knew that his words weren't exactly comforting but he was trying his hardest to make Emily feel better about the current situation.

"Not that you know of," Rose exclaimed as she was being realistic before she gave the human girl a pointed and equally worried look. The older vampire didn't really know Emily, but if she was anything like Darina, then Rose wanted to help protect her as much as she could. Rose owed Darina that much after she couldn't help her best friend.

Elena glared over at the older vampire and mumbled, "you're not helping," before she reached across the piano and grabbed ahold of her twin sister's hand. "You'll be okay," the Gilbert vampire told Emily with a small smile as she tried to assure her sister that everything will be fine even though she wasn't so sure herself. But Elena couldn't and wouldn't let it show how worried she was. If it came down to it, she would go down swinging just to keep her twin sister safe.

"Look, I've never even met anyone who's laid eyes on him," Stefan stated as he tried to stop all this nonsense about Klaus. They all needed to calm down before they get too worked up about it. Plus, it helped him not think about the fact that someone was coming after Emily once again. "I mean, we're talking centuries of truth mixed with fiction," Stefan explained as he rubbed the human girl's back as to silently assure her, "we don't even know if he's real. For all we know he could just be some sort of stupid bed time story."

"He's real," Rose exclaimed as she threw her hands up in annoyance. She was tired of them not listening to her. "He doesn't give up either," the older vampire added, "if he wants something, he's gets it." Rose then glanced at each face around the room as she warned them, "if you're not afraid of Klaus, then you're an idiot."

The oldest Salvatore rolled his eyes at the short haired vampire and muttered, "alright, we're shaking. You made your point."

Emily sighed as shook her head. This was all just too much for her right now. It was too early for all this and her brain couldn't even process it all. So, the human girl grabbed her doppelganger's journal before she silently moved back to the leather love seat and grabbed her purse. "Well, as much fun as this has been," Emily muttered as she spoke for the first time since getting the horrible information that she already knew about. She glanced at each anxious face around the room before she concluded, "I'm going to school."

The Gilbert vampire frowned instantly at her twin sister. "Emily, you can't run away from this," Elena told the human girl. The vampire was beginning to worry horribly for her sister as Emily wouldn't even talk about the issue at hand. It definitely wasn't like her sister to just push something behind, especially when it had to do with her life.

Emily lifted her shoulders and stated, "I'm not running away. I just can't do anything when Klaus isn't even here." The human girl ran her fingers through her messy brown hair and added, "so, I'm gonna do the one thing I can control and that is go to school."

"I'll come with you," Stefan announced as he went to grab his book bag. The Salvatore vampire didn't want to leave Emily alone anytime soon as they didn't even know when Klaus was coming. However, before Stefan could follow after the human girl, he was soon interrupted by the aforementioned human girl's sister.

"Actually, I think I need some sister to sister time with Emily before we head to first period," Elena told Stefan as she linked her arm with her very confused twin sister.

"Oh," Stefan mumbled disappointingly before he walked over to the human girl, who stood at the edge of the living room, before he gently laid his hands on the side of Emily's face. "We'll figure this out," Stefan whispered before he linked his lips with Emily's for a soft and loving kiss as he put all of his emotions into their embrace.

Emily brought her hands around Stefan's neck as they kissed before she whispered right back, "I'll be okay." The human girl knew that the vampire was worried about her, or everyone was worried about her, but Emily didn't know how she was supposed to react with the knowledge of her incoming death was coming for her. _Did they expect me to cry and scream?_ Emily thought.

"I'll see you in first period," Stefan promised before he left a light kiss on the top of Emily's forehead.

The Gilbert girl silently nodded her head before she linked her arm back with her sister's and slowly began to exit the deadly quiet Salvatore boarding house as she was curious about what Elena wanted her for.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Emily questioned as she couldn't help herself once the two Gilbert sisters reached the human girl's black Honda. She lifted an eyebrow in Elena's direction as amusingly questioned, "is it about me and Stef? Or are you finally ready to tell me about the whole you and Damon?"

Elena chuckled lightly as she shook her head. "No, no," she stated before she placed her hands onto her sister's shoulders while she bit down on her bottom lip. "I have a plan," Elena exclaimed in a whisper as she stared directly into Emily's green eyes.

The human girl lifted her eyebrows in surprise and mumbled, "oh boy." Emily knew it was always bad when Elena had an unknown idea. "This should be good," Emily muttered humorously.

The Gilbert vampire rolled her eyes and playfully slapped her sister's shoulder. "Oh, shut up," Elena mumbled. She then opened the black door of Emily's car and stated, "just get in."

Emily stared at her sister for a moment before she huffed out a sigh when Elena got into the driver's seat without another word. She then quickly jogged around her car to jump in to the passenger seat. The human girl didn't know where Elena wanted to take her, but she trusted her and figured it had something to do with the looming death that was coming for Emily. _This should be interesting,_ Emily thought as she let out another yawn while she leaned her head against the cool glass window.


	42. Chapter 38 Part 2

It didn't take the Gilbert girl very long to figure out where her sister was taking her after they left the Salvatore boarding house for their, what Elena liked to call it, 'sister to sister time.' Emily had quickly realized it when she noticed the familiar woods after driving around Mystic Falls for about ten minutes. Emily guessed she should of known Elena would be taking her to the one person that has actually met Klaus and was still alive; Katherine Pierce.

Emily had tried to ask her sister about what they were going to do once they were face to face with Katherine, but Elena only told her that they needed answers and to also tell Caroline to meet them in the woods. The human girl knew Elena wasn't going to tell her anything else as she was dead set on her plan, so Emily just did what her sister said as she silently pulled out her cell phone and dialed the blonde vampire's number.

It was another fifteen minutes before the two Gilbert sisters were finally standing in front of the old Fell's church after Elena had caught a deer and filled an empty water bottle with the dark red blood of the animal. Emily figured it was to bribe Katherine to answer their questions as she must be pretty hungry after being stuck in the tomb over the weekend.

Emily wasn't empty handed either as Elena had pushed the Petrova book that she kept in her bag into Emily's arms once they were standing in the middle of the woods. Emily was surprised as her sister had actually thought out her plan instead of playing it by ear like she usually did when she was still human.

"I'm here! I'm here!" The loud voice of the blonde vampire called out after a few more silent minutes had passed between the Gilbert sisters as they waited for the aforementioned vampire. Caroline vamp sped over to the human girl and her vampire sister before she looked between them with her blonde brows furrowed as she curiously asked, "so, why did you want to meet in the woods?"

Elena took a quick glance over to her twin sister as she looked for any sign of disagreement to her plan before she focused her brown eyes on the blonde vampire. "I need your help opening the door," Elena explained to Caroline.

The blonde vampire's blue eyes widened in shock before she hurriedly whispered, "are you crazy!?" She then glanced over to Emily for anything that said Elena was joking before she shook her head when she couldn't find anything. "Damon and Stefan aren't going to like this," Caroline mumbled.

"And that is why you are going to keep Stefan busy today," Emily finally spoke up while she ignored her sister's stunned expression. The human girl knew that they needed to talk with Katherine without the Salvatore brothers jumping in every couple of seconds.

Emily wasn't stupid. She wasn't avoiding that she is suppose to die because of the sacrifice like everyone thought she was. Emily just wasn't confident that they would find a way when Darina couldn't even be saved. However, Emily was going to follow with her sister's plan as she wanted to know everything she could about Klaus. Emily didn't care what happened to her as she already knew the outcome, but she did plan on using the information she finds to keep her friends and family safe.

"How the hell am I suppose to do that?" Caroline screeched while she nervously played with the bottom of her blue flowing tank top. She quickly shook her head and muttered, "I'm horrible at lying. He'll see right through me."

Emily sighed at her blonde friend before a thought suddenly popped into her head. "You just need to tell Stef that Elena and I wanted to have a whole day to ourselves," Emily told Caroline before she added, "tell him we went shopping or something." Stefan already knew that she and Elena were going to talk before first period, so Emily thought it was the perfect excuse.

Caroline stared at the brunette girl with a frown on her face before she huffed out a groan. "Fine," she mumbled before the blonde vampire sluggishly followed after the determined Gilbert sisters. The woods was then overcome by silence as they slowly made their way down to the tomb before Caroline suddenly questioned in confusion, "wait, why didn't you want Stefan to know?"

Elena glanced over to the blonde vampire once they were inside of the tomb and told her, "because he would never be okay with us doing this." The Gilbert vampire didn't even have to say anything else as all three of them knew that Stefan would lock the human girl into a room before letting Katherine anywhere near Emily again after what happened at the Masquerade Ball.

Caroline only gave Elena a small nod before she stood frozen in her spot when she caught sight of the tomb door as an uneasiness feeling began to run up her chest. The blonde vampire always felt uneasy whenever she was in Katherine's presence, so this was definitely not what she wanted to spend her morning doing. "Um... are you sure about this?" Caroline questioned the two sisters once she finally took her eyes off of the door that held Katherine Pierce caged in.

Emily placed her empty hand that wasn't holding the large Petrova book onto Caroline's lower arm and gave her a small smile. "We're sure," she told the blonde vampire before she explained, "Katherine is the only one who knows the truth about Klaus."

"But you're asking for the truth from someone who's probably never even given it," Caroline quickly uttered as she tried to convince the human girl to just turn back now and get away from here. The blonde vampire didn't like the idea of Emily talking to Katherine when she could harm her. However, when Emily still wouldn't budge, Caroline sighed before she stared directly into Emily's green eyes and asked once more, "are you sure about this?"

Emily silently nodded her head as she held eye contact with her worried best friend. This was just something she and Elena needed to do. "Katherine has never lied to me before," Emily added as she tried to get Caroline to understand her reasoning for doing this, "and she won't even be able to touch us."

"Fine," Caroline mumbled as she gave Emily one last concerned look before she walked over to the right side of the tomb door while Elena grabbed onto the left side. The blonde vampire then stared directly at Elena as she began to count, "one. Two. Three," before they both pulled with all their might until the door finally slid off of the seal that locked Katherine in the tomb.

Emily grabbed the small flashlight out of her purse while Elena and Caroline were busy moving the heavy door out of the way before she pointed the light towards the familiar dark tunnel. However, when Emily couldn't see or hear anything, she took a small step closer before she called out, which instantly caused her voice to bounce off of the narrow walls, "Katherine?"

The Gilbert vampire dusted off the dirt from her hands once the tomb door was leaning against the wall before she glanced over to Caroline and noticed that she watching Emily like a hawk. "We'll be okay from here," Elena announced over to the blonde vampire. "I won't let anything happen to her," she added as she also moved her eyes to Emily, who was getting quite close to the edge of the entrance.

It took a couple more minutes of the two vampires and the human girl nervously staring at the dark tunnel before they finally heard movement from inside. The only thing they did hear was the sound of Katherine dragging her bare feet against the rough pavement of the ground along with the sound of her sharp finger nails sliding against the stone walls.

Finally, after another minute or so, the ill body of Katherine Pierce came into view as her sore and tired body slammed against the spelled barrier that was placed by the Bennett witch to keep the older vampire stuck inside of the tomb.

"Hello, Elena," Katherine snarled in a deep and hungry voice before she sarcastically questioned, "you come to watch me wither away?" However, when her doppelganger didn't respond, Katherine rolled her brown eyes before she moved them to the left and smiled slightly when she saw the human girl. "Ah, it's my favorite sister," Katherine whispered before she moved her eyes to the right and snarled once more, "goodbye, Caroline."

Emily quickly glanced behind her when she heard Katherine utter her best friend's name. The Gilbert girl didn't even know the blonde was still here as she was so focused on getting information about Klaus from Katherine. Emily then shot Elena and her doppelganger a quick smile before she handed her sister the Petrova book and stated, "I'll walk her out." The human girl knew Katherine wouldn't give them any answers if she didn't want Caroline here, which she obviously didn't. Emily then linked her arm with Caroline's before she forcefully pulled the blonde vampire with her as she moved up and out of the tomb.

"Emmie, just please come to school with me," Caroline begged once they were out of the tomb and was standing in the middle of the woods. She couldn't find it in herself to just leave the human girl with the vampire that turned her. Caroline knew something bad would end up happening.

Emily sighed softly as she shook her head. "I can't, Care," she told the blonde vampire before she added, "anyways, you don't have to worry. Elena will make sure nothing happens to me."

Caroline knew that was true as everyone had noticed how protective Elena has gotten about Emily ever since she transitioned. "I hate when you're right," Caroline grumbled while she stomped her white and blue sneakers against the leaf-covered ground.

The Gilbert girl gave her best friend a charming smile before a thought suddenly popped into her head, which immediately turned Emily's facial expression upside down. "Tyler told me what happened at the Masquerade Ball," Emily whispered to the blonde vampire as she remembered Caroline knew about Tyler's turning.

Caroline's blue eyes widened at Emily's words before she quickly took a step closer to the brunette girl. "So, you know?" The blonde vampire questioned in a whisper as quietly as she could as she didn't know who would be listening, "you know he's a werewolf?"

Emily nodded her head as she nervously ran her fingers through her messy brown hair. The topic of Tyler's turning was beginning to make the brunette girl stress out every time it was brought up, Emily soon realized as if she didn't have enough to worry about. "He told me a couple of hours ago," Emily explained to her best friend before a serious look made its way onto her face.

"No matter what, Caroline, you cannot tell Tyler about what happened to Mason," Emily quickly warned the blonde, "and you cannot let Tyler find out about the existence of vampires." The Gilbert girl knew Caroline wouldn't just out herself to the Lockwood teenager, but she needed to make sure Tyler didn't find out. Emily knew Tyler would hate her if he ever found out that she lied and kept a secret from him, but Emily made a promise to Mason and she wasn't going to break it.

Caroline bit down on her bottom lip as she avoided Emily's green eyes. "Yeah, I know," she mumbled, "I just hate lying to him." The blonde vampire knew she should of told Emily about how she did tell Tyler about her being a vampire, but knew she had enough on her plate. Instead, Caroline decided she would talk to Stefan about it as Emily had Klaus and Katherine to worry about.

The Gilbert girl sighed as she also felt bad about lying to Tyler but she knew it was something she had to do. "It's for the best," Emily told the blonde vampire as she tried to console her and also release the guilt she was feeling, "we're doing this to protect him from this life." She gave Caroline a small smile as she added, "you just need to remember that we're helping Tyler by not telling him."

"Yeah, okay," Caroline mumbled while she ran her fingers through her blonde hair as she felt nervous lying to Emily about what she told Tyler. The vampire then glanced down at the silver watch on her wrist before she let out a sigh. "I should get going," Caroline told her best friend before she added humorously, "I got Stefan duty."

Emily smiled softly at the blonde vampire before she pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Care," the brunette girl praised before she pulled away and stared into Caroline's blue eyes. "I owe you one," Emily told the blonde vampire as she gave Caroline one last smile before she quickly turned around. She then headed back down the stairs to her twin sister and Katherine as she hoped she didn't miss anything important.

"You're back just in time!" Katherine called out as loudly as she could with the new blood in her system from her spot on the dirty ground of her personal hell while she watched her favorite Gilbert move around the tomb. "I met Klaus back in England; 1492," Katherine began the story of her life once Emily was standing next to Elena, "I left with my sister, Darina, and her witch friend, Maria." The older vampire chuckled humorlessly before she corrected herself, "or the actual term; thrown out."

Elena poured a small amount of deer blood into a plastic shot glass before she passed it over to the hungry Katherine with a wooden stick as she didn't want to get sucked into the tomb. "Thrown out?" The Gilbert vampire confusingly questioned while Katherine drank her fix of blood.

Katherine gently leaned her head against the hard wall as she savored the blood running down her throat that her doppelganger thankfully kept handing her. "My family, your true ancestors," the older vampire explained, "they disowned me. My indiscretions were not tolerated at the time." Katherine rolled her eyes as she added, "I had a baby out of wedlock," before she whispered sarcastically, "oh, the shame."

Emily silently took a seat across from the older vampire onto the dirty ground as she fell into the tale of Katherine's history. "The baby was kept a secret?" The Gilbert girl questioned as she tried to imagine the time period of Katherine's human life.

"Mhmm," Katherine mumbled as she moved her brown eyes over to her favorite Gilbert once she finally spoke, "my baby was given away." She then looked back to Elena as she continued, "I was banished to England, where my sister quickly followed along with Maria. I had to learn to adjust, so I became English. It was there that I caught the eye of a nobleman named Klaus." Katherine rolled her eyes as she remembered her foolishness of falling for men as a human. "I was completely taken with him at first," Katherine spoke softly, "but then I found out what he really wanted from me." The older vampire's body then went straight as a board as she was pulled into that very memory while she muttered, "and then I ran like hell."

* * *

 **ENGLAND 1492**

 _Katerina Petrova held her large grey dress up to her knees as she ran as quickly as she could move through the dark and quiet woods of England. She tried to push her tears away from her brown eyes but knew it was no use when she was running for her life. Katerina knew the vampires were searching for her right now, so the human girl ignored the tears and pain she felt as she continued to push her body further through the woods as she could not allow Klaus to catch her._

 _Katerina was so lost in her thoughts of finally reaching safety while trying to see through her warm tears that she didn't even notice the thick branch sticking up from the ground. The brunette girl soon let out a quiet groan when she landed face first into the dirt and leaves before she quickly pushed away the pain and crawled behind a large tree. Katerina knew they were close as she could hear their voices as if they were right next to her._

 _"She's here," the voice of Elijah told his two fellow vampires while he used his enhanced hearing. "Katerina!" He shouted into the woods," I know you are near! I can smell your blood!" Elijah then slowly moved around the woods as he waited for any sign of movement before he continued to shout at the scared girl, "it is pointless to run. Klaus will find you wherever you are."_

 _However, before Elijah could spot the Petrova doppelganger on the ground of the woods, his search was soon abruptly stopped by another one of his men. "This way," the vampire, Trevor, exclaimed as he pointed towards the opposite direction, "there is more blood over there."_

 _Elijah didn't even bother questioning the young vampire as he trusted his judgement. He only cared about finding Katerina, so he gave his men a quick nod before they all took off towards the direction Trevor had pointed out._

 _Katerina didn't understand why a vampire was helping her when they all work for Klaus and Elijah, but the human girl didn't think too much about it as she just wanted to escape. She then listened for any movement, but when she didn't hear the swooshing of the vampires anymore, Katerina carefully stood up from the ground as she had noticed her left foot had began to throb in pain and she didn't want to hurt it more. The young girl softly sighed once she was fully standing before she went to turn around but was soon shocked when she saw another one of the vampires._

 _The vampire, Trevor, hurriedly placed his finger onto the human girl's lips along with pushing her against the large tree before she could even open her mouth. Trevor didn't want Elijah to think he found her if he heard Katerina's voice. The brunette vampire then stared into Katerina's brown eyes and waited until she recognized him in the dark night before he whispered against her ear, "head east. I can not lead them astray for much longer."_

 _Katerina shook her head with tears clouding her brown eyes before she pushed Trevor's finger away from her lips. "I can not run anymore," she uttered barely above a whisper as she was afraid they would find her._

 _Trevor ignored Katerina's disagreement as he only cared about getting her to safety. He then, once again, placed his hand over her mouth as he glanced around the woods as he tried to locate something familiar in his surroundings. It took less than a minute before the vampire's blue eyes widened as he realized a way he could help Katerina. "There's a cottage," he hurriedly whispered, "you'll be safe there." Trevor then pulled his hand away from the young girl and took a step back before he quietly shouted, "go now. Go!"_

 _Katerina stared up at Trevor for a moment before she quickly nodded her head. She then pushed the pain that was bothering her foot away and took off in a fast sprint. She headed east like Trevor had told her as she ran for her life. Now that she had a certain and safe location in mind, Katerina pushed herself even further as she was so close to escaping Klaus and his wrath._

* * *

The Gilbert vampire poured more blood into the small shot glass before she pushed it to her doppelganger as Katherine had paused in the middle of her story. It was silent for a moment as Katherine drank the red liquid while Elena glanced over to her sister, who was obviously lost in thought as she was staring down at her fingers. The brunette was worried about her sister as she knew Emily was thinking about the future which was what Elena was also concerned about after hearing a small part of Katherine's story. The Gilbert vampire then looked back to Katherine as she wanted to know more about how she was suppose to save her twin sister before she wondered, "so, what did Klaus want?"

Katherine didn't answer her doppelganger right away as she moved her tired brown eyes over to the human girl that looks exactly like her sister. "The same thing that he'll want from Emily," the older vampire whispered in a glum voice as she hated thinking about how the Gilbert girl would soon go through what she and Darina had both experienced. "He wants to break the curse," Katherine clarified once she finally moved her brown eyes off of Emily and onto the human girl's sister.

Emily silently stared at Katherine's slumped figure against the wall before she let out a heavy sigh. She knew exactly what her doppelganger's sister was talking about. Emily felt like she had been hearing the same sentence over and over again that it almost felt not real. The human girl then moved her green eyes off of Katherine and over to her sister before she told her in a soft voice as she didn't want Elena to start freaking out, "to break the curse, Klaus needs to sacrifice the Petrova doppelganger; me."

Katherine slowly nodded her head as she watched the shocked and saddened expression on Elena's face and the calm and neutral one on Emily's. "He wanted to drain every single drop of blood from my body," Katherine further explained in a low whisper as her mind was overcome by the terrifying flashbacks of her past life.

The Petrova descendants then went dead silent as Katherine relaxed back onto the rough wall as she let the small piece of information about Klaus sink into the Gilbert sisters. Each girl was feeling a different emotion. The Gilbert vampire was feeling sick to her stomach with knowing that her sister was going to be sacrificed while Emily was just exhausted. She was tired of hearing the same thing. She already knew Klaus was coming. She already knew she was going to be used in the sacrifice. She already knew he wanted to be a hybrid. Emily wanted answers that aren't recycled and she wasn't going to stop until she knew a way to protect her family and friends from Klaus.

"What does the Petrova bloodline have to do with Klaus?" Emily questioned once she stood up from the dirty ground and began to slowly pace up and down the small space. She couldn't just sit there. Emily needed to move around or she would explode as her mind was running a mile a minute as she tried to think of a way that she could keep everyone safe as she absorbed Katherine's history of running from Klaus.

The older vampire grabbed the fresh blood that Elena pushed over to her like it was routine. She brought the small cup to her cracked lips as she began, "it's really tedious, but..." Katherine then slurped down the animal blood before she crushed the cup in her hands as she was finally gaining her strength back. "The curse was bound by the sacrifice of Petrova blood," she uttered before she moved her gaze over to the pacing human, "witches are crafty with their spells." She then tossed the empty cup to the dirty ground before continuing, "the doppelganger was created as a way to be able to undo the spell. Once the doppelganger reappeared, the curse can be broken."

Emily nodded her head in understanding and stopped pacing as she was finally getting some real answers. _Now we're getting somewhere,_ the Gilbert girl thought as Katherine told her and Elena new information that she never knew about. "Klaus killed Darina because she was the doppelganger but when he couldn't use her, he went to you as you were the next doppelganger in line," Emily thought out loud before she looked over to Katherine and wondered, "did you escape before he found you?"

Katherine leaned her head back against the hard wall as she stared at a random spot in the darkness before she mumbled, "something like that," as she was pulled into a memory she wished she could forget.

* * *

 **ENGLAND 1492**

 _Katerina Petrova continued to run through the dark woods as fast as her bare feet would move. The young girl soon got used to her surroundings and realized exactly where Trevor had sent her after a couple of minutes of running. Katerina remembered when she first arrived in England, her sister had quickly befriended the person who was staying in the small cottage. However, Katerina never bothered to learn the girl's name as they didn't like each other very much._

 _The Petrova girl was so close to reaching the cottage that she could practically taste it as she could see the small building in her sights. But before Katerina could make it to the small white cottage, she was soon caught off guard as a body ran right into her. Katerina instantly thought it was Klaus or one of his men, so the brunette girl quickly went into fight mode as she pushed and kicked the unknown person as she tried to escape their tight grasp._

 _"Katerina!" The voice of Maria Radkova cried out as she tried to get the young girl to calm down. "It's me! Maria!" The witch yelled in a whisper as she didn't want Klaus to recognize her voice if he was around._

 _Katerina's brown eyes immediately widened when she recognized the familiar voice. She couldn't be anymore thankful to see Maria even though she never liked the woman. However, when Katerina glanced around, she soon noticed that her sister was nowhere in sight. "Where's Dari? Did you hide her?" Katerina quickly interrogated the witch. The whole time Katerina had been running from Klaus, she had been wondering if her sister got word of what had happened and got to safety as she didn't have time to grab her before Katerina made her escape._

 _The Radkova witch squeezed her eyes shut and let out a painful sigh as she slowly shook her head. The brunette woman then quickly glanced around the woods when she heard movement through the trees before she grabbed ahold of Katerina's wrist. "We must go," Maria hurriedly exclaimed in a whisper instead of answering the young girl's question about Darina before she pulled Katerina with her as she began to run through the dark forest._

 _Once they were standing in front of the small cottage, Maria instantly knocked onto the door while she tried to keep Katerina hidden from any watchful eyes. Maria hated being in the open like this, especially at the time when everyone was looking for the Petrova , it only took about ten seconds before the door was thrown open by a very confused Rose-Marie. The vampire found it strange that Katerina and Maria were both standing in front of her door as they didn't really like her. They only tolerated her because of sweet and loving Darina._

 _Rose-Marie ignored the soft cries and whimpers coming from Katerina, instead she focused onto the uneasy looking Maria Radkova. It was odd for the witch to not be in control of her emotions as she was always so straight-faced. "What is it?" Rose-Marie wondered as her dark brows furrowed, "why are you here?"_

 _Maria glanced left, right, and behind her as she looked for anyone spying on them before she took a step closer to the vampire and whispered, "it's Klaus." The Radkova witch knew that Darina told Rose-Marie about the feared one - even though she had told the Petrova girl not to as it was dangerous for anyone to know about the sacrifice and Darina's roll._

 _Once the words were out of Maria's mouth, Rose-Marie's green eyes quickly widened before she stepped to the side and let the witch and the human girl into the cottage. Rose-Marie definitely didn't want any of Klaus' men to know she was hiding Katerina but Rose-Marie was also worried to where her best friend, Darina, was located. She knew Maria wouldn't just leave her alone when Klaus is coming for her, so it made Rose-Marie quite nervous._

 _"Where is my sister?" Katerina growled exactly what Rose-Marie was thinking once the door was closed and the Petrova girl pulled her hand away from the witch. Katerina was extremely worried about her sister. She felt raddled with Klaus coming for her and not seeing her sister's soft face made it that much worse._

 _Maria avoided the anxious expressions on Katerina and Rose-Marie's faces for a moment as she knew they were looking for answers she couldn't provide. She instead began to pace the small room while she wiped the warm tears from her eyes as she tried to pull her thoughts together. Everything that happened in the last few hours had went by so quickly that Maria barely even had time to grieve before she was on the run to find Katerina. Finally, after a couple of tense minutes had passed by, Maria faced the vampire and the human girl and whispered heart-brokenly, "K-Klaus got to her."_

 _Katerina's bottom lip instantly began to tremble as soon as she heard the words rush out of the Radkova witch's mouth. "W-What do you mean?" The Petrova girl whispered as she feared for the worse._

 _Maria silently moved across the room and sat down into an old wooden chair as she couldn't look Katerina in the eye. "H-He came for her," she began to explain with tears clouding her vision as she felt like she was reliving the death of her adopted daughter all over again, "he somehow found out that I helped her by infusing her blood with the Protector blood. Klaus knew he couldn't use her anymore, so he killed her and said he would come for the next doppelganger." Maria then finally looked over at the Petrova girl once the cottage was overcome by only silence and sobs from everyone in the room before she whispered, "I am so sorry, Katerina. I couldn't save her."_

 _"No, no, no," Katerina cried out as she felt like her heart was just ripped from her chest. She quickly shook her head in denial and exclaimed, "she can not be dead!" Katerina then began to pace as she incoherently mumbled to herself before she quickly came to a stop and faced the two crying supernatural beings. "She was suppose to be safe!" Katerina yelled as she pulled out the one thing Klaus would need; the moonstone, before she showed it to the witch and the vampire. "You were suppose to protect her!" Katerina shouted as she glared over at the witch, who promised to always keep her sister safe._

 _Rose-Marie quickly wiped the tears from her green eyes when she saw what Katerina was holding. "Y-You stole that from Klaus?" She interrogated in a nervous voice as she stared directly at the white stone. Rose-Marie knew she was definitely dead now as not only was Klaus looking for Katerina but he was also missing the moonstone and it was all thanks to her companion, Trevor, for making promises on her behalf._

 _Katerina innocently nodded her head like it was the simplest thing in the world and stated, "it was to be part of the sacrifice ritual, so I grabbed it and made my escape." She then glared over at Maria, once again, before she growled, "I thought I was keeping myself and my sister safe by taking this but you couldn't even keep her alive long enough for us to leave England!"_

 _Maria shook her head with a loud sigh while she played with her bloody fingers to calm her nerves but, of course, it wasn't working as her adopted daughter's blood was all over them. Maria glanced away from the blood with a shaky breath before she told the Petrova girl, "she was already dead before you found out that they wanted you for the sacrifice, Katerina." Maria then finally looked back into Katerina's brown eyes and explained when she noticed the confused expression on the human girl's face, "they originally planned on using Darina but when Klaus found out the truth to what I did to help her, he killed Darina before deciding to use you for the sacrifice."_

 _"You must leave now," Rose-Marie hurriedly exclaimed after she listened to Maria's tale of the death of her best friend. She would be joining Darina before she could even open her mouth if Klaus found Katerina here. Rose-Marie didn't care for Katerina nor like her, so she definitely didn't care if she was to be sacrificed as the vampire wanted to continue to live her undead life._

 _"I beg of you," Maria quickly pleaded as she walked towards the vampire. "I made a promise to Darina before she died to keep her sister alive. We cannot fail her, Rose-Marie," the Radkova witch exclaimed as she tried to convince the vampire to help her. She couldn't keep Darina alive, so Maria was at least going to fulfill one of her last wishes._

 _Rose-Marie glanced over to the crying Katerina for a few short seconds before she quickly shook her head and looked back to Maria. "I am taking her back to Klaus and we shall beg him to show us mercy," the vampire told the witch before she swiftly walked away as she needed to be alone. Rose-Marie couldn't help them as the only person she tried to help was now dead. She would not be responsible for Katerina any longer._

* * *

The Gilbert girl tightly squeezed her green eyes shut after she heard Katherine retell the story of finding out about her twin sister's death. Emily couldn't even imagine finding out that Elena or Jeremy had died. She didn't even know Elena was dead when she transitioned into a vampire, so she never really had to experience what Katherine had except, of course, for the couple of hours when her sister wouldn't wake up from the car crash that killed their parents.

The story had Emily's heart pounding crazily in her chest. However, it wasn't from the horrible way Katherine found out about the death of Darina. Instead, it was the fact that she now knew just how bad Klaus really is. It was different hearing it come from someone's mouth instead of reading it like she did when she got Maria's letter. It now made Emily even more determined to protect her family and friends from Klaus' wrath.

"So, did Maria end up convincing Rose to not take you back to Klaus?" Emily wondered as she remembered Rose telling them how Katherine turned herself this morning at the Salvatore boarding house. Emily figured it had to be because Rose either changed her mind or Katherine turned herself in the short time before Rose took her back to Klaus as she would of died from the sacrifice as a human.

Katherine chuckled humorlessly before she mumbled, "nope." She then moved her brown eyes over to the human girl she wants to help as she explained while she was pulled further into her memories, "but it wasn't like she had much of a choice."

* * *

 **ENGLAND 1492**

 _Maria Radkova followed closely behind Rose-Marie as she charged into the small room that they had left Katerina in. The witch had been trying to convince Rose-Marie to change her mind about taking Katerina back to Klaus for hours. However, the vampire wouldn't even budge._

 _Rose-Marie was dead set on sending Katerina back to the feared one as the vampire felt like it was Katerina's fault that her best friend was now dead because the younger Petrova twin just had to catch the eye of Klaus when the sisters first arrived in England. Rose-Marie wanted nothing to do with Katerina Petrova anymore. She was just trouble and Rose-Marie knew she would be the cause of her death if she kept the human girl any longer._

 _"Get up," Rose-Marie commanded as she made her way over to the young girl, who was sitting on top of a small bed. "It is time to go," the vampire uttered emotionlessly as she held a thick rope in front of her white and tan dress. It was time for Rose-Marie to get rid of Katerina once and for all as daylight was finally breaking through the dark sky._

 _However, when Rose-Marie was only a foot away from the human girl, she noticed that Katerina was gasping in pain. She then quickly moved the wool blanket off of the brunette before her green eyes instantly widened at what she saw. "When did this happen?" Rose-Marie hurriedly questioned as she stared down at the bloody wound._

 _The Radkova witch quickly walked up to the other side of the small bed when she saw the fresh blood on the human's skin before she lightly placed her hand on top of the wound as she tried to take away Katerina's pain with her Protector Of The Innocence abilities. "What were you thinking, Katerina?" The witch mumbled as she noticed the human girl's wound was very deep as Katerina's pain entered her body._

 _Katerina let out a small groan as she slowly felt the pain leave her body - thanks to the Radkova witch. She then glanced over to the squinting Rose-Marie before she easily lied in a whisper, "in the woods. I tripped."_

 _"That is a lie," Rose-Marie growled, "I would have smelled it." The vampire then swiftly moved her angry green eyes to Maria with a hard glare before she interrogated, "was your condolence about Darina just a way for you to distract me?"_

 _Maria slowly stood up from the bed as she couldn't take much more of Katerina's pain without falling down from exhaustion. "Of course not!" The Radkova witch shouted as she couldn't believe the vampire would blame her for Katerina harming herself. Maria was just trying to help Rose-Marie grieve over Darina as much as she was trying to help herself do the same._

 _"I'd rather die than go back to Klaus," Katerina uttered as she interrupted the arguing while she tried to breath regularly. Now that Maria wasn't taking her pain anymore, the human girl could feel her wound getting worse as the blood continued to seep through her dress. Katerina then glanced between the silent witch and vampire before she pleaded desperately, "please, just let me die."_

 _"If you die then Trevor dies with you," Rose-Marie growled as she glared down at the human girl. She was not just going to allow this girl to end not only Darina's but also her companion, Trevor's life. Rose-Marie quickly placed her wrist inside of her mouth and took a bite out of her skin until she felt her blood flowing down her arm. She then pushed her bloody wound against Katerina's mouth as she forced the human girl to drink. This was the only way Rose-Marie knew to save Trevor's life as she watched the Petrova doppelganger's wound heal._

 _"No! No!" Katerina cried out once she wiped the blood from her lips and began to feel the long wound across her cheek heal along with the pain in her stomach stop altogether._

 _The room was then overcome by silence as everyone was breathing hard after what had just took place. Rose-Marie was angry that Katerina was trying to fool her, Maria was disappointed that Katerina would try to kill herself when she was trying to help save her like Darina wanted, and the doppelganger was just scared and saddened that she didn't succeed in ending her life as she didn't want to have to face Klaus again._

 _"Where is she?" The loud vampire, Trevor, exclaimed as he rushed into the small room and interrupted the very tense silence. However, before Trevor could make his way to the crying human girl, he was soon stopped by the strong arm of his companion pushing him against the far left wall._

 _"You have set us both on the path of death!" Rose-Marie growled as she squeezed the idiotic Trevor's throat, "I only hope Klaus sees the honor in returning that girl to him."_

 _The Radkova witch quickly moved over to the two arguing vampires as she hoped she and Trevor could change Rose-Marie's mind about turning Katerina over to Klaus. 'I cannot fail her,' Maria kept chanting in her head as she made her way to the vampires as she couldn't continue to carry the guilt of disappointing Darina. "Please, Rose-Marie, we need to protect Katerina," Maria begged before she quickly added to help convince the vampire, "I will help you escape! I have done it with Katerina and Darina before we arrived here!"_

 _"And look where that got you!" Rose-Marie snarled at the witch as she continued to tightly hold her companion's throat as she was still so angry, "now Darina is dead and we are on Klaus' list!"_

 _"Please, Rose," Trevor begged as he stared directly into Rose-Marie's green eyes with tears clouding his blue ones, "you must understand." The vampire then paused as he swallowed thickly before he whispered as he was afraid of losing the Petrova girl, "I love her."_

 _However, while the two vampires and the witch continued to yell and argue with one another in the corner of the room, the human doppelganger was quietly unwrapping the thick rope Rose-Marie had left on her lap as Katerina had her own plan in mind. She then stood straight up onto a wooden chair as she could now move better after Rose-Marie healed all of her wounds. Katerina took a deep breath as she wrapped the noose around her neck that was connected to the ceiling and whispered, "I love you, Dari," before she took a leap off of the chair and ended her human life._

* * *

"You killed yourself," Emily mumbled as she stared across at her doppelganger's sister, who was staring right at her with saddened eyes. The human girl already knew that Katherine killed herself since Rose told them, however Emily just didn't know what happened during that time until now. Emily could understand why Katherine killed herself, unlike her twin sister, who was looking at Katherine in disgust. Emily understood Katherine's reasoning as she didn't want to face Klaus after he already killed her sister.

Katherine slowly nodded her head against the hard wall before she explained why she ended her life, "Klaus needed a human doppelganger and as a vampire, I was no longer any use to him."

"But it didn't work," Elena mumbled as she tried to keep up with the story of Katherine's life. "You didn't really escape," the Gilbert vampire figured out as she slowly placed everything she knew about her doppelganger together. Elena pieced together everything from Klaus to when Damon thought Katherine was under the church back in 1864. "You've been running from Klaus ever since," the young vampire concluded once she got her thoughts together.

Katherine huffed out a sigh in agreement to Elena's assumption before she uttered in annoyance, "I underestimated his spirit for vengeance." She then shrugged her left shoulder as she added, "but living in a suitcase is better than dying so you can have your blood spilled over some silly rock."

The Gilbert vampire's eyes instantly went over to her twin sister, who was going to be sacrificed, at Katherine's words before she quickly shook her head. "I'm not going to let Emily go through what you and your sister did," Elena told her doppelganger in a strong voice. There was no way Elena would just stand by and watch her sister die while she continued to live her immortal life. There was just no way.

Katherine closed her brown eyes as she leaned her head back against the wall as she mumbled while imagining her beautiful sister's smile and her cheerful laugh, "I thought I was saving my sister too, but you know how that turned out." The older vampire then opened her eyes after a couple of silent seconds and stared directly at her sister's doppelganger as if she wanted to tell her something. However, Katherine gently shook her head as she changed her mind, which went unnoticed by the Gilbert sisters. "I knew Maria wasn't going to be able to help me, so I made the other choice," Katherine uttered instead of telling Emily what she really wanted to say before she was pulled back into her memories.

* * *

 **ENGLAND 1492**

 _In the silent and tense cottage, the three supernatural beings took turns pacing back and forth through the small area before they all heard the loud gasp that alerted them to the awakened girl. "Katerina!" Trevor exclaimed as he was the first one to rush to her side when she began to panic from seeing her surroundings in a new light. The male vampire shook his head in disappointment before he shouted, "I would have helped you live!"_

 _The Petrova doppelganger silently and slowly stood up from the uncomfortable bed while she rubbed her extremely sore neck after she broke it from hanging herself a couple of hours ago. The transitioning vampire then finally faced the worried Trevor with an eye roll before she corrected him, "you would have helped me run." She shook her head and mumbled, "that was never going to be enough."_

 _Trevor shook his head in disbelief at Katerina before he hurriedly walked around her. He couldn't believe she would do this. The male vampire would have done anything for her. "It was enough for me," Trevor uttered once he finally faced Katerina with sadness displayed through his blue eyes. He never wanted Katerina to be cursed with this life. Trevor always wanted for her to be human and happy - and with him._

 _Rose-Marie huffed out a groan as she and the Radkova witch listened to the back and forth conversation between her companion and Katerina before she had enough. "Do you not see, Trevor?" Rose-Marie asked her friend before she glared at the Petrova girl, "she used you to help her escape and me to turn her." She turned her glare to Maria and muttered just as angrily, "and she was just as involved with Katerina's plan." Rose-Marie then looked at each face around the room before she whispered frighteningly, "Klaus will see our role in this."_

 _"Please, Rose-Marie," the Radkova witch begged as they were still not safe from the wrath of Klaus along with the fact that they didn't have time to argue. She knew they needed to focus as they needed to leave England now before Klaus realized what they all did._

 _However, the two vampires and the transitioning one ignored the witch's pleading as Katerina spoke directly to Rose-Marie, "and for that, I am sorry."_

 _"As am I..." Rose-Marie uttered as she stared at the Petrova doppelganger with a slight smile before she whispered sinisterly, "for this." She then rushed towards the new vampire with a wooden stake in hand. However, before Rose-Marie could end Katerina once and for all, the doppelganger quickly grabbed ahold of Maria, which caused Rose-Marie to stab the witch in her right shoulder._

 _Rose-Marie gasped in shock as she didn't mean to stab the Radkova witch. She then quickly stepped back into Trevor's arms frighteningly when she watched Katerina pull the stake out of Maria's shoulder before she quickly stuck her new fangs into the side of the witch's neck, which caused Katerina to complete her transition._

 _Katerina glanced down at the sobbing and hurting Maria in her arms before she whispered, "please understand." The Petrova doppelganger knew the witch was never going to be able to get her to safety. Katerina knew she had to take this in her own hands if she wanted to escape from Klaus._

 _"You have just signed our death sentence," Rose-Marie cried into Trevor's arms as she knew they were all dead. Now that Katerina was officially a vampire, Klaus could not use her anymore and that only meant he would kill them all for ruining the sacrifice._

 _"Better you die than I," Katerina told the vampires before she tossed the pained Maria Radkova into Trevor and Rose-Marie's arms. She took one last look at the witch that tried to help her sister and her before she shook her head and took off with her newly found speed as she needed to get as far away as possible from England and from Klaus._

* * *

The Gilbert vampire crossed her arms across her long blue sleeved sweater while she stared at her doppelganger once she grew silent after explaining her past. "So, how much of your little story is true?" Elena wondered as she twitched her head to the side.

Katherine rose an eyebrow at the annoying vampire before she told her, "I have no reason to lie, Elena." She then glanced down at the book that belonged to the three girl's ancestors; the Petrova's, before she added, "I have no reason to do anything but sit here and read and rot."

Elena rolled her brown eyes before she interrogated, "okay, assuming it's even partially true, that's the reason you came back, isn't it?" She then glanced over to her twin sister, who was silently listening to their conversation, before Elena guessed in a soft and disbelief voice, "it's because you wanted to be the one to hand Emily over to Klaus."

Katherine instantly shook her head at Elena's assumption and stated strongly, "no, I want to-" The older vampire then closed her mouth before she could complete her sentence. Katherine knew that it wasn't a good idea to tell them of the plan - even though she really wanted to assure Emily that she would be okay. "I am only looking after myself," Katherine uttered as she changed her answer, "if you were both smart, you'd do the same."

Katherine wanted to tell Emily about the plan that would be set in motion shortly, but she made a promise to Maria a few years into her vampire life to not tell anyone. The vampire wasn't even sure how the Radkova witch's plan was going to follow through but she made a promise as it was her sister's last dying wish. Katherine wanted to at least succeed in doing one of Darina's wishes after she had disappointed her twin sister over the years.

Emily's brows furrowed in confusion as she knew Katherine wanted to say something else. She could see it like it was on the tip of the vampire's tongue. It also confused Emily as she remembered the letter she got from Maria and the short note Katherine wrote. It was like Katherine wanted to help but now Emily wasn't so sure. "So, what is your plan then?" Emily interrogated before she stated, "you've had your chance to grab me and take me to Klaus for weeks."

Katherine shrugged her shoulders carelessly and uttered with a smirk, "I'm just getting all my ducks in a row." She then looked into Emily's green eyes with a look the human girl couldn't decipher before Katherine added once she looked over to her doppelganger, "I figured Klaus would be willing to strike a deal."

The Gilbert vampire frowned as she slowly nodded her head while she thought through everything that she knew about the sacrifice and Klaus. "You got Mason Lockwood to find the moonstone," Elena stated as she began to connect the dots. It was all starting to make more sense to the Gilbert vampire as to why Katherine enlisted the help of the now deceased werewolf.

"Correct," Katherine uttered as she slowly and tiredly stood up from the hard pavement of the ground and leaned against the spelled barrier. The conversation was finally getting interesting, Katherine concluded as she stared at the thinking Elena.

"What else do you need to break the curse?" Elena wondered as she stared directly at her doppelganger while she tried to figure out all of the things that Katherine was trying to find so Klaus could give Katherine her freedom back.

"Hmm," Katherine mumbled in amusement before she taunted the young vampire, "look who is getting smarter."

Emily quickly jumped up from the ground once she realized what her twin sister was trying to do. She racked her brain for a moment before she remembered what she learned early this morning about her best friend. "You had Tyler trigger his werewolf curse," Emily stated as she thought out loud before she asked Katherine, "does Klaus need a werewolf?"

"Witches and their spells," Katherine commented with a smirk as she watched the wheels turn inside of the Gilbert sisters' heads. She lightly shook her head as she teasingly muttered, "so many ingredients, so many people to sacrifice."

"So you do need a werewolf?" Emily questioned as she wanted to make sure she was right. However, that thought quickly saddened the human girl as she realized Klaus needed to kill her best friend to break his hybrid curse. She knew right then and there that she was going to stop that from happening. Emily didn't care if it cost her her life.

Katherine nodded her head as she looked over at the human girl with a sad expression before she quickly looked away. Katherine, once again, wanted to tell Emily that everything would be okay, but knew she couldn't. "Believe it or not," the vampire uttered as she spoke about werewolves, "they're hard to come by."

"What else?" Elena questioned barely a second after the last word was out of her doppelganger's mouth. Now that they were getting all of this information out of Katherine, the Gilbert vampire didn't want to stop until she had the answers to save her twin sister.

"A witch to do the spell," Katherine answered before she took another quick glance over at Emily with a guilty look as her memories from the Masquerade Ball came into mind. Katherine had been feeling bad ever since that night as she never wanted to hurt the human girl. "Mine bailed but Bonnie will do just fine," Katherine told Elena in a bored tone as she ignored the part of her that wanted to hide her sister's doppelganger from all this mess that is the sacrifice.

The Gilbert vampire crossed her arms over her chest as she took another step closer to the spelled barrier before she questioned, once more, in a much stronger voice, "what else?"

Katherine smirked at Elena's determination before she uttered slowly as she wanted to enjoy the response along with the expression her doppelganger would make, "a vampire."

Elena quickly looked over to her frowning sister with her own frown as she finally realized why Katherine turned her into a vampire all that time ago. "Me," the Gilbert vampire mumbled once she turned around and faced her doppelganger once again.

Katherine shrugged her shoulders as she uttered, "it could be you or Caroline." She then took a quick glance over to Emily with an unreadable expression before she added carelessly once she looked back to Elena, "I suppose I like the poetry of handing over the two Petrova doppelgangers."

Elena shook her head in disbelief before she whispered, "so, you were just gonna hand us all over to be killed?"

Katherine gave her doppelganger a large smirk before she repeated the words that she told Rose all those years ago, "better you die than I." The older vampire then moved her brown eyes over to Emily one last time and gave her a soft look. Katherine wished she could ease the human girl's mind but knew it would mess everything up if Maria's plan was really going to happen. Katherine then turned her back to the two sisters and made her way back into her dark tunnel without another word.

Emily placed her hand on her twin sister's upper arm when Elena began to pace up and down when Katherine left them. "Hey, hey, hey," the Gilbert girl uttered softly as she tried to calm her sister down, "we'll figure this out. I won't let any of our friends or you die." Emily wasn't just trying to relax Elena. She was telling the truth. Emily's mind was already running with ideas to keep her family and friends safe from Klaus' wrath. She wasn't going to allow them to be killed because she was the human Petrova doppelganger. Emily was going to protect them no matter what.

Elena chuckled humorlessly as she wiped the warm tears from her brown eyes. "I'm the one that is suppose to be saying that," the Gilbert vampire mumbled once she pulled her twin sister into a bone crushing hug. Elena was the one that was suppose to be finding a way to protect her sister, but the fact that Elena was going to be also delivered to Klaus had totally caught her off guard.

The human girl ignored her sister's statement as she continued to hold her close. "I'm the older sister and I'm going to always protect you," Emily told Elena. She didn't care that she was only human. Emily was going to find a way to where none of her friends and family had to feel Klaus' wrath and nothing was going to stop her. _I'll find a way,_ Emily kept repeating in her head as she would rather die than let harm come to them.

The Gilbert sisters continued to silently stand in the middle of the tomb as they held each other close while they were both thinking the same thing. They both wanted to protect one another, however, only one sister would come out on top in the end.

The sweet and caring moment the twin sisters were sharing was soon interrupted a couple of seconds later before either girl could make anymore promises to each other. "Emily!" The loud voice of Stefan Salvatore called out as he rushed down the stairs to the tomb. He had been worrying about the human girl ever since he guessed to where Emily was after Caroline wouldn't tell him anything.

The Gilbert girl's green eyes instantly widened once she pulled away from her sister's embrace and saw the worried Salvatore vampire. _Dammit, Caroline,_ Emily thought as she awkwardly moved to stand in front of the concerned supernatural being.

"Hey, Stefan!" The equally awkward Elena Gilbert called out as she swung her left arm over her twin sister's shoulder. The younger vampire furrowed her brows in fake confusion as she questioned, "what are you doing here?"

The Salvatore vampire shot his ex girlfriend and now close friend a hard glare. He then glued his green eyes to Emily's as he mumbled, "I could ask you the same question."

Emily huffed out a sigh as she was the first one to crack. She didn't have time for any childish games so she just blurted out, "I'm guessing Caroline told you." Emily knew there was no point to lie when Stefan would just somehow find out the truth.

Stefan shook his head as his brows slowly began to furrow while he stared down at the human girl. "No, she kept your secret," the Salvatore vampire explained, "but it didn't take long for me to figure out what you were both doing when Caroline told me you were skipping school." Stefan then moved his eyes over to Elena as he scolded her, "what were you thinking? Katherine could of harmed her!"

Elena rolled her brown eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I wouldn't let anyone hurt Emily and you know that!" The Gilbert vampire growled as the thought of her sister being harmed angered her. Elena would always protect Emily no matter what and she hated when people didn't trust her with her own sister.

"Okay, stop," Emily commanded as she placed her hand on top of Stefan's grey Henley. "We all knew you would of stopped us if we told you we were coming to see Katherine," Emily explained to Stefan why they didn't tell him that they were going to the tomb this morning, even though Emily didn't even know until they arrived.

The Salvatore vampire shook his head with a small sigh as he fell under Emily's soft charm. He then lightly grabbed ahold of the human girl's face and whispered, "listen to me, Emmie, whatever Katherine said to you is a lie." Stefan rubbed the side of Emily's face with the pad of his thumb before he added, "do not listen to a word she says. We'll figure this out ourselves."

"What if she isn't?" Elena questioned as she interrupted the moment her sister and ex boyfriend was having. The Gilbert vampire shook her head before she glanced over to her twin sister and stated, "you didn't hear what she said."

"She's lying, Elena!" Stefan exclaimed angrily, "that is all she does!" The Salvatore vampire didn't want Emily nor Elena to fall for Katherine's games like everyone else does. It's Emily's life that is in danger and he isn't just going to let the older vampire play with her life. Stefan then moved his gaze over to Emily with a soft look before he whispered, "you don't need to worry. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

Emily gave Stefan a small smile and placed her hand over his that was settled on her cheek. "I know," the human girl whispered before she brought her lips onto his for a sweet kiss. Once she pulled away Emily shook her head and told him in a strong voice that said there was no arguing, "I'm not going to allow anyone to die because of me."

The Salvatore vampire's green eyes widened along with his brows furrowed in confusion as to what Emily was saying. Stefan opened his mouth to argue with the choice that Emily had made, but was quickly interrupted by the aforementioned girl's descendant.

"There's nothing you can do, Stefan," Katherine uttered as she slowly and tiredly made her way back up to the spelled barrier of the dark tunnel. She glanced over to her doppelganger and Emily before she whispered, "I haven't even told you the best part of the story," as she was pulled back into another horrible memory that she wished she could forget.

* * *

 **BULGARIA 1492**

 _Katerina slowly rode through the familiar dark woods of her hometown in Bulgaria. It took the new vampire over two weeks of traveling by horseback while avoiding sunlight from England before she finally arrived back in her home. Katerina decided once she left England and Klaus behind her that she needed to see her family. The young vampire didn't know if her father and his wife would accept her back into their lives after they banished her but Katerina knew her father deserved to know what happened to Darina._

 _Katerina figured that she was safe from Klaus as he was probably still searching all over England for her, so she enjoyed the weather and the familiar sights of the place she grew up in. It was nice for the Petrova vampire to feel something other than hunger and anger._

 _However, when Katerina came to a stop and roped her brown horse with a skinny tree, she soon noticed just how quiet the town was with her new vampire hearing. Katerina slowly moved through the woods in confusion before a loud gasp escaped her mouth at what she saw._

 _The first thing Katerina noticed was that there was three dead bodies lying on a bed of leaves along with a tipped over wooden carriage. Katerina feared for the worse as every step she took she saw new dead bodies. The Petrova vampire then swiftly picked up her large white dress as she realized she couldn't hear the loud sounds that usually come with living in her hometown and hurriedly ran up to her old home which instantly caused the vampire to have the feeling of deja vu of losing Darina._

 _The young vampire ran as quickly as her legs wound move through her home and rushed into the main room before another loud gasp escaped her lips. Katerina saw instantly was that her father was dead against the wall with a long Viking sword etched in his chest. "No," Katerina gasped as tears began to pool around her brown eyes. The vampire then moved her eyes to the left and that is when she noticed her step mother; Eve, and the dead body of her step brother; Alexander. "No, no, no," Katerina continued to cry as she knew exactly who done this to her family. 'There is no escaping him,' Katerina thought as she hugged the young Alexander's bleeding body while she sobbed for the lost of her family._

* * *

"He killed them," Katherine uttered once she finished explaining how she found out just how bad Klaus' vengeance really was, "my entire family; my sister before this, my father, my step mother, and my step brother. He killed them all just to get back at me for running." Katherine then moved her teary eyes over to the human girl and whispered, "he will get his vengeance on your friends, your family and anyone that you've ever loved."

Stefan hurriedly grabbed ahold of Emily's face when he noticed that Katherine's brown eyes were glued on her and the silence the human girl gave. "Hey, no," Stefan uttered softly, "look at me." Once Emily finally locked her eyes with his, Stefan continued, "do not listen to her, okay? I won't let anything happen to you or anyone else."

Katherine chuckled at the younger Salvatore before she uttered amusingly, "always the protector." She then moved her brown eyes to the human girl and her doppelganger before she uttered as she spoke to Stefan, "but even you must realize that she's doomed." Katherine knew she was lying through her teeth but she needed for the two vampires to not notice the soft actions she kept showing for the human girl. She needed to draw them away from the real plan. "There's nothing you can do to stop it," Katherine told the two vampires before she held an item in the air and added, "unless, of course, you have this."

"What?" Elena gasped in shock as she had thought Katherine told them everything there was to know. The Gilbert vampire took a step closer to the spelled barrier with her brows furrowed before she asked, "what do you mean?"

However, before Elena could get an answer, even though Katherine didn't plan on responding, she was interrupted by the Salvatore vampire humorlessly chuckling. "There it is," Stefan mumbled before he shook his head and questioned, "it's the ultimate lie, isn't it?" He then slowly moved towards the spelled barrier while pointing at Katherine as he concluded, "you spun this whole thing so that we would have to get the stone from you, didn't you?"

Katherine stared right at her ex lover before she whispered, "I didn't spin anything, Stefan." She then moved her gaze over to Emily as she added, "it's the truth." Katherine knew the human girl was thinking of possibilities to protect everyone as it was just who she is - thanks to the protector blood and Katherine knew that Emily believed every word that she had said, which Katherine was glad for. She didn't care if Elena or even Stefan believed her. If Emily believed her then she knew the plan was going like it should.

Stefan shook his head in disagreement as he began, "no, let me guess." The Salvatore vampire then stood at the edge of the dark tunnel before he continued with a snarl, "you want to trade that stone for your freedom, you manipulative, psychotic bitch."

Katherine chuckled, "my freedom?" She rolled her brown eyes before she corrected the young vampire, "that's where you're wrong, Stefan. I don't want my freedom because when Klaus shows up to kill us all and he will, I'll be in the tomb, where no vampire will enter because they can't get out." Katherine shot the Salvatore vampire a smirk as she repeated his insult, "I'll be the safest psychotic bitch in town."

Katherine then turned her body, so only Emily could see her face, and gave her a soft expression. It was the only thing Katherine could actually do to help ease Emily's mind, even though she knew it wouldn't exactly ease anyone. Katherine just had to continue to remember the promise she and Maria had made to her twin sister. _I won't fail you, Dari,_ Katherine thought as she slowly made her way back into her personal hell.

* * *

The human girl's bedroom in the Gilbert house was dead silent once Emily came home after leaving the tomb and after finding out the real truth from Katherine. Emily had said goodbye to her twin sister in the middle of the woods as Elena was heading to the Salvatore boarding house before she and Stefan went back to the Gilbert house like they did last night.

Stefan had tried to speak to Emily about what happened today, but instead she just pulled him into a deep kiss once they were in her bedroom. Emily didn't want to talk. She just wanted to feel safe and she could only feel like that when Stefan's body is against hers. So the human girl and Salvatore vampire made sweet and passionate love until they both came to a stop and cuddled with each other.

The couple still didn't say anything to each other except for small 'I love you's' every now and again. However, when Stefan felt a warm tear fall onto his chest, he finally couldn't hold it in any longer. He needed to know what was going through Emily's mind.

"Emmie," Stefan whispered once he placed a light kiss onto the human girl's sweaty forehead, "please talk to me."

The human girl swiftly wiped the tears from her green eyes as she had thought Stefan fell asleep since they had been lying there for over two hours. Emily honestly forgot where she was as she was letting her emotions take over her. "I'm scared," Emily finally confessed in a soft whisper as she looked into Stefan's worried green eyes.

Stefan's face softened at what Emily admitted before he grazed the side of her face with his hand. "I won't let anything happen to you," Stefan promised once again. The vampire didn't care, he would utter it every single second if it helped Emily feel better. He just wanted her to feel safe.

Emily shook her head against Stefan's bare chest as she told him, "I'm not scared for me. I'm scared for everyone else." The human girl couldn't help but let out more tears as she explained, "it's not just me. It's Caroline, it's my sister, it's Tyler, and it's Bonnie. They're all in danger because of me. A-And I'm afraid I won't be able to save them all."

"Hey, hey," Stefan softly uttered before he laid a light kiss to her forehead. "It's not your fault," he consoled the human girl. Stefan then began to kiss away Emily's tears as he listened to her soft cries. "I won't let anyone touch you," the Salvatore vampire whispered while he listened to Emily's soft heartbeat slow down as she fell asleep. Stefan made a promise right there as he held the girl of his dreams in his arms that he wasn't going to allow anything to happen to her. He planned on fighting to the end and he wasn't going to stop until she was safe again.


	43. The One With The Sunday Morning

Emily woke from her surprisingly dreamless slumber early the next morning as she had fallen asleep out of exhaustion from the long day that she and her twin sister had with Katherine. She knew she had let her emotions get the better of her when she arrived home at the Gilbert house last night. Everything that she learned just took a lot out of the human girl, along with the fact that she was trying to come up with a plan to protect everyone as the people she loves were suppose to die. However, Emily lying next to Stefan for hours had made her forget about the big issue at hand and to just focus on them. It was like everything else just disappeared when her green eyes were locked on his.

It took a couple more minutes of Emily staring up at her white ceiling while her thoughts about the plan to save everyone was clouding her mind before she rubbed her tired green eyes and finally woke herself up. The brunette girl was glad it was the weekend. However, she couldn't find it in herself to fall back to sleep. So instead of unsuccessfully trying to get more rest, Emily turned her body to the left and settled her gaze onto the sleeping Salvatore vampire.

"Good morning," Stefan's rough voice mumbled once he felt Emily staring down at him. He then opened his green eyes before he leaned down to the human girl's forehead and laid a gentle kiss to her warm skin.

Emily smiled slightly and whispered, "hey." The Gilbert girl had thought Stefan would of still been asleep. But Emily knew she shouldn't be so surprised since every time they are together, Stefan is always the first one awake. "Have you been up long?" Emily wondered as she leaned her chin on top of Stefan's chest.

Stefan slowly began to run his fingers through Emily's knotted brown hair as he shook his head. "Only a few minutes," Stefan responded as he kept his eyes locked with Emily's green ones. In reality, Stefan had been up for a couple of hours but he didn't want to be scolded or to worry the human girl by telling her that. The vampire felt like he needed to just watch her and make sure she was okay, so he woke up around three in the morning and did just that. Plus, Emily's sleeping and calm form had made him feel better as he knew no one could hurt her while she was resting.

"You are such a liar," Emily giggled as she rubbed her warm hand across Stefan's cold abdomen. The Gilbert girl could always tell when Stefan was lying. The Salvatore vampire's left eyebrow would always start twitching when he would lie, Emily had noticed.

Stefan placed his hand on his chest in fake shock along with letting out an exaggerated gasp before he exclaimed, "I would never!"

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but continue to giggle at the Salvatore vampire while she shook her head at his playful banter. She then sat up in her large bed and stated very slowly with a large smirk settled on her pale pink lips, "you, Mr. Salvatore, are a liar."

Stefan mischievously glared at the human girl for a couple of silent and tense seconds before he swiftly used his vamp speed and flipped Emily onto her back. The Salvatore vampire smirked at Emily's shocked expression and whispered, "you shouldn't have said that," before he began to tickle the brunette girl.

Emily instantly began to full on belly-laugh once the Salvatore vampire's cold and long fingers began to roam freely over her body. "Stop it! Stop it!" Emily begged while warm tears began to slide down her face. The human girl had always been ticklish her entire life, so Stefan's tickling was definitely torture for Emily.

The Salvatore vampire's fingers continued to move around Emily's body for a couple of seconds before he finally released the Gilbert girl from her punishment. Stefan then looked down at the brunette girl with a calm and content smile while he slowly settled his bottom onto his feet before he swiftly pulled at Emily's legs until they were resting on the side of his hips. The Salvatore vampire chuckled at the human girl's squealing before he leaned down and slowly began to kiss Emily's lips, nose, cheek, before settling on her neck.

The small Gilbert room was then overcome by only the quiet sounds of Stefan's lips against Emily's warm skin and the small noises of enjoyment coming from the human girl. However, the couple's own little world was soon interrupted by the loud sound of a door slamming shut in the supposedly silent Gilbert house.

Emily almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the large wooden door slamming shut as she had thought everyone was still asleep. The human girl then pushed Stefan's body to the side as she listened for any familiar voices. But when she didn't hear anything, Emily came to the decision to check it out.

"I'll be right back," the brunette girl whispered to Stefan and kissed his left cheek before she slipped from under the Salvatore vampire's body and jumped out of her warm and cozy bed. Emily shook her head with a quiet giggle when she heard Stefan's groaning, but she didn't stop her determined movement as she continued to tip toe as quietly as she could towards her bedroom door.

Emily slowly and silently closed her bedroom door behind her as she didn't want to make any noise before she began to look around the hallway. However, when Emily realized she couldn't see or hear anyone, she soon came to the conclusion that it was Elena, who slammed the door. The human girl figured since Elena had stayed the night at the Salvatore boarding house that she would come home and change clothes. Emily then silently began to walk towards her twin sister's bedroom as she wanted to make sure she was right and it wasn't something serious like someone breaking into their house.

Once Emily reached the outside of her twin sister's bedroom, she gently placed her hand onto Elena's half opened door, so she could take a quick peek inside. However, as the brunette girl's fingers grazed the white door, she suddenly heard a loud creak from right behind which instantly caused Emily to turn around before a loud gasp escaped her mouth.

"Jesus, Ric," Emily mumbled as she placed her hand over her fast beating heart. The thing that had scared the brunette girl half to death was the one and only Alaric Saltzman standing shirtless in the middle of the hallway of the Gilbert house.

"Sorry," Alaric murmured sheepishly before he soon realized he was half naked in front of his girlfriend's niece and his high school student. The vampire hunter then quickly moved the bowl he was holding to cover his grey boxers as he thought it would make everything less awkward.

The Gilbert girl bit down on her bottom lip as she tried to hold in her laughter. This was definitely not a situation Emily ever thought she would be in. The brunette girl quickly glanced away from Alaric's form after a couple of seconds as she didn't want to embarrass him even more. She instead stared at a photo of the Gilbert siblings hanging on the wall behind Alaric before Emily told him, "I just came to check out the noise."

Alaric silently nodded his head as he wanted to get out of this weird predicament as soon as possible. The vampire hunter's wishes must of been heard because not even a second later, Alaric's lovely girlfriend came jogging up the stairs.

"Oops," Jenna muttered when she caught sight of her niece, Emily, and her shirtless boyfriend. The strawberry blonde gave Emily a grin as she told the brunette girl, "that was us."

Emily couldn't hold in her chuckle any longer as she saw her aunt Jenna's awkward stance next to the vampire hunter. She was enjoying this far more than she should as she stared across at the two adults. It was quiet fun, Emily realized.

"We, uh, didn't think anyone would be up this early," Alaric mumbled as he finally broke the uncomfortable silence.

"But here you are," Jenna added to her boyfriend's statement as she tried to defuse the awkward moment with her niece. The strawberry blonde knew she was definitely going to get embarrassed and teased by Emily once Alaric leaves the Gilbert house. It was just how their relationship worked.

Emily raised her arms out with a smirk as she uttered back to her aunt, "and here I am." The Gilbert girl was so enjoying the moment with the couple. Emily haven't had the time to actually joke around with her aunt, who was also her best friend, in months so Emily finally had some good leverage to use to embarrass her aunt.

The hallway then grew silent, once again, before the vampire hunter awkwardly chuckled while he slowly stepped back towards Jenna's bedroom. "Well," Alaric mumbled, "I'm naked," before he gave Emily a tiny and awkward smile. He then quickly turned around and rushed into Jenna's room as he left the aunt and niece alone in the middle of the hallway.

"Well, that was interesting," Emily mused once she watched Alaric walk into her aunt's bedroom before she sent Jenna a large teasing smirk.

The strawberry blonde's face slowly began to burn red as she quickly followed after her niece, who was slowly walking back towards her bedroom. "I am so so sorry," Jenna hurriedly apologized with a sheepish grin.

Emily chuckled as she shook her head at her aunt's apologizing. She then turned around and laid her hand onto Jenna's shoulder, that was covered by Alaric's long baby blue button up shirt, and told her, "don't worry about it, Jennie."

Jenna's light brows furrowed as she wondered, "are you sure?" She then began to nervously run her fingers through her tangled strawberry blonde hair as she stated, "I know he's been staying over a lot." Jenna looked into her niece's green eyes as she asked once more, "are you sure it's okay?"

Emily looked at her aunt like she was completely crazy. "Are you kidding?" The Gilbert girl asked in disbelief before she told Jenna, "Ric is like family." The brunette girl wasn't just saying that to ease her aunt's mind as she really did think of Alaric like he was apart of the family. Emily had always saw Alaric more than a history teacher ever since he helped save her family more than once.

Jenna couldn't help but let a big grin shine on her face at her niece's confession. "Thank you," the strawberry blonde squealed as she always liked to have Emily's approval. It wasn't even like they were aunt and niece with how their relationship worked. It was more like a best friend relationship as they cared deeply what the other one thought.

"However," Emily began as she gave her aunt a smirk, "you know I have to tease you, right?" The Gilbert girl nodded her head as she added, "I'm gonna have to embarrass you." It was just what they did to one another. Once either of them did something that already embarrassed them enough, the other one would just make it that much worse.

The strawberry blonde closed her hazel eyes and let out a loud groan as she knew it was coming. She then looked at her smirking niece as she began to beg, "please, Emmie, do not - "

However, Jenna didn't get the chance to finish her sentence to convince Emily to not embarrass her; especially not in front of Alaric as they were soon interrupted by a shirtless Stefan Salvatore loudly opening the Gilbert girl's bedroom door before he stepped out into the now silent hallway.

"Oh, God," Emily mumbled as she closed her eyes and brought her head to her hands in embarrassment. She didn't even bother looking behind her as she knew exactly what she would see; an equally embarrassed Salvatore vampire.

Stefan's eyes widened as soon as he was out in the hallway and saw Emily and her strawberry blonde aunt. The Salvatore vampire had left the safety of the small room as he had started to worry about the human girl since she never came back after hearing the loud noise. Stefan chuckled awkwardly as he waved his hand at the surprised strawberry blonde before he greeted her, "hi, Jenna."

It took a couple of seconds for Jenna to get rid of her surprise of seeing the Salvatore vampire come out of Emily's bedroom as she didn't know they were an item. She was definitely going to need to have a talk with Emily about that. The strawberry blonde then glanced over to her niece before a chuckle escaped her mouth as she noticed Emily's cheeks were turning red like hers had just done by getting caught in the same predicament.

Once Jenna had calmed down from laughing at her niece's embarrassment, Jenna gave Emily a small smirk before she faced the silent and shirtless vampire as she greeted him back, "Stefan."

Meanwhile in Emily's supposedly empty bedroom, Jonas Martin, the warlock was leaning over the human girl's white vanity table as he quietly shuffled her things around like her purple history notebook and her ivory jewelry box before the warlock finally found something he could use; Emily's hairbrush. Jonas then silently took a small lock of her brown hair from the black brush and stored it into his jacket pocket before he moved on to his next location.

The warlock glanced back to the closed bedroom door as he knew he needed to hurry up before he got caught. Jonas then quietly tip toed over to the human girl's dresser before he grabbed the first thing he saw which happened to be a gold picture frame of Emily posing in her Mystic Falls cheerleading uniform. The warlock silently nodded his head to himself before he placed the picture frame inside of his jacket.

Once he had the item tucked away, Jonas then walked over to the shared bathroom and closed the door behind him. The warlock looked around the bathroom for a few seconds before a small smirk graced his dark lips. He found the last piece he was looking for on the first try; a purple hand held mirror with silver cursive writing that read Emily's name on the back.

Back in the hallway, Emily noticed her aunt Jenna kept giving her side glances every couple of seconds and the human girl knew exactly what they meant. The Gilbert girl glared over at the strawberry blonde as she didn't want Stefan to notice the silent teasing - even though the Salvatore vampire was busy keeping a conversation without being awkward about the weather. Emily had no idea how Stefan was doing that while he was standing shirtless in front of her aunt.

"Okay!" Emily suddenly exclaimed a second later as she finally broke from her aunt's teasing while also interrupting Stefan's conversation, "we're even!" The Gilbert girl knew that her aunt kept giving her glances because she was silently telling Emily that she was going to tease her like Emily had planned to do because of what happened a few minutes ago with Jenna getting caught with a shirtless Alaric.

The strawberry blonde excitedly grinned at her niece before she uttered, "it was nice doing business with you." She then turned to the very confused vampire and stated, "it was good seeing you, Stefan," before she gave Emily one last grin and left the couple standing in the middle of the hallway.

"What was that about?" Stefan wondered as he turned his attention to the human girl, who was glaring in the strawberry blonde's direction. The Salvatore vampire didn't understand what they were just talking about since he hadn't been out in the hallway the whole time.

Emily huffed out a sigh once she couldn't see her aunt anymore before she mumbled to herself, "lucky bitch." She then turned to face the confused Stefan with an innocent grin. "It was nothing," Emily chuckled as she patted Stefan's bare chest before she walked around him and made her way back into her bedroom.

Once back in her empty bedroom, Emily yawned while she reached towards the ceiling as she stretched her tired body. The Gilbert girl figured she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep any time soon as it was already six in the morning. Instead, Emily decided to just get dressed, so she made her way over to her opened closet before she began to search for her red spaghetti crop top and black leggings.

However, before Emily could find her two pieces of clothing, she was soon stopped by the feeling of Stefan's cold arms wrapping around her waist. The vampire then placed his lips against Emily's shoulder and mumbled, "where were we? I think I was about here," before he began to leave soft kisses on the human girl's warm skin.

Emily grinned as she loved the feeling of Stefan's lips against her body. The brunette girl soon forgot about her clothes as she turned her body around in Stefan's embrace. Emily then wrapped her arms around the vampire's neck as she enjoyed the love Stefan was providing her.

Stefan hummed against Emily's lips when he noticed her attention was on him before he slowly began to step back towards the human girl's bed as they were lost in their own little happy world. However, it didn't last long enough for the couple's liking before they were interrupted by Emily's cell phone ringing loudly on her bedside table.

The Salvatore vampire instantly groaned against Emily's lips at the disruption before he begged, "just ignore it."

The Gilbert girl chuckled at the vampire before she, once again, pushed Stefan to the side of her bed. She shook her head at Stefan's pouting before she reached across the aforementioned vampire's bare stomach and towards the wooden bedside table.

Emily then picked up her cell phone before she settled back onto her heels and began to look through her notifications. The first thing Emily noticed was that she had a text from her twin sister. "It's Elena," Emily informed Stefan before she opened the message.

 **TWINNIE** **: DAMON & I ARE COMING OVER. WE NEED 2 TALK**

Emily quickly sent her twin sister an emoji of the thumbs up sign before she tossed her cell phone onto her soft bed. The Gilbert girl then turned her gaze back to the pouting hundred plus year old teenager with a chuckle. She rolled her green eyes and exclaimed, "come on. Our siblings are on their way over," before she tried to pull Stefan out of her bed.

The Salvatore vampire was much stronger than the human girl, so it didn't take much of Stefan's strength to keep him settled in his comfortable place. He instead turned the game around on the brunette girl as he began to pull her. "We should stay right here," Stefan told Emily as he grabbed ahold on her waist and planted her onto his lap with a grin.

"No, no," Emily quickly uttered as she couldn't fall back into Stefan's arms. Even though the brunette girl did want to just spend her Sunday lying with the vampire, Emily knew she couldn't or her twin sister would be dragging her out of bed and she definitely didn't want that.

It took a lot of work of Emily tricking the vampire by giving him a long and passionate kiss before she finally jumped out of her bed when Stefan was distracted. Emily grinned excitedly once she was standing on her two feet before she took a couple of steps back so Stefan couldn't pull her back down. "Now, I'm going to take a shower and you better be out of bed when I'm done," Emily told Stefan as she crossed her arms over her chest.

The Salvatore vampire quickly sat up in the bed when he heard the human girl's words before he gave her a large grin. "You know what?" Stefan began as he slowly stood onto the cold hardwood floors of Emily's bedroom before he stated, "I think I need a shower."

Emily had barely enough time to process Stefan's words before her feet were suddenly swept from under her as Stefan used his vamp speed and ran towards the empty shared bathroom. The Gilbert girl couldn't help but giggle when Stefan placed her onto sink counter before she pulled Stefan by his hips and kissed him as they were, once again, wrapped in their own happy world with not a care in the world.

* * *

The Gilbert house was deadly silent as Jenna and Alaric had left the house a couple of minutes ago. But the house wasn't completely empty. The human girl and the Salvatore vampire had made their way to the kitchen once they had finished showering and getting dressed for the day.

Emily was currently sitting on top of the granite kitchen counter while she grinned over at the Salvatore vampire as she had convinced him to make her a cheese omelet. However, in reality, it didn't take much convincing as Stefan would do whatever the human girl wanted. It was just how wrapped the vampire was around Emily's tiny finger.

"What are you laughing about?" The Salvatore vampire wondered as he glanced away from the pan of eggs and over to the smiling and giggling human girl as the only sound he could hear in the silent kitchen was the sweet sound coming from her mouth.

Emily shook her head as she kicked her leg to barely graze the vampire's right leg of his jeans. "Nothing," the brunette girl murmured before she told him, "I'm just happy you're here." It was the truth. It was like nothing could ruin Emily's mood when she's in Stefan's presence. It was like his aura calms her.

Stefan couldn't help but grin over at the brunette girl as he felt the exact same way. The Salvatore vampire felt like he was human whenever he's with Emily. It's like everything is normal and they aren't fighting for their lives when they are together.

The Salvatore vampire then turned his attention back to the stove and finished off the cheese omelet before he turned the burner off. Once it was finished, Stefan grabbed a white plate and slid the warm and fresh breakfast onto it before he walked over to Emily. "Bon appétit," the vampire uttered as he stood between the human girl's legs before he laid a sweet kiss to Emily's forehead.

"Thank you, Mr. Salvatore," Emily praised with a grin before she took a big bite out of her breakfast. "Mmm," the brunette girl moaned as soon as she swallowed the piece of cheesy eggs as she didn't realize just how hungry she was. "So good," Emily complimented before she continued to eat while the Salvatore vampire moved his way over to the coffee machine.

However, the content and happy morning the human girl and the Salvatore vampire were having together as if they were an old married couple was soon interrupted by the all too familiar sound of the green eyed girl's twin sister shouting her name, "Emily!"

"In the kitchen!" Stefan shouted back to his ex girlfriend before he chuckled when he noticed the human girl was hurriedly stuffing her face. He shook his head when Emily looked up at him with a grin before he switched her empty plate with a fresh cup of coffee.

Emily kissed the side of Stefan's cheek with praise before she looked towards the entrance, where she saw her twin sister and Damon walking into the kitchen. However, when Emily noticed that the vampire couple was only staring at her in silence, the human girl guessed that she had to be the one to break it. "So, what's up?" Emily curiously questioned as she patiently rose her right eyebrow.

The Gilbert vampire nervously played with her fingers as she looked up at her boyfriend. She then finally looked back at her twin sister when Damon gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "We went back to see Katherine," Elena confessed.

Emily's green eyes widened in shock before she quickly questioned, "what happened? Did she say anything helpful?" The human girl was surprised her sister had went back to her doppelganger with how they left things yesterday. Emily was definitely intrigued to what Katherine told them.

* * *

 **FELL'S CHURCH TOMB**

 _It was around five in the morning when the two vampires, Damon and Elena, found themselves standing in the middle of the tomb and right in front of the door that the Gilbert vampire had just moved yesterday with Caroline. The couple silently glanced at each other once they moved to either side of the door before Damon gave Elena a small nod. The vampires then began to pull with all of their might until there was a loud popping sound that alerted them to the opening on the tomb._

 _Damon and Elena slowly carried the heavy door to the right once it was in their possession and carefully leaned it against the wall. Once the door was safety placed down to where it wouldn't tip over, the two vampires then made their way to the entrance of the dark tunnel as they waited for the bitch devil herself - as Damon liked to call her._

 _It took a couple of minutes before the ill and tired body of Katherine Pierce finally made her way to the spelled barrier like she did yesterday. But instead of seeing the face of her favorite Gilbert, it was instead her least favorite sister and the vampire that used to be obsessed with her; Elena and Damon._

 _"Please," Katherine's rasp voice whispered, "come on in." She then gave the couple a slow eye roll as she was so exhausted before mumbling, "there's plenty of room for all of us." Even though the Petrova vampire was progressively dying inside of the tomb, there was still sarcasm dripping from her voice. It was just who Katherine is. She could be on her death bed and still act like she's the queen of the world._

 _The Salvatore vampire leaned the right side of his body on the outside part of the spelled tomb before he uttered mockingly to his ex girlfriend, "I'd rather poke my eyes out."_

 _"Mmm," Katherine hummed as she settled her shoulder against a large but old stone that was sticking out in the tunnel before she cooed to Damon flirtingly, "but they're such pretty eyes."_

 _Elena immediately crossed her arms over chest in annoyance when she heard what Katherine said. She felt like her doppelganger would flirt with Damon to just get on her nerves - which was obviously working. "We're here for the moonstone," Elena told Katherine in a strong voice as she wanted to focus on why they were here instead of letting Katherine's games continue._

 _The blue eyed vampire rose one of his perfectly dark eyebrows before he added to his girlfriend's statement as he asked Katherine, "feel like tossing it over?"_

 _Katherine slowly shook her head and chuckled amusingly before she quickly stopped as she was soon overcome by a loud and thick cough. She then raised her finger in the air as she tried to clear her airway before she finally responded back to the older Salvatore's question with a different answer that she originally was going to say, "tell you what, you get your little witch to hocus pocus me out of here, you can have whatever you want."_

 _Elena stared across her doppelganger in confusion before she wondered, "I thought you liked it in here?" The Gilbert vampire remembered what Katherine told Stefan yesterday when she was standing in her same spot with her twin sister about how Katherine was the safest bitch in town while inside of the tomb._

 _Katherine lightly shrugged the shoulder that wasn't against the wall before she muttered, "I've had time to reconsider."_

 _Damon rolled his blue eyes as he realized what Katherine was saying before he spoke his thoughts out loud, "meaning you're hungry."_

 _"I'm starving, Damon," Katherine exclaimed as she confirmed Damon's assumption. "And dirty," she added as she glanced down at her ruined dress from the Masquerade Ball. The Petrova vampire slowly ran her long fingers across the hard rocks of the wall that surrounded her before she continued, "but above all, I'm bored." Katherine rolled her brown eyes and mumbled, "at least running from Klaus wan't boring." She then moved off of the wall as it was beginning to become uncomfortable for her frail body before she told the couple, "so, here's the deal, you get me out of here, you get the moonstone and I'll disappear from Mystic Falls forever."_

 _Elena and Damon immediately turned to one another at Katherine's trade she was offering to get her release from the tomb. They both knew if they had the moonstone in their possession, then Klaus wouldn't be able to use the human Gilbert girl for the sacrifice. However, the thought that kept overtaking both of their minds was that if it was the right choice to make to let Katherine run free._

 _The Petrova vampire smirked slightly when she saw the turmoil running through the Gilbert and Salvatore vampire's heads. She then slowly began to walk back into her personal hell as she called out to them, "let me know what you decide."_

 _Once Katherine left the two vampires alone, she made her way back into her makeshift living quarters that she had been spending all of her days in, which was in the middle of the tomb where the space was the most biggest. Katherine then took a seat on the pillow that her doppelganger had brought her yesterday before she looked at the milky colored stone._

 _"I won't fail you, Dari," Katherine whispered to herself as she held the moonstone closely to her chest while she glanced to her left, where the Petrova book laid opened with a drawing of her family looking back at her. Katherine promised herself and her twin sister that she would follow through with Darina's and Maria's plan to protect Emily from Klaus no matter what. She was going to complete her promise to her twin sister even if it killed her in the process as she didn't want to disappoint Darina by not living by her last dying wish._

* * *

The human girl silently nodded her head from the dining room table, as she and the three vampires moved rooms when her twin sister began to tell the story of her and Damon going to the tomb to see Katherine. Emily then rose an eyebrow as she wondered to what they thought of their chat with her doppelganger's sister, "do you believe what Katherine said?"

The older Salvatore vampire scoffed with an eye roll before he uttered, "no, of course not. We just want the moonstone."

Elena nodded her head in agreement with her boyfriend before she turned and faced her twin sister. "Rose told Damon and I last night that her friend, Slater, said there's a way to destroy the spell that Klaus wants to break," the Gilbert vampire explained as it why they went to see Katherine in the first place.

"No spell, no doppelganger sacrifice," Damon stated before he told the human girl with a proud smirk settled on his face, "ergo, you both live."

The younger Salvatore vampire stood up from his seat and moved to stand behind Emily while leaning his body against the wooden chair before he interrogated his brother and Elena about stopping the sacrifice that would kill the human girl, "how would you destroy it?"

Elena reached across the table and placed her hand on top of her twin sister's as she stated with a small smile, "by releasing it from the moonstone." The Gilbert vampire was glad that something was finally looking up for them when Rose told her and Damon that last night thanks to her friend. It was a way Elena could keep her sister and everyone safe - which was the plan all along.

The human girl crossed her arms over her red crop top before she wondered with her brows furrowed deeply, "how do you guys even know this is gonna work?" Emily couldn't find it in herself to trust that they could just stop the sacrifice from happening by simply releasing it from the moonstone. It just sounded too easy.

"Cause we have a crafty witch on our side," Damon uttered with a smirk as he threw his arm across the chair the Gilbert vampire was sitting in.

Elena rolled her brown eyes at Damon before she faced her twin sister and uttered softly, "we talked to Bonnie before we came here. She said she'd do anything to help you and everyone else from being used in the sacrifice."

"How do you expect to get the moonstone from Katherine?" Emily questioned with a raised eyebrow before she stated, "you even said she wasn't going to give it to you without getting her release from the tomb - which you obviously aren't planning to do."

"We'll get it from her," Stefan promised to the human girl as he laid a kiss to the top of Emily's brown hair. Even though the younger Salvatore wasn't with Elena and his brother when they went back to have this conversation with Katherine, he was still planning on doing everything he could to help keep Emily safe.

"Exactly," Damon uttered with a smirk before he corrected his brother as he stared over at the human girl, "but what your boy toy means to say is that we will pry it from her cold, dead hands if we have to."

Elena slapped the blue eyed vampire's chest with another playful eye roll before she focused back onto her twin sister and Stefan, who wasn't exactly in the loop since she and Damon left them out of their talk with Katherine. "Bonnie just needs to find a way to release the seal long enough on the tomb for us to get in, get the moonstone, and get out in time for her to put the seal back up," the Gilbert vampire explained.

"Wow," Emily uttered sarcastically as she glanced between her twin sister and Damon, "it seems like you have the perfect plan all set up." However, that wasn't what Emily wanted. Yeah, she wanted to save everyone from being killed like her sister and her two best friends but Emily knew this wasn't the way to go.

The Gilbert vampire furrowed her brows at her sister's attitude. "Why do you sound like you disagree with our plan?" Elena questioned as she knew by the tone of Emily's voice that she wasn't really behind their idea.

"Because I don't," Emily told her twin sister as she wasn't going to sugar coat anything. She didn't think it was smart to go steal the moonstone from Katherine only to piss Klaus off by ruining his sacrifice. Emily literally just got told by her doppelganger's sister about how her whole family was killed because she ran from him. The human girl knew the same thing would happen to her loved ones and Emily wasn't going to allow that to happen. There was just no way.

The three vampire silently glanced at each other with equally confused and concerned expressions as Damon and Elena thought Emily would agree with their plan since how quickly Stefan was to jump on board about taking the moonstone from Katherine. The younger Salvatore vampire then walked around the human girl's chair and squatted down until he was eye level with her as he needed to know what was going through her mind. "What are you talking about, Emmie?" Stefan questioned before he uttered softly, "this is what we wanted, a way to keep you safe, and this the best choice we have to make sure you aren't sacrificed."

Emily quickly shook her head as she ran her fingers through her tamp brown hair. "I'm not going to let Klaus kill everyone I love because we pissed him off," the human girl stated as she voiced her worrying thoughts.

"Hey," Stefan whispered softly as he placed his cold hand onto the side of Emily's warm cheek. "I'm not going to let anything happen to anyone," the Salvatore vampire uttered as he glanced over to Damon and Elena, who nodded their heads in agreement before he focused back onto Emily. "And we'll deal with Klaus once we have the moonstone," Stefan added as he tried to ease the brunette girl's mind.

Emily hurriedly shook her head, once again, before she pushed her chair back and stood up. "I'm not okay with that," the human girl stated as she glanced at the now standing Stefan and the sitting Elena and Damon. "Katherine has lived through this!" She exclaimed, "she ran from him and he killed every single person she had loved." Emily lifted her point finger and stated with confidence, "I will not let that happen."

The younger Salvatore vampire quickly moved over to the human girl and gently placed his hand against her face. "Babe," Stefan whispered before he explained, "if we can de-spell the moonstone, we can save your life." Stefan didn't understand why Emily couldn't see this was the best choice they had. It could help save her and everyone else.

Emily grabbed Stefan's hand off of her cheek and kissed the inside of his cold palm before she took two large steps back. "I won't allow anyone else to be in danger," the Gilbert girl told the three vampires as she slowly began to walk backwards while mumbling, "I gotta go," before she turned around and quickly left them in the dining room while she escaped through the front door.

The human doppelganger didn't really have a place in mind once she stepped foot into the morning air of Mystic Falls. She just needed to get out of the house as there was no arguing with the choice the vampires had obviously made without caring what she thought.

However, while Emily slowly began to make her way out of the driveway of the Gilbert house, a thought suddenly popped into her head, which immediately caused Emily to turn her direction and walk towards her car. The brunette girl then quickly grabbed the spare key that's hidden above the left front tire of her black Honda before she swiftly began to drive through town with one place in mind. Emily knew exactly what she needed to do to keep everyone safe from Klaus' wrath and from ending up like Katherine's family. She was going to do whatever it took to keep everyone alive and she knew exactly who could help her.


	44. The One With The Plan

It took the last human Petrova doppelganger about twenty minutes before she finally pulled into the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house after she had left Stefan, Damon, and her twin sister back at the Gilbert residence as she didn't agree with their _"master"_ plan. It took the brunette girl so long to arrive at the large estate instead of the short ten minutes it usually took her to reach her destination because she took a detour through Mystic Falls as she needed a few minutes to herself to gather her thoughts.

Emily wanted to make sure she was making the right decision with the plan she was about to set in motion. However, it only took a few short minutes for the human girl to realize that this was her only choice to keep everyone safe. She wasn't going to allow what happened to Darina and Katherine's family to happen to the people she loves. Emily would rather handle the issue on her own so her friends and family wouldn't be harmed.

Once the Petrova doppelganger arrived at her destination, the Salvatore boarding house, she pulled right up to the large wooden front patio of the estate since Damon's blue Mustang wasn't in her way like it usually was. Emily then grabbed her cell phone out of the cup holder of her black Honda after she took the keys out of the ignition. The brunette girl decided that she would text Elena now so her sister and the Salvatore brothers wouldn't start worrying about her while she was in the middle of completing her plan.

 **TWINNIE** **: I'M FINE. DON'T WORRY. GONE 2 HANG W/ TY.**

Emily slowly read her text message before she finally hit send with a heavy sigh. The brunette girl hated lying, especially to her other half, but Emily knew that she had to do this. The three vampires wouldn't have agreed to what she was doing, so Emily had to keep them in the dark for her plan to go smoothly. _They will be safe soon,_ Emily thought as she watched the message being sent as that was the only thing she has been concerned with after all this talk about the moonstone and sacrifice.

The Gilbert girl then grabbed her leather jacket from the passenger seat as she was ready before she finally exited her black Honda and swiftly jogged her way up to the large door of the Salvatore boarding house. Emily soon came to the decision once she was face to face with the door was that there was really no point in even knocking as the owners of the house were currently sitting at the dinning room table of the Gilbert residence.

Emily only took a couple of steps through the Salvatore boarding house after she closed the door before she paused as she tried to pinpoint to where the vampire she needed to complete her plan was located. The human girl, however, couldn't hear anyone or anything except for the loud sound of the maple logs crackling from the high heat of the fireplace. Emily then decided to head towards the living room as she figured someone would have to be actively moving the logs to cause that much noise from the roaring fire.

A small pleased smirk instantly made its way onto the human girl's face once she walked into the living room and saw that she was right as she noticed the short haired brunette vampire sitting on the love seat with an old book in her hands and three other ones settled beside her. "Hey," Emily softly whispered as she didn't want to spook the vampire. She figured it wouldn't be in her best interest to sneak up on a centuries old vampire unless she wanted to be attacked.

The vampire, Rose, swiftly lifted her head up from the book she was currently reading when she heard a voice in the supposedly empty house. However, the brunette vampire let her guard down when she saw it was only her deceased best friend's doppelganger. Rose took an unnoticeable deep breath to calm her nerves before she told the human girl, "your sister isn't here." The vampire figured that was the reason for Emily to be here as she noticed just how close the twin sisters are.

Emily silently nodded her head as she leaned her back against the corner of the wall that connects the living room and the foyer together. "Yeah, I know," the Gilbert girl murmured before she informed the vampire, "I just saw her at home. But that's not why I came here."

"Oh?" Rose questioned as she raised her right eyebrow at the brunette girl. She was now interested and invested to where this conversation would go. "So, why did you come here?" The vampire wondered as she didn't see any other reason for the Petrova doppelganger to be standing in the boarding house, except, of course, for seeing her sister and the younger Salvatore brother.

However as Emily opened her mouth to answer Rose's question, she swiftly lost her usual confidence which caused her to avoid looking into the vampire's bright green eyes as she awkwardly cleared her throat and began to play with her red fingernail polish. The Petrova doppelganger felt extremely nervous to be asking Rose for help especially with what she was planning to do.

So instead of telling the vampire the reason to why she was standing in the boarding house, Emily silently walked over to the wall beside her that was covered in all different kinds of literature. The Gilbert girl then began to run her soft fingers across the rough edges of the books before she finally spoke to Rose as she avoided talking about her plan, "I find it strange but comforting that no matter how many decades and centuries that pass, these words will always be the same."

Rose smiled slightly at Emily's statement before she glanced down at the book in her lap and confessed softly, "that's what I like about them. It helps me forget about how I am a five hundred plus year old vampire." Rose then ran her fingers across the letters of the book she had been reading while she continued as she was pulled into one of her favorite human memories, "it makes me feel like I'm back at the grassy field, where the horses would trot early in the mornings, while I read my favorite literature; The Book of the City of Ladies."

Emily couldn't help but fall into the vampire's explanation of one of her memories with a soft smile. It made Emily grasp that Rose was really just a scared young woman that had to run because of the mistake she and Trevor made by trusting Katherine. Emily felt bad for the vampire as Rose never got to see the good things the world had to offer over the centuries as she was too busy and scared that Klaus would find her.

The human girl quickly came to the conclusion after thinking about the tragic life Rose had to live because she was afraid of Klaus was that she couldn't chicken out on her plan like she currently was doing. Emily didn't want what Rose had to experience to happen to her family and friends by always running from Klaus until he would catch and kill them. It was no way to live. So instead of continuing to avoid the conversation, Emily finally grew a pair of nonexistent balls and told Rose in her usual confident voice like she had planned on doing all along, "I need your help."

The brunette vampire's green eyes quickly widened in surprise and confusion as she didn't think Emily would ever come to her for help along with the fact that their conversation instantly turned away from books. "Oh?" Rose muttered curiously once she got control of her emotions before she asked, "what did you have in mind?"

A small smile graced the human doppelganger's face when the vampire seemed to be on board with her plan so far. She then took a seat on the leather chair that was across from Rose before she began to explain, "my sister told me about your friend; Slater." Emily decided she would slowly start up the conversation so she could hopefully convince Rose to help her.

Rose silently nodded her head while her brows furrowed deeply in confusion as she didn't know why the Petrova doppelganger was bringing up her friend's name. "Yeah..." the vampire trailed off before she curiously questioned, "what about him?"

"Well," Emily began as she nervously played with her fingers, "I-I need you to set a meeting with him." The Gilbert girl then paused for a moment as she took a deep breath before she told Rose the part she was most nervous about, "I need more information about Klaus and from what Elena told me, he's my best option to get those answers."

The vampire instantly stood up from the love seat when she heard the reason why Emily was talking about Slater as she quickly shook her head. "No, no," Rose hurriedly uttered, "that is a bad idea!" There was no way in hell that Rose would go back to Richmond to see Slater after what happened yesterday.

Emily sighed as she knew there was going to be some resistance from the vampire when it had to do with the man she was currently running from. "Look, my sister told me that Slater is the person to go to when you want to know more about the originals. I just think we would have a better idea with how to deal with Klaus if I just talked with Slater," Emily explained as she partly lied. The Gilbert girl wasn't going to tell Rose the real reason why she wanted to meet with Slater as Emily knew the vampire would be on the phone right now to rat her out to Stefan or Elena.

Rose shook her head, once again, as she told the Petrova doppelganger, "there is no way I'm taking you to see him. Damon and I were almost blown up in a coffee shop with only being with Slater for half an hour." The vampire crossed her arms over her chest as she thought out loud, "someone must of figured out we were looking into Klaus."

"Well I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not going to stop me," Emily honestly told the vampire. Blown up restaurant? That was like a kindergarten threat compared to all the things the Gilbert girl had endured while living in Mystic Falls this year. So, that was definitely not going to stop Emily from meeting up with Slater and completing her plan to protect everyone.

Rose rolled her green eyes at the doppelganger before she mumbled, "you are just as stubborn as Darina was." The vampire then sat back down onto the love seat with a heavy sigh as she knew she wouldn't be able to change Emily's mind like she never could with the older Petrova twin sister. "Why are you coming to me about this, anyways?" Rose wondered as she leaned her right cheek into the palm of her hand.

Emily relaxed back against the leather chair that she was sitting in with a small smile as she noticed she was reeling Rose back into her plan. "You said it yourself," the Gilbert girl teasingly uttered with a smirk, "we doppelgangers are quite stubborn." Emily then grew serious as she told Rose the real answer, "I know you can help with your connection with Slater, plus I can't just stand by while my family and friends get killed because of me. I can not and will not let that happen. I have to fight and do the right thing to keep everyone safe."

The vampire huffed out a sigh while she tiredly rubbed her green eyes as she listened to the human girl's explanation. "Your sister and the brothers are going to kill me if they find out about this," Rose uttered as she couldn't believe she was even entertaining the idea of taking Emily to see Slater.

"Well lucky for you, they are busy today," the human girl stated with a smirk. "Besides, they wouldn't even touch you if they knew about this," Emily told Rose before she added with an eye roll, "because they would be busy locking me up in a dungeon."

Rose gently shook her head as she didn't understand why the human girl wouldn't just let her sister and the Salvatore's do their plan to get the moonstone from Katherine. "They're just trying to protect you," Rose voiced her thoughts as she stared across at the Petrova doppelganger.

"I know," Emily murmured quietly as she felt guilty for lying to her twin sister and friends. But the brunette girl just had to keep telling herself that she was protecting them. It was her job, not theirs and she wasn't going to stop until they were all safe. "I'm not going to allow what Klaus did to Darina and her family to happen to mine," Emily stated before she asked hopeful, "so, will you help me?"

The vampire nervously tapped her combat boots against the hardwood floors of the boarding house at a fast pace before she heavy sighed as she decided to help the human girl. "Fine. But you have fifteen minutes with Slater before I'm dragging you back here or I will call your sister," Rose compromised.

Rose knew from experience with Darina that Emily wasn't going to give up, so she was at least going to put her foot down and set some rules. The vampire didn't want anything to happen to Emily as she knew she would be dead and she also had began to care for the human girl. However, Rose hated that she wasn't listening to her advice that she uttered a couple of days ago by not helping anymore Petrova doppelgangers, but Emily was just like Darina and Rose couldn't help but want to keep her safe.

The Gilbert girl instantly grinned at the vampire when Rose gave her the answer she had been waiting on. "Thank you so much," Emily praised passionately as she was one step closer to protecting her family and friends. She then stood up from the leather chair before she questioned with content smile, "so, should we get going?"

The vampire rolled her eyes at the brunette girl's cheerfulness before she shut the book she had been reading. "I'm taking this," Rose uttered as she held the book in the air before she strutted towards the front door of the Salvatore boarding house. _I'm so dead,_ the vampire thought as she hoped their trip didn't go badly.

Emily shook her head with a small chuckle at the sluggish vampire before she quickly followed after Rose as she was already out of the Salvatore boarding house. However, as Emily shut the door behind her, she took a deep breath as her plan was slowly coming together. She only had to talk to Slater before her decision would be made and everyone would be safe again. _That's all I care about_ , Emily thought as she calmed her nerves and gained the confidence to keep on pushing forward towards the part of her plan that would ultimately end the sacrifice for once and for all.

* * *

 **RICHMOND, VIRGINIA**

It took about three hours of driving through the grassy fields and the large mountains before the Petrova doppelganger finally began to see the actual city of Richmond. Emily noticed that it wasn't much different from Mystic Falls as she silently passed all of the different buildings. It was just a tad bit bigger than her hometown that only had a little less than nine big buildings in the town square.

"Turn here," the vampire commanded as she interrupted Emily's train of thought by pointing towards a small underground garage area.

The Gilbert girl didn't respond to the brunette vampire. She only nodded her head as she pulled into the parking garage before she found a spot that was closest to the apartment building. Emily couldn't even speak to Rose as her mind was filled with nerves about her plan, but Emily knew she couldn't back out now.

Once they were parked away from the sun, the vampire glanced over to the Petrova doppelganger, who was quickly tapping her fingers against the steering wheel of the black Honda. "You ready for this?" Rose questioned as she could tell the human girl was anxious by her silence and still body.

Emily swiftly looked over at the concerned green eyes of the vampire with her irises widened before she quickly calmed her emotions. "Of course," the Gilbert girl stated with a smile before she turned her car off and took the keys out of the ignition. "Let's do this," Emily exclaimed with her usual confidence back up as she realized just how close she was to keeping everyone safe from the danger of Klaus.

The vampire and the human girl then exited the black Honda before they silently began to climb up the side staircase that was located in the left corner of the underground parking garage. They walked up about two or three sets of stairs before they finally came to a stop in front of two doors that were an off white color with orange-brown faded rust running up the sides.

Rose glanced behind her at the Petrova doppelganger for a moment before she let out a soft sigh and turned around to face the door. She then began to pound on the door while she called out, "Slater?" However, when the vampire didn't hear anything after two loud knocks, she tried again as she pounded her fist against the door as she yelled once more, "Slater, it's Rose. Open up!"

The vampire then moved her ear close to the door when Slater didn't answer as she tried to listen for any movement inside of the apartment. But sadly, she couldn't hear a single thing so Rose turned back to the human girl and uttered, "he's not home." Rose was sorta glad that Slater wasn't here as she didn't want to be involved in this plan when the Salvatore's and Emily's sister would kill her if they found out about this mission.

The Gilbert girl rolled her green eyes at Rose's carelessness about all of this. She didn't even try hard enough. "We need to check inside," Emily commanded before she added with a small shrug, "he could be sleeping." The brunette girl wasn't just going to give up now and go back home when there was a possibility that Slater could still be here.

Rose sighed heavily at the stubborn doppelganger before she turned around and faced the door once again. She then grabbed ahold of the two metal handles before she used her vampire strength and pushed the doors open. "After you," Rose uttered sarcastically as she turned to the side and held her arm out.

Emily gave the vampire an equally sarcastic grin before she slowly stepped over the threshold and entered the extremely silent apartment. The Gilbert girl immediately felt like something was wrong as she slowly moved towards the living room and began to look around. It was like something bad happened but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it just yet.

However, the human girl soon got her answer a few second later as she heard the loud gasp escape the vampire's mouth before Rose mumbled, "I don't think he's gonna be much help."

Emily furrowed her brows in confusion as to what would shock the vampire, so she quickly jogged over to Rose, who was standing in front of a doorway. "Dammit," the human girl whispered with a heavy sigh when she saw what Rose was staring at. The thing that had shocked the vampire and what quickly put a damper on Emily's plan was the fact that Slater was currently lying on the ground with a stake stabbed right through his heart.

The Petrova doppelganger then quickly moved her gaze away from the dead vampire when Rose began to drag his gray body away. Emily didn't know what she was suppose to do now. Slater was her only chance to getting in contact with Klaus. However, while Emily began to pace up and down the hardwood floors of the silent apartment while she tried to think of a new plan, something quickly caught the brunette girl's eye; a computer.

Emily figured since that it's the 21st century, after all, then Slater would have stored his information about his different vampire contacts on his five hi-tech computers. The Gilbert girl then made her way over to his desk and quickly found the mouse. However, when Emily shook the set of computers awake, she sighed as she saw it was password protected. "I knew I should of took that class," Emily mumbled to herself as she remembered Matt tried to convince her to take a computer course last year.

The Gilbert girl stopped moving and let out another heavy sigh when she realized she reached another dead end as she knew she wouldn't be able to hack into the computer system. She then thought of another idea a couple seconds later before she began to look through the stack of papers that were scattered all around the desk. Emily just hoped she would find a paper that had Slater's password written down somewhere.

"It seems like you were right," Emily announced to Rose when she felt the vampire stand next to her while she carefully looked at each page for any type of clue to what Slater's password could be, "someone must of blown up the coffee shop because they found out he was telling people about Klaus." Emily figured that since not many people know much about Klaus, that one of his men blew up the coffee shop to keep Slater quiet, but they obviously went one step further and killed him.

"Yeah," Rose sighed, "probably to stop him from helping people like us." The vampire then glanced down at the papers that the human girl was looking through before she told her about the now deceased vampire, "the guy was a vampire almanac, and knowing too much information just bit him in the ass."

Emily silently nodded her head as she agreed to what the vampire was saying. The Gilbert girl instantly remembered a book her mother read to her about this author that would always say that knowledge could kill you and that is exactly what happened to Slater. Emily's thoughts about the fact that her plan was going off the rails was soon interrupted when something got her attention; a picture frame.

The brunette girl then lifted the heavy gold framed picture up in the air to get a closer look. However, before she could focus her eyes on the photo, she soon gasped in shock as the vampire swiftly pulled open the two big dark blue curtains and let the sun brighten up the room. "Oh, my God! What are you doing!?" Emily hurriedly shouted as she knew without a doubt that Rose didn't have a daylight ring to protect herself from the sun.

Rose chuckled in amusement at the human Petrova doppelganger before she explained, "it's tempered glass. They can't be penetrated by U.V. rays." The vampire then moved her gaze back towards the sunny sky before she told Emily as she was lost in her memories, "I used to just come here and watch the day."

Emily sighed as she calmed her fast heart rate after Rose explained that the sun wouldn't harm her. _That's enough scares for one day,_ Emily thought as she had felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest. The brunette girl then glanced down to the photo in her hand and saw that it was an image of Slater and a young woman with a pair of bright hazel eyes.

Emily couldn't help but feel bad for Rose while she stared down at the vampire she had tried to meet with. Rose not only lost Trevor a few days ago, but she now lost another one of her friends. Emily honestly didn't know how Rose was standing up right now after going through all that.

"Any luck?" Rose's voice interrupted the human girl's thoughts about the aforementioned vampire's life as she moved her green eyes away from the view of Richmond and over to the Petrova doppelganger, who was frozen in her spot.

Emily quickly cleared her throat as she got rid of the depressing emotions that she was feeling before she gently placed the picture frame back onto the desk. The brunette girl then shook her head as she told the vampire, "uh, not exactly. I need a password to get into the computer."

Rose sighed before she mumbled, "no, this is fine. Let's just go." The vampire was ready to leave Slater's apartment and get as far away from Richmond as she could. It just had too many memories and it wasn't helping her grieving right now - especially with Slater's dead body in the next room.

However, before the Gilbert girl could try to convince the vampire to give her some time as they still had at least nine minutes until their agreed fifteen minutes would be up, there was suddenly a loud sound of the front door rattling frantically.

Rose quickly moved her now serious green eyes over to the Petrova doppelganger at the noise before she commanded in a whisper, "stay here." Once the human girl nodded her head, Rose then slowly moved over to the set of doors and pushed them open. However, when Rose couldn't see anything right away, she carefully glanced around the hallway before she finally saw something hiding in the corner. "Alice?" The vampire called out as she recognized the woman's dark hair from all the times she had visited Slater.

"Rose!" The human woman gasped once she heard the voice of the vampire from the tight corner she was hiding in. She then ran full speed before she threw her body against Rose's as she cried out, "he's dead!"

* * *

It took about seven minutes before the vampire could finally move the sobbing human away from the entrance of Slater's apartment door and inside of the spacious living room. It then took another two minutes after settling Alice onto the tan couch before Rose could finally pull her body away from the dark haired woman's grasp.

Once Rose was free of Alice, she made her way towards the edge of the living room, where the Petrova doppelganger had been standing while she had tried to console the human woman. Rose then gently grabbed ahold of Emily's wrist and pulled her towards the kitchen before she informed the brunette girl about Alice, "she found him a few minutes before we did."

Emily silently nodded her head before she jumped and sat on top of the granite counter while she watched Rose move over to the stove and begin to heat up some water in a pot. "How is she doing?" The Gilbert girl asked once Rose equally poured the water into three white tea cups along with adding three small chamomile tea bags. Emily guessed Alice couldn't be doing so good after finding out her boyfriend is dead. Emily knew she certainly wouldn't be okay after something like that.

Rose scoffed as she looked up at the human girl and stated, "she's overreacting," before she added with a large and exaggerated eye roll, "big time."

Emily lifted her right eyebrow at the vampire in surprise before she commented, "I think she gets to be like that after finding her boyfriend dead." Emily knew she would definitely be hysterical right now if she was in Alice's position.

Rose rolled her green eyes, once again, before she explained to the brunette girl, "those tears are for her. She didn't care about Slater." The vampire then continued when she noticed the confused look that was displayed on the doppelganger's face, "she was only dating him long enough to see if he'd turn her."

"Wow," Emily mumbled in disbelief as she looked back into the living room and saw that the black haired woman was crying and sobbing into her hands. The Gilbert girl definitely didn't feel that sorry for her anymore. She was basically just using Slater. _Well, now I won't feel bad about getting answers from her,_ Emily thought as she grabbed two of the three tea cups and walked up to Alice.

"Thank you," Alice whispered as she softly grabbed ahold of the warm cup from the young girl's hand. She then took a small sip of the tea while she watched the silent movements of the brunette teenager sitting across from her on the tan couch. "You look really familiar," Alice stated as she rose one of her dark eyebrows in curiousness before she asked, "did you know Slater?"

Emily thickly swallowed her mouthful of warm tea as she hurriedly shook her head. She silently placed the white cup down onto the glass table before she told Alice, "I just know him through a friend." The Gilbert girl then glanced over to Rose, who was standing at the edge of room, before she continued to speak to Alice as she tried to get the answers she needed, "I was told that Slater knew a lot about vampires and that he could help me get in contact with Klaus."

Alice scoffed and mumbled "doubtful," as she rolled her hazel eyes before she told the familiar looking girl, "Klaus doesn't want to be found."

Emily silently sighed as that wasn't the answer she was looking for. The brunette girl then began to tap her combat boots against the hardwood floors as she tried to think of an idea. It took about a minute or two before Emily finally thought of a way and she hoped it would work. "You wouldn't happen to know Slater's password, would you?" Emily curiously asked as she stared across at the black haired woman.

"Did you seriously just ask me that?" Alice screeched angrily before she growled, "I just saw my boyfriend with a stake through his heart!"

Emily mentally rolled her green eyes at the woman's fake act of grieving. She had to give it to Alice though, she definitely knew how to sell it. But luckily for Emily, she was just as good at lying. "Look," Emily began as she softly placed her hand onto Alice's bare knee, "I know this is hard time for you," before she gently asked, "don't you want to find who did this to Slater?"

Alice quickly ripped her knee away from the young girl's touch as soon as she heard what she said before Alice snarled in a loud and squeaky voice, "who do you think you are? You can't just walk in here and take over everything! He was my boyfriend!"

The Gilbert girl took a deep breath through her nose at Alice's yelling as she tried to not just reach over and slap the vampire-using-woman. Emily glanced over to the amused vampire in the corner of the room as she tried to keep herself calm before a thought suddenly popped into her mind. She then turned back to Alice with a condescending grin as she tried to compromise, "what if I got Rose to turn you if you gave me the information I'm looking for about Klaus?"

The proposition immediately got the black haired woman's attention as not even a second later after it was out of Emily's mouth, Alice quickly turned her wide hazel eyes back to the young girl with complete and utter interest. She then quickly nodded her head in excitement along with a loud squeal before she jumped up from the couch and fast walked over to Slater's many computers.

Emily couldn't help but finally roll her eyes at Alice. She was the fakest person the human girl ever saw. Rose was definitely right, Emily realized. Alice had only used Slater for her own personal gain. The human girl and the vampire then moved over to the computer after a moment of standing in silence and saw that Alice was already logged in and was pulling up a tab.

"Someone's been here," Alice commented while she looked through Slater's computer as she could see the reflection of Rose and the familiar girl walking behind her thanks to one of the turned off computer screens. "The hard drive's completely wiped out," Alice added as she pulled up a file that said it was empty.

"Yeah," Rose mumbled as she stared down at the computer that Alice was using which was obviously no help, "probably the same person that killed him."

Emily shot Rose a glare before she turned around and began to pace up and down the small area like she usually does when she gets nervous. The vampire's pessimist was definitely not helping her with completing her plan. It was actually making it much harder to think of a way she could get in contact with Klaus without Slater's help.

"Lucky for you," Alice uttered as she interrupted the tense silence, "Slater was paranoid." She then began to open up another tab and told them something that made Emily instantly grateful, "he always backs up everything on a remote server."

Meanwhile as Alice began to log in to the remote server, Rose silently took a couple of steps back until she was standing beside the Petrova doppelganger. "You know that she's not going anywhere near my blood, right?" Rose questioned in a quiet whisper. There was no way she going to turn the annoying woman who had been using one of her closest friends.

Emily smirked up at the short haired brunette vampire before she uttered, "oh, I know that. But she doesn't." The Gilbert girl then made her way back to Alice once Rose gave her a pleased and amused grin before she looked down at the screen as Alice was finally logged in.

"Kristen Stewart," Alice uttered once Slater's files were all in front of her thanks to the remote server. "God, was he obvious," the black haired woman added with an eye roll as she slowly began to look through the many files.

"I liked Twilight," Emily mumbled defensively before she shook her head and focused on the task at hand as she leaned over Alice's shoulder and began to read the words on the screen. "Are all of these vampire contacts?" Emily wondered as she noticed there was at least a hundred lines filled with different names, numbers, and codes.

Alice nodded her head as she kept her hazel eyes glued to the screen while she commented, "Slater was obsessed." She then began to push on each of the files as she added humorously, "almost as much as me."

The apartment soon grew silent as Alice slowly continued to click on different links before she was suddenly stopped as the brunette vampire quickly pointed at the computer screen when she noticed the familiar name of an original. "What about that one?" Rose asked the human woman before she stated, "Cody Webber. They exchanged dozen of emails about Elijah."

Alice glanced behind her and over to the vampire before she suggested with a small shrug, "I could call him."

Emily's green eyes instantly widened as her plan was falling together thanks to what Alice found. It was finally a way she could get in touch with Klaus since this Cody guy obvious knew how to get in contact with an original. She was now only one step away from ending all of this mess. The Gilbert girl then reached across Slater's desk and grabbed the house phone. "Call Cody and tell him we're trying to send a message to Klaus," Emily told Alice as she handed her the device. The brunette girl then took a deep breath before she sealed her fate for once and for all, "tell him that the doppelganger is ready to surrender."

"What!?" Rose gasped as she looked at the human girl in complete shock. She never thought this was what was going to happen when she agreed to take Emily to Slater this morning. This wasn't even on the list of possibilities as she didn't think Emily would be the type of person to just lay on her back and take it. She always thought the Petrova doppelganger was a fighter like Darina.

"Oh, my God!" Alice slowly uttered before she out a loud squeal as she interrupted the obvious tense stare down between the doppelganger and the vampire. Alice pointed at Emily as she exclaimed excitedly, "I knew I recognized you!"

Emily ignored the woman's happiness about her incoming death as she commanded, "get him the message." She then quickly rushed back into the kitchen as she need a moment alone. Emily was finally getting what she wanted all along, but now she was just scared to what would soon be happening once Klaus knew where she was.

"Are you out of your mind?" Rose shouted as soon as she stepped foot into the kitchen a couple of second after the human girl did. The vampire then glared down at the Petrova doppelganger before she continued angrily, "what do you think you're doing?"

Emily heavily sighed as she was leaning against the granite counter before she looked up at Rose and finally told her the real reason why she wanted the vampire's help, "I'm speeding up the process. I'm getting Klaus' attention."

Rose shook her head in disbelief as she closed her eyes for a couple of seconds before she looked back at Emily and explained in a scared voice as this was exactly what happened to Darina, "if Klaus knows that you're alive, he'll find you and he'll kill you." However, when Rose noticed the human girl was avoiding her gaze, the vampire's whole expression saddened before she whispered, "which is exactly what you wanted."

"I'm not going to allow my family and friends to be killed because Katherine wants to make a deal with Klaus to save her own ass," Emily told Rose as she crossed her arms over her leather jacket and red crop top as she tried to get the vampire to understand why she was doing this, "if I can meet with Klaus and turn myself over, then maybe I can save everyone from experiencing death."

"So, this whole charade is some suicide mission so that you can sacrifice yourself and save everyone else?" Rose interrogated as she wanted to make sure she was actually hearing the Petrova doppelganger right. She just couldn't fathom that Emily would just give up like this. Emily even told her she wanted to fight, but this wasn't fighting. It was giving up.

However, before Emily could respond to the vampire's question with the answer they both already knew by the confident and calm look on the Petrova doppelganger's face, they were soon interrupted by the cheerful Alice entering the kitchen.

"Cody is on his way," Alice exclaimed with a grin before she kept her hazel eyes locked onto the brunette girl as she told her, "and he's really wants to meet you."

Emily stared across at the vampire for a moment with a serious look that said she wasn't joking or backing out before she turned her gaze over to the black haired woman. "Thank you, Alice," Emily praised as she was ready to just get this all over with.

* * *

The human Petrova doppelganger had left the kitchen after a few minutes as Rose wouldn't even look at her anymore once Alice walked out of the room. So Emily silently moved to stand in front of the large tempered glass window as couldn't stand the tension while she waited for Cody to arrive. However, as Emily impatiently paced in front of the window while her thoughts were clogged with nerves of meeting Klaus, she was suddenly startled as she felt her cell phone vibrate inside of her jacket pocket.

The brunette girl quickly pulled her cell phone out before her brows furrowed in confusion when she saw it was her blonde best friend that was calling. Emily pressed the accept button while she moved her gaze down to the streets of Richmond before she uttered into her device, "hello?"

"Hey, Emmie," the blonde vampire's usual cheerful voice sounded through the small device as she greeted her brunette best friend.

"Hey, Care," the Petrova doppelganger uttered once more but in a softer tone before she wondered as she leaned her side against the windowsill, "what's going on?"

"Well, uh, I just wanted to call you because I've been with Tyler all day helping him with his new identity," Caroline informed the brunette girl in a whisper before she continued in her normal voice, "he said he tried to call you but I knew you would be busy, so I just told him you were looking into colleges today."

Emily heavily sighed when she heard Tyler was looking for her while she leaned her head against the cold glass window before she mumbled, "dammit." The Gilbert girl felt bad as she had promised Tyler that she would help him. But here she was, not even there for him on his first day of looking into his werewolf side. "Could you please tell Ty that I am so sorry," Emily pleaded to the blonde vampire as she didn't want Tyler to think that she was abandoning him.

"All ready done," Caroline told the human girl with a bright smile plastered on her face before she consoled Emily as she knew her best friend was beating herself over not helping the Lockwood teenager, "Tyler said it's okay. He just wants you to call him later."

"Thank God," Emily mumbled as she really wanted to be there for Tyler. She had promised Mason that she would help him with this, but she was already failing. "Thank you so much, Care," the brunette girl praised before she nervously questioned, "how is he doing?"

"He's, uh, he's just trying to understand what is going to happen to him," Caroline uttered with sigh as she knew Tyler was struggling before the blonde vampire gossiped in a quick voice to what they saw, "we found where Mason used to turn. It's crazy, Emmie. He would chain himself up and there's deep scratch marks all over the walls."

"Tyler must be scared out of his mind," Emily mumbled as she listened to what Caroline and Tyler has been doing this morning. "You need to make sure that he just keeps calm and tell him that he's going to get through this," Emily coached the blonde vampire as she wanted to make sure Tyler would be okay without her actually being there with him.

Caroline lightly chuckled while she shook her head at her best friend's concern and bossiness. "Yes, I know," the blonde vampire uttered humorously before she told Emily, "I should be going. Tyler's sitting in the living room right now and we're about to watch something on this USB that we found in Mason's things."

Emily silently nodded her head as she slowly relaxed with knowing that Caroline was watching and taking care of Tyler like she would have. "Alright," the Gilbert murmured and ordered, "tell Ty that I'll give him a call later," before she ended the call once Caroline said her farewell.

The Petrova doppelganger then let out a small sigh once she placed her cell phone into her leather jacket and focused her gaze back down to the busy streets of Richmond. Emily felt like the whole day was just a large mess. She really wanted to be there for Tyler when he began to look into his new identity, but sadly she couldn't. However, at least, Emily knew her best friend would still be alive by the end of the day like she had planned - she just wouldn't be able to see it for herself.

 _I'm protecting them. I have to do this. Everyone will be safe,_ Emily kept thinking over and over again as she tried to relax her mind. There was no backing out now. Cody was coming to deliver her to Klaus and then everything would finally be over. Emily's family and friends would be safe from the hybrid and everything could just go back to normal.

However, while Emily was lost in her thoughts about protecting the people she loves, she noticed that someone was staring right at her through the reflection of the window. The Gilbert girl's brows furrowed in confusion as she focused on the figure before a loud gasp escaped her mouth when she realized it was Elijah, the supposedly dead original.

Emily quickly twirled her body around but when she was facing the other direction, she saw that no one was standing behind her like the window had displayed. The brunette girl took a deep breath as she realized she was just seeing things. "I'm officially losing my mind," Emily mumbled as she ran her fingers through her hair before she hurriedly walked back into the kitchen.

The doppelganger felt like she was going crazy so, of course, she quickly began to pace the small kitchen while she ignored the stares that Alice was giving her. She was definitely not going to start with that insane woman.

Luckily for the brunette girl, it only took about thirty seconds or so before she spotted something that could help her calm down and relax her fast heart rate. "Thank God," Emily mumbled before she fast walked towards the alcohol cabinet in the corner of the kitchen. She then grabbed the bottle of bourbon and began to pour it into an empty clear glass.

However, the amber liquid didn't even get the chance to reach the bottom of the crystal glass before the bottle of bourbon was ripped out of the human girl's hand and she was instantly turned around by a strong grip.

Emily's green eyes instantly widened when she saw it was Damon who took the bottle from her and that it was her sister who had turned her around with a fierce glare. "Uh, hi," the brunette girl mumbled awkwardly before she questioned in fake confusion, "what are you guys doing here?" That was always Emily's tactic, to act like she didn't know what was going on. It usually worked, but Emily doubt it work now.

"No, the real question," the older Salvatore exclaimed after he took a sip from the bottle of bourbon, "is what the hell are you doing here."

The Gilbert girl rolled her green eyes at Damon before she moved her gaze over to her twin sister, who was still glaring at her with a tint of sadness in her brown eyes. However, before Emily could try to defuse the situation, she soon caught sight of the tall brunette vampire over Elena's shoulder. The human girl sighed as she realized what happened. "You called them," Emily mumbled as stared over at Rose.

The older vampire shrugged her shoulders as she tried to not cause more tension in the room before she uttered, "I said I'd give you fifteen minutes." Rose now understood why Emily was doing what she was doing, but she just couldn't let what happened to Darina to happen to Emily. She wasn't going to let another human Petrova doppelganger die again.

Emily huffed out a sigh as she should of known today wouldn't go as planned as she already failed Tyler. She then turned her gaze back to her twin sister, who was obviously pissed at her decision. "Look," Emily began as she softly grabbed ahold of Elena's hand, "I didn't want you to die with me. I'm protecting all of you by just going to Klaus by myself."

"You do not get to decide to just sacrifice yourself, Emily!" The Gilbert vampire exploded as she hurriedly ran her fingers through her messy long brown hair, "we were going to save all us with the moonstone!" Elena took a deep breath as she tried to control her loud emotions, but it didn't really help so she opened her mouth back up to continue to yell at her twin sister for her stupidity.

However, before Elena could utter another word, the three vampires and the human Petrova doppelganger were soon interrupted by the starstruck and vampire hungry Alice. "Oh, my God!" The human woman screeched in excitement, "Damon Salvatore!"

The blue eyed vampire rolled his eyes at the woman in front of him before he turned his annoyed gaze over to Rose and commanded boredly, "get rid of her."

"No way!" Alice gasped as she realized she was right. However, the human woman barely had about two seconds in the vampire's presence before she was quickly pulled away from the kitchen by Rose's strong grasp while she kept smiling like a child on Christmas morning.

Damon settled the bottle of bourbon onto the kitchen counter once the room grew silent before he lifted his head towards the door. "Let's go. We're leaving," the Salvatore vampire commanded as he was ready to get out of this town.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Emily exclaimed stubbornly as she crossed her arms over her chest. There was no way in hell that the Gilbert girl was going to leave right now. She was just minutes away from keeping everyone safe from Klaus, so she definitely wasn't going to fold over because Damon said so.

"Emmie, come on," Elena desperately begged as she looked into her sister's determined green eyes. The Gilbert vampire had calmed down after a moment of silence, so now she only cared about getting her sister home instead of just yelling at her.

Emily shook her head as she sadly stared across at her twin sister. "I'm sorry, Lena. But I can't," the human girl murmured. Emily couldn't just give up and let everyone be in danger. She wasn't going to let everyone get killed because of who she is; the last human Petrova doppelganger.

"You do not get to make the decisions anymore," Damon growled as he was growing tired of the conversation between the two sisters as it wasn't getting them anywhere. The Salvatore vampire knew that Elena wasn't going to force Emily to do anything that she didn't want, so Damon knew he would have to do it himself.

Emily switched the soft look that she had been giving her twin sister to a glare once she focused onto Damon. "You guys have never even let me make my own decisions!" The human girl cried out, "you guys just decided that I don't get a voice with how we deal with the moonstone and the sacrifice!"

"Emmie, we're just trying to keep you alive," Elena murmured in a gentle voice as she tried to get her twin sister to understand why they were taking the milky tone away from Katherine.

"You aren't listening!" Emily wailed. She didn't know why they just couldn't get that she was trying to protect them. "If Klaus comes to Mystic Falls and agrees to Katherine's deal, then he's going to kill every single person I have ever loved," the human girl explained before she shook her head, "and I'm not just going to let that happen when I can stop it."

"Don't care," Damon uttered sarcastically with a smirk before he commanded emotionlessly, "now get your ass out of that door before I make you."

However, when the Salvatore vampire noticed that Emily wasn't going to move, he rolled his eyes before he quickly grabbed ahold of her upper arm in a tight grip. "We're leaving," Damon growled as he went to pull her towards the exit.

"Day, go easy on her," Elena begged to her boyfriend as something began to crack inside of her as she hated when someone would grab her twin sister like that. Yeah, Elena was pissed and upset that Emily was trying to turn herself over to Klaus, but that didn't mean she wanted Damon to hurt her twin sister.

"No, Elena," Damon growled as he kept his glare down onto the human girl. "She doesn't just get to hand herself over when we have been busting our asses with trying to keep you all safe," the Salvatore vampire added in the same angry and fierce voice that he had been using since he found out about this suicide mission.

The human Petrova doppelganger was getting tired of not being taken seriously. She wasn't just going to let Damon drag her back to Mystic Falls when she was trying to keep them alive. Emily wasn't going to let them make her decisions. She was her own person and she was going to protect everyone no matter what the cost is.

However, as Damon continued to pull her towards the door, Emily grew tired and annoyed until she finally just snapped. The Gilbert girl then swiftly twirled her body around and faced the Salvatore vampire with a hard glare before she swung her fist back and punched as hard as she could right onto Damon's left cheek.

The only sound that echoed through the deadly silent apartment after the assault was the loud gasp that escaped the Gilbert vampire's mouth while the Salvatore vampire placed his hand onto his sore cheek. Damon then glared back down at the human girl before he growled, "you really shouldn't have done that."

* * *

Emily huffed out her fourth loud sigh in the last three minutes as she had been sitting on Slater's tan couch with Rose sitting next to her while her twin sister stood above watching her like a hawk. They had been like that for over twenty minutes now as Emily had lost the battle with the blue eyed vampire. Damon had threatened her with compulsion before he forced her down onto the couch and commanded her to stay still. Emily was just hoping that it would give Cody enough time to arrive and end all of this drama. She just prayed Cody wouldn't hurt Elena, Damon, or Rose if they tried to mess everything up like she had been trying to avoid.

It was another minute or so of nothing but tense silence before the Salvatore vampire finally reentered the living room after he had exited the main bedroom. "Time to go," Damon mumbled before he tiredly explained, "Alice is soundly sleeping and won't remember a moment of this horribly stupid day."

The Gilbert girl quickly become nervous as they were suppose to be heading back to Mystic Falls right now and Emily was definitely not ready. But luckily for the brunette girl, only two seconds passed after Damon closed his mouth before the front door of the apartment was thrown open by three large men.

"We're here to meet the human doppelganger," the man with the short brown hair and blue eyes loudly announced as one of his men stood by the door and the other one followed him to the middle of the room.

Emily grinned to herself before she stood up from the tan couch. "That would be me," the Gilbert girl exclaimed as she avoided her twin sister's grasp and stood in front of three men that were obviously vampires. _Thank God they got here in time,_ Emily thought as she began to nervously tap her point finger against her black leggings.

Damon swiftly grabbed ahold of the human girl's upper arm, once again, before Emily could get too close to the unfamiliar vampires. "I will break your arm," Damon threatened in a whispering growl.

"And I will punch you in the face," Emily whispered right back before she forcefully pulled her arm out of Damon's grip, which hurt much more than she thought it would. Emily slowly rubbed her sore arm once she was free before she looked back up at the vampires. "You must be Cody," the brunette girl uttered politely to the man that was obviously in charge by his confident stance.

However, before Cody could open his mouth to speak to the doppelganger about going to Klaus, they were all soon interrupted by the sound of the vampire, that was standing at the door, dropping to the ground. Everyone's expressions in the room were either one of confusion or shock when they noticed the person that was holding the dead vampire's heart; the supposedly dead original.

The human girl instantly gasped when she saw that the original was staring directly at her as she realized she wasn't crazy when she saw Elijah in the window earlier. He was actually alive. However as Emily stared right back at the vampire, she couldn't help but become extremely nervous in his presence. He just gave off this intense aura that made Emily feel different emotions that she couldn't understand. But the one thing she knew for sure about Elijah was that he wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone if they got in his way, so Emily slowly took a couple of steps back until she felt her twin sister's cold hand. Emily then laced their fingers together as she wanted to make sure Elena stayed safe during this whole interaction with the original.

"I killed you," Damon exclaimed as he ended the tense silence that had overtaken the room which was also the time that Rose quickly made her escape after seeing Elijah. "You were dead," the Salvatore vampire added as he furrowed his brows in confusion while he stared at the very much alive original.

Elijah didn't even flinch at the Salvatore vampire's voice, he only kept his eyes glued on the human Petrova doppelganger that reminded him so much of Darina. There was a look of sadness in the original's brown eyes before he quickly remembered where he was. "For centuries now," Elijah uttered simply to Damon's assumption as if he wasn't just in a trance of memories before he looked over to the unknown vampires. "Who are you?" The original interrogated as he looked them up and down.

"Who are you?" Cody asked right back in a defensive voice as he crossed his arms over his chest as if he was the baddest man in the room.

"I'm Elijah," the original uttered in a calm and simple tone as he kept his brown eyes locked with the younger vampire's blue ones.

Cody's expression instantly turned from confident to frightened once he realized who was standing in front of him. "W-We were gonna bring her to you," the vampire hurriedly explained, "for Klaus." Cody then pointed towards the human girl as he added, "she's the doppelganger. I don't know how she exists, but she does. Klaus will want to see her."

The original silently stared down at the vampire for a couple of tense seconds before he twitched his head to the side and interrogated, "does anyone else know that you're here?"

"No," Cody instantly answered as he knew it wouldn't be a good idea for him to anger the original, so he tried to give Elijah all the answers he could as quickly as possible.

Elijah silently nodded his head at the vampire's answer before he moved his gaze back over to the human girl. The original then gave her a pointed look before he focused onto the vampires that were trying to deliver the doppelganger to Klaus.

While Elijah stared down at the vampires, Emily somehow knew exactly what the look she got from the original meant. She remembered getting that look right before Elijah had killed Rose's friend; Trevor. Emily then gave Elijah a small nod before she quickly turned her head into her twin sister's neck and squeezed Elena's hand tightly. Emily didn't know why, but she just couldn't help but trust everything that Elijah says.

"You have been incredibly helpful," Elijah uttered once he didn't feel the green eyes of the human girl on him any longer. The original then swiftly pushed his hands into the two vampire's chests and grabbed their hearts before he ripped them out which instantly caused the vampires to fall down to the ground; dead.

Once Emily heard the familiar sound of the bodies dropping to the ground, she left the comfort of her twin sister's neck before she looked across to Elijah, who was staring right back at her. The original then took a small step forward before he instantly changed his mind as he vamp sped out of the apartment.

The human girl couldn't help but let out a heavy breath that she didn't know she was holding once Elijah was gone as she could finally relax even though her plan did fall through thanks to the original. The Gilbert girl didn't know why, but she wasn't that mad as Elijah's presence just made her feel calm and safe. Emily guessed it had something to do with Darina.

"Oh, my God," the Gilbert vampire gasped as she quickly stepped in front of her twin sister while Emily was lost in her thoughts before Elena quickly interrogated, "are you okay?" Elena had felt so nervous during that whole exchange as she remembered trying to keep Emily safe the last time they were in the same room as Elijah. It made Elena feel more worried about her twin sister now that they knew Elijah was still alive.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Emily whispered to her sister as she was still in shock from not only seeing Elijah but also from him basically saving her from being sacrificed and leaving her sister and Damon alive. It was definitely different from their last meeting. Emily focused onto Elena's brown eyes as she assured her concerned sister with a tight hug, "I'm fine."

Emily hated that her plan fell through and she didn't get to end the sacrifice forever. But she was glad that her sister was safe - for now. Emily knew she would have to think of a different plan since Slater and Cody were both dead, but that would have to wait as she was so exhausted. Emily was just still trying to process her emotions from almost dying for the hybrid curse and to save her loved ones along with the fact that she just saw the supposedly dead Elijah.

* * *

 **GILBERT HOUSE**

The human girl sighed as she slowly got out of her black Honda that her twin sister had drove home. It seemed like the drive back to Mystic Falls took much longer than it did when she and Rose drove to Richmond. Emily guessed it was because she was disappointed that she didn't get the chance to save everyone she loves. But Emily wasn't giving up. She was going to keep trying.

"Thanks for driving," Emily told her twin sister as she broke the tense silence while they sluggishly made their way up the stairs of the Gilbert porch with Damon walking by Elena's side. The human girl knew that she would have probably crashed her car if she drove with all the thoughts that were running through her mind.

"Well, your ride left you," Damon exclaimed before he threw the Gilbert girl a smirk as he added teasingly, "didn't want to leave you stranded."

Emily rolled her green eyes at Damon before she muttered, "I drove, you jackass." The human girl wasn't just going to let Damon think of Rose like that, especially when she had began to think of the older vampire as a friend. Plus, she just liked to annoy the older Salvatore.

"I can't believe Elijah is alive," Elena stated as she interrupted the tension between her twin sister and boyfriend. The day was bad enough, she didn't want to hear them argue like they always do. She then glanced between the both of them as she wondered, "why do think he killed those two vampires and just let us go?"

"If I had a dollar for every time some evil vampire surprised me," Damon trailed off sarcastically before he carelessly threw his long arm over his girlfriend's shoulder.

Emily scoffed at the Salvatore vampire as she mumbled, "it takes one to know one," before she reached to open the front door of the Gilbert house. She was just so tired. She only wanted to lay in her bed with Stefan and turn off her emotions for a couple of hours.

However, before Emily could walk through the door and finally get her wish of sleeping, she was soon stopped by the angry voice of the older Salvatore, "what you did today was incredibly stupid."

Emily huffed out a sigh as she closed her tired green eyes before she turned around and faced the two vampires. She could obviously tell by how her twin sister wouldn't look her directly in the eye was that Elena had silently told Damon to try to knock some sense into her. It was just how it always has been as Elena was always scared to yell at her.

"You know what was stupid?" Emily questioned as she glared over at the Salvatore vampire before she informed them, "it was getting caught." She then moved her green eyes to her twin sister as she spoke in a softer voice, "I know you guys want to protect me from everything, but you can't. Klaus is after me, not you. So, if there's a chance that I can save you guys from meeting the same fate, then I will do my damnedest to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Emmie, -" the Gilbert vampire began as she had tears slowly building up in her brown eyes at her twin sister's plan to sacrifice herself. However, before Elena could even utter a single word to hopefully change Emily's mind, she was soon interrupted by the youngest Gilbert sibling rushing out onto the porch with his brown eyes widened frantically.

The human Petrova doppelganger quickly forgot about the conversation she was having with the vampire couple as she instantly focused onto her brother. "What is it, Jer?" Emily worriedly questioned as she could tell that something was wrong by her brother's expression.

Jeremy silently looked at each face around the dark porch as he nervously avoided looking into his older sister's eyes. But the teenager knew he couldn't hold off for long, so he finally looked over to Emily and whispered, "it's Stefan."

* * *

 **FELL'S CHURCH TOMB**

Once the youngest Gilbert had explained to the two vampires and the human girl about how Stefan was currently stuck inside of the tomb with Katherine because Stefan helped saved him, it only took a couple of seconds before they all took off. Elena had held onto her twin sister while she and Damon both used their vamp speed to reach the woods in a matter of minutes.

Emily ran down to the tomb as fast as her legs could move once Elena had planted her onto the still ground. "Stef!" The Gilbert girl shouted while she jogged down the small staircase. She was worried about the younger Salvatore as he was stuck inside of the tomb with Katherine.

The Gilbert girl instantly frowned as she looked down the dark tunnel and couldn't see the vampire. "Stefan!" Emily shouted as she was slowly growing worried that Katherine had done something to him. The brunette girl shouted once more, "Stef," but when she still didn't see him, Emily decided to make a run for it.

However, before the Gilbert girl could step one foot over the spelled barrier, she was suddenly stopped as her twin sister swiftly grabbed ahold of her waist. "No, Emily!" Elena shouted as she was slowly breaking from her calm demeanor, "I am not going to let you get hurt!"

Emily tried to push her twin sister's hands off of her waist as she needed to make sure that Stefan was okay. "You don't understand!" The human girl growled as she was growing annoyed of the tight grip that was holding her in place. She then finally gave up and moved her tired green eyes over to the older Salvatore before she growled, "why did you let him do that?"

"Oh, give me a break," Damon uttered with an eye roll as he wasn't even bothered by the human girl's ranting. "If your dumbass didn't go on this stupid suicide mission we wouldn't even be having this conversation," Damon added with a sarcastic smirk.

"I had it handled!" Emily growled as she went back to fighting her sister's tight grip, "your plan was stupid. I could have saved everyone!" The Petrova doppelganger was slowly losing all her sense of calmness as she was so exhausted and felt like a failure for not completing her plan.

The air then became thick between the two sisters and the Salvatore vampire as they all stared at one another before they were soon interrupted by the sound of someone clapping loudly. The two vampires and the human girl quickly moved their eyes to the tunnel and that is when they saw the smirking Katherine Pierce. "I was definitely right," Katherine commented as she stared at the fierce human girl, "you have the Petrova fire."

"Oh, shut up, Katherine," Damon uttered in annoyance as he didn't have time to hear anything his ex girlfriend had to say. He absolutely didn't want to hear her voice tonight after the long day he had with dealing with the suicidal Gilbert.

"Emily," the Gilbert vampire uttered in a strong voice as she ignored Katherine's smirking presence, "we made the choice we thought would save you. It was the right call." Elena couldn't understand why Emily couldn't get that they were trying to keep her safe.

"It was not the right call!" Emily argued, "I was making the right call. Everyone would have been safe from Klaus!"

"But you wouldn't!" Elena shouted as she took a step away from her twin sister. The Gilbert vampire's emotions were going crazy as she kept going from angry to sad every other second because of her sister's plan.

Emily calmed down as she stared into her twin sister's teary brown eyes. "I'm not going to let you die," the human girl whispered as her voice broke. That was all she cared about. She only wanted to protect everyone and they all wouldn't just let her do that.

Elena sighed as they both came to a standstill before she pulled Emily into a tight hug. "We're not dying," the Gilbert vampire whispered to her sister as they both sobbed into each other's shoulders, "we're going to save everyone. You just have to trust us that we're making the right choice."

Emily didn't say anything back to her sister. She just continued to hold Elena tightly while she stared across at the tunnel, where Katherine was looking at her with a concerned look. Emily didn't even bother questioning Katherine's bipolar attitude anymore as it always confuses her. She only gave her ancestor a small nod before she closed her eyes. The human girl didn't agree with what her sister and everyone else was doing, but Emily wasn't going to voice that. She was just going to continue to try to find her a new way as that was the only way she knew that would keep them safe. They might be trying to keep her alive, but she was going to do whatever it took to protect them from Klaus - no matter what it cost her.


	45. The One With The Deal

_"Hey, Emmie,"_ the voice of the Lockwood teenager voiced through the human Petrova doppelganger's cell phone as she silently sat crisscross on top of her white comforter while she listened to the voicemail her best friend had left her late last night, _"it's Ty."_ There was then a sound of Tyler awkwardly chuckling before he mumbled, _"you obviously know that. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a call and tell you about what's been going on with my transition thing or whatever."_ The voicemail cracked a second later as if the Lockwood teenager was moving around before Tyler continued, _"I know Caroline called you. She told me you were busy with something, but, I, uh, I need my best friend."_ There was then a short pause on Tyler's side before he explained and said his final goodbye, _"Mason isn't answering any of my calls, so I just need you. So, please give me a call later. Love you."_

The human girl let out a heavy sigh once the voicemail ended and she could only hear silence as the message was finished. Emily then tossed her cell phone down onto her bed before she brought her knees to her chest and laid her head onto them. The brunette girl couldn't help but feel like a bad best friend for still not being there for Tyler during this difficult time. She didn't even give him a call like she told Caroline she would do when she finally got home from the tomb. It had totally slipped her mind as she was so concerned about Stefan being stuck with Katherine.

Emily mentally made a promise to herself as she closed her green eyes that she would stop by the Lockwood mansion to see how Tyler was doing on his big day; the full moon. She just needed to get dressed and go see Stefan at the tomb first as their phone call that they shared last night didn't really help her worrying.

"Hey," the soft voice of the Bennett witch uttered as she interrupted the calm and silent moment that the Gilbert girl was having as she tried to relax her mind before taking on the day. "How are you doing?" Bonnie gently questioned.

Emily slowly and tiredly lifted her head up at the familiar voice and that's when she saw that Elena and Bonnie were gradually walking into her bedroom with a concerned expression shining on both of their faces. The brunette girl hated when they would do that. She didn't like when people were worried about her, but Emily knew they had a reason to as if they were worried she would do something crazy again like yesterday - even though it was't crazy in Emily's opinion, it was the safe option. "I'm fine," Emily finally answered after a short pause as she gave them a small smile before she silently got out of bed and made her way towards her closet.

While the human girl was busy looking through her closet for an outfit, the Bennett witch and the Gilbert vampire stared at one another before Bonnie handed Elena the milky stone. The vampire nodded her head before she jumped onto her twin sister's bed. "So, now that we got the moonstone back, what are you gonna do with it?" Elena questioned loudly while she kept glancing over to Emily before she focused onto the Bennett witch.

"Right now," Bonnie began as she took a seat across from the brown eyed vampire on the large bed before she explained in an unusually loud voice, "it's what is binding the sun and the moon curse or the hybrid curse that you told me about. If I can figure out a way to remove the spell from the stone, then the stone becomes useless."

"And according to Katherine, Klaus becomes vengeful," Elena mumbled loudly as she remembered the story her doppelganger had told her about Klaus killing her family while she also tried to get her twin sister involved with hers and Bonnie's trap.

The Bennett witch stared across at Elena for a moment but when the vampire nodded her head in Emily's direction, Bonnie silently agreed as they both knew they were seconds away to setting off the human girl. "Maybe," the Bennett witch uttered loudly, once again, before she commented, "if he finds out."

"Which he will," Emily stated as she joined the conversation like the Bennett witch and the Gilbert vampire knew she would as she finally walked out of her closet with an annoyed expression after she had changed into a dark pair of jeans and a burgundy off the shoulder sweater. Emily couldn't help but become annoyed as they still didn't believe her when she told them how dangerous it was to try to get rid of the curse. But, of course, no one cared what she thought. "And shouldn't we be more focused on getting Stef out of the tomb?" Emily confusingly questioned as she thought that would be top propriety since he's stuck in there.

"Nope," Bonnie muttered as she shook her head. She then turned her body around, so she was fully facing the standing human girl before she elaborated, "Stefan wants me to focus on unbinding the moonstone."

 _Of course he does,_ Emily thought irritatingly. The Gilbert girl felt like they were all purposely trying to intercept her plan, which they probably were. However, that definitely wasn't going to stop the human doppelganger. Emily then focused onto the Bennett witch and gave her a charming grin instead of her resting scowl before she tried to persuade Bonnie, "I think you should get Stef out first, so there can be more eyes to help you get rid of the moonstone as soon as possible."

Bonnie shook her head, once again, along with a soft chuckle as she knew what the human girl was trying to do before she stated, "I'm taking Stefan's side on this one." She then shot the Gilbert girl a light glare before she added, "and we're not just gonna let you get used in some creepy sacrifice."

"It's not that creepy," Emily mumbled as she defended the sacrifice after she had walked over to her bed and grabbed the moonstone from her sister's hands before she began to twirl it through her fingers. The Gilbert girl, however, did find the sacrifice completely crazy and weird, but she was hoping that if she down played it then they would focus on getting Stefan out of the tomb while she tried to focus on her own plan to save everyone.

"It's not happening, Nicole," Bonnie stated as she called the human girl by her middle name before the Bennett witch quickly swiped the milky stone out of her hands as she could see Emily's mind was roaming with active thoughts like they all knew she would.

The Gilbert girl frowned before she quickly shook her head and went to open her mouth to try to convince her twin sister and best friend to forget about the moonstone like she had been trying to do. However, before Emily could utter a single word, she was soon interrupted by her youngest sibling walking into her bedroom. "What's going on in here?" Jeremy wondered as he noticed just how tense the air was.

"Oh, you know, just girl talk," Bonnie told the younger teenager with a small shrug before she made her way over to her brown purse that sat on Emily's white vanity table while she made sure to make as much noise as she could so she would get the human girl's attention. Bonnie then glanced over to Jeremy, who was standing by the table, before she slipped the moonstone into the front pocket of her purse.

The Gilbert vampire glanced over to her twin sister, who was watching Bonnie set their trap with the moonstone, just like they wanted. Their plan was going perfectly, so Elena decided to continue to the next step as she stood up from Emily's large bed and announced to the room, "I think I'm going to go see if we have anything for breakfast."

The Bennett witch nodded her head in agreement as she headed to the door while she commented, "I could really go for some blueberry pancakes." Bonnie then turned her gaze to the human girl, who wasn't following after them, before she questioned with a raised eyebrow, "you coming?"

Emily gave her twin sister and best friend a small smile before she told them, "I'll be down in a couple of minutes." She ran her fingers through her messy brown hair as she gave them the perfect excuse to give her some time to just think about her next move to keep everyone alive, "I just need to deal with this mess first."

Elena nodded her head and told her sister with an unusually bright smile, "I'll make you some coffee," before she and Bonnie quietly exited the human girl's bedroom.

Emily closed her green eyes and let out a loud sigh once she couldn't hear anyone in her bedroom anymore as she just needed a couple of minutes to herself to relax her mind. However, when Emily opened her eyes back up, she was surprised when she saw that her brother was staring down at her as she thought he had left. The human girl lifted an eyebrow as she questioned with a smirk, "do I have something on my face?"

Jeremy ignored his older sister's playful attitude like they both would usually have in the morning. He instead crossed his arms over his chest while he glared down at the human girl before he interrogated in the strongest voice he could muster, "why are you on some suicide mission?"

The brunette girl didn't want to have this conversation with her baby brother as she knew it would upset him. So, Emily decided to do what all the Gilbert's have done when they want to avoid talking about their problems and that is to just joke around them. The human girl then began to carelessly play with her red fingernails before she uttered dismissively as she ignored her brother's stern tone, "I think of it more like a suicide squad."

"Emily," Jeremy growled as he left no room for games. He didn't think any of this was funny like the green eyed girl was obviously joking about. Jeremy just wanted his sisters to be okay, but he couldn't know that for sure anymore as his older sister keeps putting herself in these dangerous situations.

The human girl heavily sighed when she realized that Jeremy wasn't going to start laughing any time soon as she saw zero humor in his brown eyes. Emily hated that her baby brother was worrying about her as that was her job. But she knew he wasn't going to stop until she told him something that could help him understand why she was doing all this, so she did just that like she had been repeating to everyone else. "I'm just trying to protect you guys from being harmed," Emily finally told her brother as she answered his original question.

"Oh, so bringing Klaus the moonstone so you can get yourself killed is okay?" Jeremy growled angrily. He just didn't know why his older sister would just turn herself over. He didn't want anything to happen to her, so it made him equally mad and upset that she was trying to get Klaus' attention so he could kill her.

"Jer..." Emily began in a soft mumble as she tried to console her brother, but before she could utter another word, the brown eyed teenager swiftly turned around and rushed out of her bedroom. The Gilbert girl let out another sigh once she was alone. She knew this was going to happen. That is why she wanted to finish her plan all in one day but, of course, that didn't really pan out. Emily knew no one was going to understand why she was so willing to turn herself over because they aren't in her position, but she was still going to try to get them to get why she was doing this; to keep them alive and safe.

Emily decided after a moment that since Jeremy was too pissed at her right now along with the fact that Elena and Bonnie were so focused on getting rid of the curse from unbinding the moonstone, that she would go see how Stefan was doing before going to see Tyler about his werewolf identity. However, after Emily grabbed her cell phone from her bed and went to pass her vanity table, a thought suddenly popped into her head. _They can't focus on the moonstone if they don't have it,_ the human girl realized as she quickly stuck the milky stone into the front pocket of her jeans before she slowly made her way out of her bedroom in a calm demeanor.

Emily knew that she needed to act normal like nothing was wrong and she wasn't actually stealing the moonstone or she would be caught. So the Gilbert girl slowly began her journey down the stairs like she usually would before she silently slipped into her combat boots once she was in the foyer and grabbed her keys from the small table by the door.

But before Emily could make her final escape, she was soon stopped by the sound of her twin sister's voice coming up from behind her. "Hey, where are you going?" Elena questioned in confusion before she informed the human girl, "Bonnie made pancakes and I made coffee."

The human girl quickly swirled her body around and saw that her twin sister and best friend were standing only a couple of feet away from her. Emily hurriedly placed assuring smile on her face before she explained, "I was just going to visit Stef at the tomb before stopping by the Lockwood mansion."

Bonnie rose an eyebrow at the brunette girl in amusement as she didn't believe her. She then took a small and slow sip of the warm coffee from the pale orange cup as she wanted to see if Emily would crack before she finally spoke as she questioned, "you wanna try that again?"

"Seriously?" Emily asked. She then rolled her green eyes in fake annoyance as if she was really just leaving the house like she normally would instead of hiding something from them. "If you don't believe me, then go through my phone," Emily told the Bennett witch. She then pulled her device out of her back pocket and stated, "Stefan knows I'm coming and Tyler left me a voicemail."

The Gilbert vampire and the Bennett witch glanced at each other for a couple of silent seconds as they spoke with their eyes before Elena slowly and cautiously grabbed her sister's cell phone. Elena then began to look through Emily's text messages along with her last calls and saw that she was telling the truth. The Gilbert vampire handed the cell phone back to her sister once she got her proof before she stood beside Bonnie again and mumbled confusingly, "she's not lying." They thought their plan would have worked, but it seemed like Emily was really going to see Stefan and Tyler.

"Thank you," the human girl muttered sarcastically before she asked in the very same tone, "can I go now?" Emily knew she had to keep up this defensive attitude for them to actually believe that she was doing what she said she was. But reality, she was taking a certain item with her to keep her family and friends safe.

Bonnie quickly nodded her head as she apologized for hers and Elena's assumptions to the human girl, "yeah, we're sorry." She bit down on her bottom lip before she told Emily softly, "we're just worried about you, Emmie. That's all."

Emily silently nodded her head as if she was accepting their apology, even though she was starting to feel guilty for lying to her best friend and twin sister. But Emily knew she was doing the right thing. She was protecting them from what Klaus could do to them. "I'll be back in a couple of hours," the human doppelganger promised before she turned around and went to finally walk out of the front door.

However, before she could even lift one of her black combat boots off of the hardwood floors of the foyer, she was abruptly halted by her brother yelling, "stop!" The younger teenager showed up out of nowhere and quickly blocked Emily's exit while he tried to control his fast breathing from sprinting down the stairs. "Sh-She took the moonstone," Jeremy panted as he explained to the two very confused supernatural beings.

"What?" The Gilbert girl questioned in fake shock, "what are you talking about?" Emily furrowed her brows as she looked at Jeremy to keep up her feigned innocence before she pointed to her twin sister and exclaimed, "will you tell him, Lena? I'm just going to see Stef and Tyler, nothing else. You saw it for yourself."

The Gilbert vampire's brown eyes squinted as she didn't know who to believe. She did look through her sister's phone and saw that everything Emily said checked out. However, there was just one last thing to do to make sure her sister wasn't actually hiding anything. Elena then silently walked back up to the human girl before she stuck her hands into Emily's front pockets of her jeans, which caused Elena to immediately sigh when she felt that she was holding the moonstone.

Emily lifted both of her arms up as she quickly uttered, "I have no idea how that got there," as she continued to play the innocent card.

"Stop lying, Emily," the youngest of the Gilbert siblings commanded as he angrily glared at his older sister before he stomped over to stand between his other sister and the Bennett witch.

"We tested you," Bonnie told the human girl as she grabbed the moonstone from Elena's hand before she shrugged her shoulders and mumbled, "and you failed."

Emily huffed out a sigh as she ran her fingers through her brown hair. She knew her act was up now that she was caught, so she decided to tell them what she had been repeating to everyone so they could understand why she was doing this. "I'm just trying to keep you guys from getting hurt," Emily uttered softly before she explained, "Klaus killed the entire Petrova family because Maria tried to ruin the sacrifice along with Katherine, who turned herself and ran." The human doppelganger shook her head and murmured, "I'm not going to give him the chance to hurt everyone I love."

The two younger Gilbert siblings and the Bennett witch then began to silently have a conversation between each other while the human girl stood there in confusion after she gave a heartfelt speech. It was about another minute or so before their conversation ended and Jeremy walked over to the door before he opened it for his older sister.

Emily stood there in complete confusion as she stared at her exit and the three people watching her. She didn't understand, were they just going to let her walk out after all that? Emily then shrugged her shoulders as she guessed since she didn't have the moonstone anymore then they thought she wouldn't try to turn herself over to Klaus. The Gilbert girl gave her siblings and best friend one last look before she went to step through the door so she could finally go see Stefan and Tyler, but she was soon stopped as her body wouldn't go over the threshold.

"What the hell," Emily mumbled bewilderingly as she tried to push her hand through the entrance of the Gilbert residence, but couldn't as her hand kept only hitting something invisible. The brunette girl quickly realized that it was like the spell that keeps Katherine stuck in the tomb as she remembered her doppelganger's sister doing these exact same movements. "Seriously?" Emily growled once she turned around and faced the three grinning teenagers. "You were never going to let me leave, were you?" The human doppelganger questioned as she crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance.

"Nope," Elena told her twin sister as she patted Emily's shoulder with an amused smile before she made her way back into the kitchen with a laughing Jeremy following behind her as the vampire knew they were probably burning the pancakes that Bonnie had started to make a few minutes ago.

"Bon Bon," Emily begged as she put on her best puppy dog face as she knew Bonnie was the only person that could help her since she was the one with the witch abilities and along with the fact that Emily knew with complete certainty that Elena and Jeremy were going to enjoy teasing her now that she was stuck inside of the Gilbert house.

The Bennett witch quickly shook her head as she avoided looking into the doppelganger's bright green eyes. "No, no, no," Bonnie hurriedly uttered, "I am not falling for that." She then focused her eyes on the tan ceiling as she pointed in Emily's direction while she told the human girl, "this is for the best, Emmie. We're going to get you out of this," before Bonnie swiftly turned around and made her way back into the kitchen as she knew she would fall under Emily's charm like everyone else does if she stayed any longer.

Emily let out a loud huff once she was left alone in front of the spelled door that was basically teasing her as she couldn't exit it. "You guys are the worse!" The Petrova doppelganger yelled out before she instantly rolled her green eyes when all three of them in the kitchen yelled back, "love you too!"

Emily was already growing bored and the day had barely started as it was only nine in the morning. _This is going to be hell,_ the brunette girl thought before she sluggishly made her way back up the stairs and towards her bedroom while she tried to think of what she was suppose to do all day.

* * *

 **FELL'S CHURCH TOMB**

Meanwhile in the middle of the woods while the human Petrova doppelganger was trying to think of what to do with her day imprisoned in her home, the oldest Salvatore was currently standing in front of the barrier line that stopped him from being trapped inside of the tomb like his idiotic brother, who just had to be the hero, and Katherine, who was just a bitch devil that deserved to be here. Damon had just finished explaining to Stefan of what has been going on from Emily's suicidal mission yesterday to the plan he, Elena, Jeremy, and Bonnie had came up with to keep the human girl safe from turning herself over.

The stuck Salvatore raised one of his eyebrows in his brother's direction as he tried to understand what Damon was saying; how they basically locked the human girl in so she wouldn't be able to escape. "So, you trapped her..." Stefan began before he mumbled confusingly, "in the house?"

Damon shrugged his left shoulder carelessly as he stated, "trust me, it's for the best." He then rolled his blue eyes in annoyance before he exclaimed, "your girlfriend thinks she has to go get herself killed, but..." Damon shot his brother a smirk before he added, "luckily for you, the witch agreed with our plan, so fret not, brother."

The tomb then grew silent for a moment before Damon lifted up his hand that was carrying a brown backpack and stated, "I brought you this." The blue eyed vampire tossed it over the barrier line as he listed, "care package; candles, lanterns and..." Damon then lifted up his other hand as he added, "lunch," as he held up a bottle full of animal blood just like his brother likes it.

Stefan shook his head as he crossed his arms over his sweaty grey Henley that was clinging to his body from the Virginia heat. "Give that to me and I'm just gonna have to share it with her," Stefan explained as he pointed his head behind him to the nosy Katherine.

Damon glanced over his brother's shoulder before he let out a sigh as he knew Stefan was right. "Yeah," the blue eyed vampire mumbled as he brought the bottle of blood to his side instead of handing it to his brother. Damon definitely wasn't going to hand it over when the bitch devil would just take it for her selfish self.

"You know," Katherine began as she slowly made her way up to stand next to Stefan by the spelled barrier before she stated sarcastically, "you two are surprisingly calm, considering Klaus will hunt you down and kill you if mess with his little plan."

Damon lifted both of his shoulders as he shrugged before he told his ex girlfriend, "I've been dead before, I got over it." He then focused onto his brother as he assured him, "once we deal with the moonstone, we'll figure a way to get you out."

Stefan shook his head as he told Damon, "don't worry about me. I just need you to make sure Emily's safe and she isn't doing anything stupid." The human girl was the only thing Stefan cared about at the moment. He could deal with Katherine, he just needed to make sure that Emily wasn't trying to hand herself over again while he couldn't do anything about it.

* * *

The Gilbert girl had decided after an hour of pacing up and down her bedroom's hardwood floors that since she couldn't actually go talk to the Lockwood teenager face to face, thanks to the ever so lovely Bonnie Bennett, then she was at least was going to give him a call and be there for him as best as she could before he would have to go through the full moon for the first time.

Once Emily finally had something to occupy her mind for a while, she grabbed a notebook and unhooked her silver laptop from the charger on her wooden desk before she hopped onto her large queen sized bed. Emily had grabbed a notebook because she wanted to write down anything that Tyler would tell her as she wanted to be there for him at the next full moon since she obviously was trapped in her house for this one. The Gilbert girl then pulled her hair back with a black hair tie once she was settled on her bed as she waited for her Skype call to be answered by her best friend.

It took about three minutes longer than usual before the brunette girl finally saw the Lockwood teenager pop up onto her screen. Emily noticed right away that her best friend wasn't doing that well as Tyler was out of breath and was looking around his room frantically. "Hey, Ty," the Gilbert girl uttered softly, "how are you doing?"

Tyler ran his shaky fingers through his short messy brown hair as he tried to calm down after rushing around his room looking for everything he would need for tonight. "Honestly, I don't even know," Tyler mumbled before he asked irritatedly and confusingly, "where have you been? I thought you would be here like you promised."

Emily let out a heavy sigh as she knew this would be coming up. She felt so guilty that she couldn't help him through everything like she agreed to do. "I am so sorry, Ty," Emily apologized as sincerely as she could while staring into Tyler's brown eyes through her computer screen. "I was up at Duke yesterday looking at the campus, and Jenna told me to be home at a certain time. But I lost track, so now I'm grounded for the weekend," the human girl lied.

Emily knew she had to keep up the lie that Caroline, thankfully, told Tyler yesterday when she was busy with her plan in Richmond. She also added another lie that she was grounded since she couldn't actually leave her house, and it wasn't like she could just tell Tyler; _'no, sorry. I can't come help you because our friend, Bonnie, is a witch and she trapped me with a spell.'_ Tyler would definitely think she was crazy if she told him that. Plus, Emily didn't need Tyler knowing of another supernatural being after barely finding out that he's a werewolf.

The Lockwood teenager was then silent for a couple of minutes as he messed with his short nails, instead of looking into his best friend's green eyes with disappointment and sadness. He had been counting on Emily to be there with him during all this, so it made him feel conflicted and even more nervous of tonight. Tyler then sighed after another minute or so before he finally looked back up at the Gilbert girl and mumbled, "it's fine. Caroline said she would help me." Caroline definitely wasn't Emily, but Tyler figured she would have to do as he didn't think he could do this all alone.

Emily silently nodded her head while she bit down on her bottom lip. She knew Tyler was upset that she wouldn't be there for him on his first full moon as she was also feeling the same thing. So instead of beating herself over it, Emily decided that she would be there for him now with the best moral support she could offer so he could stay calm. Even though Emily didn't know what happens and what they feel when someone transforms on a full moon, she figured it would be in Tyler's best interest to not start freaking out or something bad might end up happening.

"Caroline told me that you found something of Mason's," Emily began as she decided to start off easy so Tyler wouldn't automatically start losing control about tonight along with the fact that she wanted to write down anything that could be helpful for the future. "Did it tell you anything about what happens during the full moon?" Emily questioned as she sat her notebook onto her lap while she tapped her blue pen against her white comforter.

"Well since Mason wasn't answering any of my calls, I had to look for answers on my own," Tyler stated as he rolled his brown eyes in annoyance that Mason still wouldn't get back to him after he left to Florida before he added, "but we did find something helpful." The Lockwood teenager got up from his desk and moved over to his bed, where a large black duffel bag sat. Tyler then turned towards his webcam as he slowly pulled out a large metal chain and Mason's journal while he shouted towards his laptop, "I found these in the Lockwood cellar."

Emily silently nodded her head as she carefully listened while she wrote down a small note, _'LW cellar. Chains needed.'_ The Gilbert girl then looked back to her screen and saw that Tyler was sitting back in his leather desk chair before she mentioned something else her blonde best friend had told her about while she was in Richmond, "Caroline also told me something about a USB drive."

"Yeah," Tyler mumbled as a shiver ran down his spine as the memories of watching his uncle slowly transform into a werewolf popped into his mind. "It was bad," he whispered as if he was scared to even talk about it before he explained, "the USB was a log of Mason's first transformation. It was over six hours of Mason screaming and yelling before I had to turn it off." Tyler ran his fingers through his brown hair as he anxiously tapped his foot against the floors of his bedroom before he informed Emily about what else he and Caroline found, "a-and he drank this stuff; wolfsbane. Mason wrote that it was to slow him down and weaken him."

 _'Wolfsbane = werewolf weakness. Long transformation. Pain,'_ the human doppelganger quickly added to her list of werewolf notes before she focused back onto her laptop and that is where she saw Tyler holding his head between his hands. She could also see how he was breathing irregularly as she noticed how fast his chest moving. Emily felt so heartbroken while she stared across at her best friend. She didn't know what she was suppose to do. Mason never told her what to do. So, Emily did what she knew best and tried to comfort him as she softly spoke as she could tell he was slowly breaking down, "Ty, you need to calm down and relax. You're going to get through this."

The Lockwood teenager swiftly lifted his head up from his hands before he looked at the brunette girl as a snarl escaped his mouth. "But I'm not!" Tyler shouted emotionally, "you didn't see the pain that Mason had to go through with just one transformation. It just got worse and worse. I-I-I can't do it. I just can't."

The Gilbert girl swallowed thickly at the tone of Tyler's voice as she knew he was just feeling different things from the full moon and that he didn't really mean to snap at her. He was right, though, she didn't see what Mason went through, but she did know who Tyler was. She knew he could do it. "You are going to get through this," Emily stated, once again, in a strong voice as she voiced her thoughts.

The human girl knew she needed to give Tyler the confidence he needs to feel like he can survive the pain or it would just hurt him even more. "Why don't you think everyone is a werewolf?" Emily questioned before she told her best friend, "because not everyone can handle it." She pointed towards the emotional Lockwood as she continued, "but you? I know you get through it. You are brave and you don't give up." Emily gave Tyler a small assuring smile as she told him, "you just have to believe in yourself, Ty. Yeah, you're going to feel pain, but this is just going to make you even stronger. This is your family heritage, so you were born a Lockwood werewolf for a reason. You got this."

The Lockwood teenager bowed his head for a couple of silent minutes as he absorbed the brunette girl's words before he finally looked up with tears clouding his brown eyes. "I'm scared," Tyler confessed in a mumble as his anger left him and he could only feel anxiousness and nervousness to what he would experience tonight.

"I know," Emily uttered softly. She could tell by just looking at her best friend's body that he was slowly freaking out and she hated it. This was not how she wanted to help Tyler when she promised to keep him safe for Mason. She felt helpless that she couldn't do much more than comfort him. "Listen, you're going to be okay," Emily told Tyler, "besides, Caroline is going to right there with you and I taught her everything she knows." She then shot the Lockwood teenager a smirk as she wanted to at least make him laugh once, "and if she doesn't do good, then I'll kick her ass for you."

The Lockwood teenager couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, just like the Gilbert girl wanted, as he shook his head in amusement at Emily's protectiveness. It was nice to feel something other than anger and nerves for the first time all day. Tyler knew he could count on the brunette girl like he always does to make him feel calm and relaxed. "Thanks, Emmie," the Lockwood teenager praised.

Emily looked across at her best friend with a content smile making its way onto her face. She was glad that she could make Tyler laugh and give him a moment to actually breathe and not to worry about what he'll be going through. Emily could tell he just needed to take a step back to calm down. "You'll get through this," the Gilbert girl stated as she further showed her support for the werewolf as she wanted to help keep his confidence up, "I believe in you."

Tyler silently nodded his head even though he didn't really know if he could actually do this, but he didn't really have a choice when it's a curse. He just tried to absorb all of the brunette girl's positive and good energy. He definitely didn't have much as Mason's transformation kept repeating in his head.

"I should probably get going," the Lockwood teenager muttered after a couple of calm minutes of silence had passed between them once he glanced down to the time at the bottom right corner of his laptop. "Caroline and I still need to set everything up in the cellar," Tyler explained as he, once again, began to anxiously bounce his leg up and down.

"Alright," Emily commented as she knew Tyler needed to go back into the real world and focus on tonight. She hated that she couldn't be there for him through all of his transformation but she was glad that she finally got to talk to him. "If you need anything or if you need some assurance, just give me a call," Emily told her best friend as she wanted to make sure he was okay before she uttered her farewell and ended the Skype call, "good luck and you got this, Ty."

The human girl let out a loud sigh and rested her head into her hands once the call ended and she couldn't see her best friend's face anymore. Emily knew she was going to be extremely worried tonight. She didn't want Tyler to have to go through the pain that comes with the transformation. It was times like this that Emily wished Mason was still around. He would definitely know what to do. The only thing Emily could do was hope and pray that Tyler could survive his first full moon.

It took a couple of seconds of the human doppelganger sitting before she jumped out of her bed as she knew she would just drive herself insane if she stayed there as she only thought of how Tyler was going to be doing. Emily knew she needed to distract herself from what was going to happen tonight, so Emily exited her bedroom and headed down the stairs as she decided to find something to eat since she skipped the breakfast that Elena and Bonnie had made.

Emily was about two steps away from reaching the bottom of the stairs and the small foyer before the front door was thrown open. The Gilbert girl immediately let out a groan when she saw it was the oldest Salvatore. "Leave," Emily commanded. She was not going to be stuck in a house that she couldn't even leave with the very annoying Damon in her presence. It would be hundred percent worse than her siblings teasing her all day.

"Aw, don't be like that," the blue eyed vampire cooed with a smirk. He then closed the exit that the human girl couldn't leave from before he continued to taunt the human girl, "you really should of locked your doors if you didn't want to see this sexy face."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time," Emily mumbled sarcastically as she rolled her green eyes before she pushed passed the vampire and made her way towards the living room and kitchen, where she saw her twin sister watching TV. "Can you get your boy toy off my back?" Emily asked Elena as she huffed out a sigh once she threw herself down onto the leather couch next to her sister.

Elena shook her head with a small chuckle at her sister's crankiness but she knew it was best to not engage with Emily along with the fact that she was enjoying watching her twin sister and boyfriend go back and forth. It was just as good as the reality show she was currently watching.

"I would love to, Emily," Damon exclaimed as he sat down on the arm of the leather couch by his girlfriend. He laid a quick kiss to her brown hair as he threw his arm over Elena's shoulder before he focused his blue eyes back onto the human girl and continued,. "but my brother doesn't trust you to not go on another suicide mission."

The human girl immediately frowned as she didn't know Damon had informed Stefan about what she had tried to do yesterday. She knew that was another person she had to explain her reasoning to, once again, and she knew it wasn't going to be that simple to explain to Stefan that she had tried to turn herself over as she cared a lot about what the younger Salvatore thought. He was definitely going to be pissed at her.

"So, he knows about the stupid stunt you guys pulled by trapping me in my own house?" Emily wondered in annoyance as she rose an eyebrow at the vampire. She was so tired and irked that they all kept interrupting her plan when she's trying to save them.

Damon shot the human girl a wide smirk before he told her something that would obviously make her mad, "he thought it was the perfect idea."

"Did you tell him about Elijah being alive?" The Gilbert vampire interrupted the showdown between Emily and Damon as she curiously asked her vampire boyfriend. Elena was still confused about the whole Elijah situation that took place last night. She didn't understand why the original just let them all go after he wanted to take her twin sister away just a few days ago. It just didn't make sense.

The Salvatore vampire shook his head as he slowly ran his long fingers down the right side of Elena's arm. "Yeah, no," Damon muttered, "I didn't tell him."

The human girl lifted an eyebrow in Damon's direction as she turned her body to the side on the couch. "And why didn't you?" Emily wondered as she didn't see why Damon didn't tell Stefan when it was a big deal. Elijah basically came back from the dead... again.

Damon looked towards the ceiling at the human girl's question as if he was lost in deep thought before he looked over at the green eyed girl. "Well, A; he can't do anything about it... and B," the Salvatore vampire responded before he paused for a dramatic effect. He then pointed towards Emily as he concluded with a wide smirk, "what I just said."

Emily rolled her eyes in annoyance at the older vampire. It was like Damon just had to make a joke out of everything and Emily was definitely not in any joking mood when she couldn't even leave her house. However, before the human girl could say anything sarcastically, they were all interrupted as her brother walked into the living room, which caused Damon to speak before Emily could even utter a single syllable.

"Where's Bonnie?" The Salvatore vampire questioned as soon as he saw the youngest Gilbert sibling walking into the living room alone. He had thought the Bennett witch would of been somewhere in the house since she had spelled the front door.

The brown eyed human furrowed his brows in confusion as he stared across at the Salvatore vampire before he mumbled, "I thought she was meeting you." Jeremy swore Bonnie told him that she was going to meet up with Damon when she left the Gilbert house an hour ago.

Damon shook his head as he corrected the teenager, "no, she's on moonstone duty." The Salvatore vampire then turned his gaze to his girlfriend's sister with a smirk as he stated teasingly, "I have the best job. I'm on Emily patrol."

Emily rolled her green eyes in annoyance, once again, as she told the older vampire, "I don't need you." She then leaned her head onto Elena's shoulder before she added with her own smirk, "I have my sister, so you can go." The human girl would rather deal with Elena and her teasing than having to deal with Damon all day or whenever this stupid barrier spell would end.

"It can be just like old times," Elena grinned as she linked her arm with her twin sisters. Now that Emily was stuck in their house and the fact that she didn't have anything to do, Elena could finally just relax with her two siblings.

"And who's on Tyler Lockwood and the full moon?" The youngest Gilbert wondered after he squished his older sister in the middle of him and Elena as he took a seat on the leather couch.

"Oh!" The human girl yelped as she raised her hand up towards the ceiling, "I volunteer!" It was finally her chance to escape the Gilbert house along with the fact that she could actually help her best friend get through the full moon, so she definitely was going to take it.

"Yeah, fat chance, Katniss," Damon uttered as he rolled his eyes at the brunette girl. There was no way he was going to let Emily keep an eye on the werewolf when he promised his brother he wouldn't let the human girl get into anything stupid and werewolf watching was at the top of that list right underneath turning herself over to Klaus. "Besides, vampire barbie asked me if she could handle it, and I said, why not?" Damon stated as he shrugged his shoulders before he added, "figured if she screwed up, he'll bite her and then I'll be rid of two of my problems."

"You're an ass," Emily muttered irritatedly as soon as she heard what the vampire said about her two best friends. She couldn't wait for Damon to just leave her house. Every second he stayed, it just made her more annoyed with the fact that she was trapped.

It seemed like the Gods were listening to the human girl, because not even a second later, the Salvatore vampire's cell phone began to ring in the pocket of his leather jacket. "You're too sweet," Damon told Emily sarcastically before he got off the arm of the couch as he answered his device and walked into the kitchen.

"Could you please get rid of your boyfriend?" Emily pleaded as she turned her puppy dog face towards her twin sister. She was gradually going insane with being in the same small space with Damon, especially without Stefan to keep her calm from the mindlessness words that comes out his brother's mouth.

The Gilbert vampire shook her head with a chuckle before she pulled her sister's arm close to her, which caused Emily to lean her head further onto Elena's shoulder. The vampire listened for a moment to Damon and Alaric's conversation before she told her sister, "he should be leaving soon."

"Thank God," the youngest Gilbert sibling uttered as he still didn't like the older Salvatore vampire after Damon snapped his neck a few months ago. Damon just bothered him every time he would even look at him, especially now that he was dating Elena.

Elena rolled her brown eyes at her two siblings before she mumbled as she defended her boyfriend, "he's not that bad."

The two human Gilberts both chuckled at their vampire sister as they were just messing around with her, but they were soon interrupted before they could tease her anymore, thankfully for Elena, by the Salvatore vampire walking back into the living room. "Change of plans," Damon announced before he looked over to his girlfriend and the baby Gilbert as he added, "you babysit."

The twin sisters immediately turned to each other with a grin as they both said in unison, "chick flick time." It was what they would always do when they had time together. It was usually with Jenna, but since she was busy down at the Town Square, their brother would have to do.

Jeremy instantly groaned as soon as he heard his sisters as he knew exactly what they meant. "Kill me now," the youngest sibling moaned as he laid his head into Emily's lap as he hoped he would just fall asleep before they pulled out the movies and ice cream.

"Hey, you know," the Salvatore vampire began as if he was going to say something nice while he slowly walked backwards to the front door of the Gilbert house. He turned his soft expression to a smirk as he stared at the human girl before he stated, "you should get out, enjoy the sun." Damon then placed his hand on his chin as if he was thinking before he exclaimed, "oh wait, you can't!"

Emily growled as she glared over at the smirking blue eyed vampire before she grabbed the pillow that was leaning against her brother's side before she threw it as hard as she could, which sadly didn't hit her target as the older vampire dodged it before he exited the house. Emily then turned her glare to her brother, who was full on belly-laughing at her. The human girl gave her brother a condescending grin before she pushed Jeremy off the couch. "Go get the ice cream, loser," Emily commanded her brother with a chuckle before she stepped over his body and went to find the movies they would be watching.

The human doppelganger was sad and upset that she couldn't just walk out of her own home and either complete her plan or make sure Tyler was doing okay, but she was glad that she got rid of Damon and that she gets to spend at least a couple of hours with her two siblings. Emily couldn't even remember the last time that they all just hung out with each other with nothing in the way.

Everything wasn't all good in Mystic Falls, but at least they had each other and they were all alive and healthy. That was a good day in Emily's book and she was going to savor it as long as she could.

* * *

Emily huffed out a sigh as she dropped her blue pen onto her AP Chemistry notebook along with letting out a loud yawn. The Gilbert girl had been in her bedroom and catching up on her homework for a couple of hours after she, Elena, and Jeremy had ate all of the chocolate ice cream and watched two chick flick movies and one action. Emily was starting to get exhausted while trying to keep her mind off of everything like Stefan being stuck in the tomb and Tyler feeling the pain of the full moon. It had been working for most of the day, but now that it was getting late, she was starting to get more anxious as there wasn't much to do.

The human girl decided after another yawn escaped her mouth that she was going to take a break from studying and get some water or maybe she'll even take a quick drink from Alaric's alcohol cabinet since Jeremy was in his room playing video games and Elena went to the Grill after Damon called about needing her help. Emily just needed something to occupy her mind until she could finally fall asleep and end this weird day - so hopefully that could help her.

Emily pushed her chair away from her desk after she reached towards the ceiling and stretched her tired body before she silently began to trot her way down the staircase while she hummed some tune that her mother used to sing to her and Elena when they couldn't fall asleep. It used to always calm her and it surprisingly still worked as she was feeling in content as she made her way towards the kitchen.

However, before Emily could make the short reach to the kitchen, she soon stopped when she saw that the hallway door was wide open with her aunt's head peeking inside. Emily was confused to why Jenna would be going through all those boxes when it was only full of old things that her parents use to hoard. "Hey, if it isn't my favorite aunt," Emily exclaimed with a smile once she made the walk to the new face in her jailed home before she wondered, "what are you looking for?"

The strawberry blonde sighed thankfully when she caught sight of her oldest niece before she rolled her eyes at what Emily had said. "I'm your only aunt," Jenna muttered in amusement before she added, "but thank God you're here." She then quickly pushed a heavy box into the brunette girl's arms and stated, "I need your help."

"Oof," Emily mumbled as she felt her knees buckle on their own thanks to the extra weight she was holding. The Gilbert girl then glanced inside of the box once she could stand straight and noticed that the box only contained a bunch of old leather bound journals and bundles of stapled printed papers. "What's all this?" Emily curiously wondered as she didn't recognize the items.

"Your mom's files from Historical Society," Jenna answered her niece's question as she glanced down to the box that was in front of her while she leaned over it. "I got roped into helping Mrs. Lockwood," the strawberry blonde stated before she rolled her hazel eyes and added, "and by roped, I mean very excited to participate."

"Sounds super exciting," Emily sarcastically told her aunt as she gave the strawberry blonde a large smirk while she settled the heavy box onto her hip. The human girl couldn't help but chuckle at the annoyed look on Jenna's face as she knew how much Jenna just loves to help Mrs. Lockwood.

Jenna rolled her eyes at her niece before she placed a bright smile onto her face, picked up her box, and slammed the hallway door shut. The strawberry blonde then turned around as the smile was for the man in the nice black coat as she was trying to show that she really was excited to help, instead of how she just showed her niece that she hated doing things for the mayor.

Emily let out a loud gasp and took a step back as soon as she saw who her aunt had been smiling towards. She couldn't believe it. The person that was standing in her house was the original; Elijah. The Gilbert girl honestly didn't know how she was suppose to act or what she was suppose to do as she couldn't show that she knew who Elijah was since her aunt obviously didn't know that. Emily was just more concerned about having the vampire so close to her aunt, even though Emily weirdly enough trusted that Elijah wouldn't harm her. It was just that she never wanted Jenna to be involved in all of this mess, but here was one of the oldest vampires in the world chatting along with her aunt.

The original turned his gaze onto the young brunette girl after he had gave Jenna a small thankful nod. Elijah then began to stare at Emily with a smile that was confident and amused. He couldn't help but chuckle silently at the frantic girl. "Hey, I'm Elijah," the original politely introduced himself to the woman's niece, who he was currently working with, as if he didn't know her.

"Elijah's in town doing research on Mystic Falls," Jenna explained to her eldest niece after she had placed her box onto the dining room table and had also grabbed the box that was in Emily's hands.

The original slowly walked the couple of steps towards the human doppelganger once the strawberry blonde had walked away. "It's a pleasure," Elijah uttered in his sweet as honey voice as he gave Emily a charming smile. He then gently grabbed ahold of Emily's right hand before he slowly and softly brought it to his lips and left a small kiss to her warm skin.

Emily immediately swallowed thickly at their close proximity and the intimate action. "Hi," the Gilbert girl uttered barely above a whisper before she quickly pulled her hand away and took a step back when she noticed that her aunt was walking towards them.

"So, you know," Jenna began as she stood in front of her niece and the new comer in Mystic Falls, "you're welcome to stay here and rummage through this stuff." The strawberry blonde then glanced over over to her niece, who she had noticed has been acting weirdly, before she suggested, "or Emily and I could help you load it into your car."

Elijah kept his brown eyes glued to Emily's nervous green ones for a minute longer than he probably should before he finally moved his gaze over to the strawberry blonde. "Or I can get someone to pick them up tomorrow," Elijah recommended as he gave his own suggestion.

The strawberry blonde pointed towards the nicely dressed man as she nodded her head. "Also a good plan," Jenna agreed. She would rather that happen as she was too exhausted to dig through her sister's closet for all that information that Mrs. Lockwood happily volunteered for her.

Elijah gave the woman a small smile before he gracefully shook her hand as he praised, "thank you so much for inviting me into your home, Jenna." The original then moved as if he was going to follow Jenna to the front door before he paused and turned around so he was only inches away from the human girl. "I hope to you again sometime soon, Emily," Elijah whispered as his point finger grazed the brunette girl's palm before he silently continued his journey to the exit of the Gilbert house.

Emily waited until she saw the original step over the threshold and begin to talk with her aunt before she bolted out of the hallway and up the staircase as fast she could as she ran towards her bedroom. Emily definitely didn't want to be downstairs when Jenna came back as she knew her aunt could tell that something was up and Emily didn't have an answer. It wasn't like Emily could say, _'oh, Jenna. It's nothing. It's just that your new friend tried to kidnap me once and ever since then I've felt this connection to him.'_ The human girl knew that was definitely not going to work. Jenna would have called her crazy before teasing her. So, as soon as Emily made it up the stairs, she rushed to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her before she closed her green eyes and took a deep breath. Emily didn't know what it was. Elijah just made her so nervous when she was around him. It was ridiculous.

The Gilbert girl stood there for a couple of minutes until she got control of her breathing before she opened her eyes back up after she calmed down from the fact that Elijah was just inside of her house, has been invited in, and was also friendly with her aunt. However, Emily's heart rate immediately went back up as she saw the tall and elegant body of Elijah staring at her as he stood in front of her window with her white curtains blowing in the wind.

Emily swallowed thickly, once again, as she stared into the original's brown eyes. "What do you want with me?" The brunette girl whispered as she didn't want her aunt or brother to hear her speaking to anyone and also because she was alone with Elijah for the first time. It was definitely causing her to be more nervous than she was downstairs with Jenna.

"I thought it was time we had a little chat with just the two of us," Elijah stated in his honey-like voice as he stared into the human girl's eyes. The original then looked away and slowing began to look around Emily's things on her desk like her notebook and the picture of her and Elena. It was silent for another minute or so as the original studied the small items before Elijah continued, "you must understand, I mean your family no harm. I just wanted to talk without your body guards."

Emily silently nodded her head as she understood what Elijah meant. They would definitely not be having this conversation if her sister or the Salvatore's were around as they are extremely protective. The Gilbert girl then anxiously crossed her arms over her sweater before she decided to ask one of the questions that had been running through her mind. "Why did you kill Cody and his men and why did you let me go?" Emily interrogated as she was confused with what was Elijah's plan. She had always thought that he was going to take her to Klaus ever since she was kidnapped by Rose and Trevor, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Because I didn't want you to be taken," Elijah answered the human girl's question like it was the simplest thing in the world before he continued to silently move around Emily's bedroom as he looked at each picture. "Klaus is the most feared and hated of the originals," Elijah continued once he took a seat on the edge of the large bed as he explained to Emily about why he killed the young vampires in Richmond, "but those that fear him are desperate for his approval. So if word gets out that the doppelganger exists, then there'll be a line of vampires eager to take you to him." Elijah shook his head as he stared directly into Emily's green eyes before he stated, "and I can't have that."

The Gilbert girl's brows instantly furrowed as she got even more confused by the vampire's answer. Emily then slowly made her way to her desk while she kept her eyes glued on the original's before she took a seat in her chair as she knew the answer wasn't that simple. "But isn't that what you were going to do?" Emily inquired as she thought that was the whole point of Elijah being in Mystic Falls.

A small and secret half smile lifted onto the corner of the original's face at the question before he told the human doppelganger, "let's just say... my goal is not to break the curse."

Emily's brain was about a second from exploding from all this information that Elijah was telling her, which contradicted everything she thought she knew. It didn't make sense. If Elijah didn't plan on taking her to Klaus, then what did he want with her? The Gilbert girl then sat there in silence for a couple of seconds while she ran her hands over her jeans as she tried to figure it out before she gave up and asked the question that she couldn't solve, "then what is your goal?"

"Klaus' obsession has made him paranoid," Elijah stated as he avoided the question before he moved his brown eyes to the ground as he remembered a flash of old memories before he continued to describe the feared one, "he's a recluse. He trusts only those in his immediate circle."

"But I'm guessing that doesn't include you," Emily assumed as she lifted an eyebrow at the original. She could tell by how Elijah was talking about Klaus that he either didn't agree with what Klaus was doing or Klaus didn't trust him. _It could be both, though_ , Emily thought.

Elijah shook his head as he reaffirmed the human girl's assumptions, "no. Not anymore." The original then stared across at the doppelganger for a moment before he told her, "that's why I am here talking with you. I need your help."

"You need my help?" Emily questioned in amusement. This was definitely a first. An original asking her, a human girl, for help. The Gilbert girl then frowned as everything began to piece together. "You have no clue where Klaus is," Emily mumbled as she knew exactly why Elijah wanted her help, "you want me to draw him out."

Elijah nodded his head as he crossed his legs at his ankles. He then studied the young girl with a look of remembrance before he told Emily in a strong and serious voice, "but in order for us to do that, I need you to stop trying to get yourself killed."

"But wouldn't that just draw Klaus out?" Emily wondered before she explained her thought process, "if vampires know that the doppelganger is alive, then he'll show up." Emily always figured that was the point of her going on dangerous missions. She's been trying to get people to reach out to him like she tried to do with Cody so she can meet Klaus and turn herself over.

"The time isn't right," Elijah told the human girl as he disagreed with another one of her suicidal plans. "But when the time is right, we shall draw out Klaus," the original explained before he paused to add a lot of meaning in his last word, "together."

Emily sat there in silence for a few minutes before she questioned as she bit down on her bottom lip, "will my family and friends be safe when we do this?" If Elijah could promise that her loved ones would be okay, then she had zero reasons to disagree. There would be no deal with Katherine and her friends and sister wouldn't have to be used in the sacrifice when the time comes. That is what Emily has wanted all along.

Elijah lifted his right hand up as if he was being sworn in to court before he promised, "no harm will come to your family or friends if you agree to my terms."

"And what are your terms?" Emily questioned. The human girl was feeling much better now that the original told her that her family and friends would be safe from Klaus once she agreed. She doubt it could be that hard to follow as she only cared about protecting them from the feared one. That was the reason why she even tried to hand herself over to Klaus in the first place.

The original slowly stood up from the soft bed at the question before he made his way to stand in front of the human girl. "Do nothing," Elijah uttered simply as he stared into Emily's bright green eyes, "I just need you to continue to live your life and stop fighting until the time is right and we can end this for once and for all."

"What will happen when the time is right?" Emily wondered as she curiously lifted and twitched her head to the side. She was eager to know what Elijah's plan was once they got Klaus to Mystic Falls and how he planned to stop the sacrifice that has been in order for centuries.

"Then I kill him," Elijah responded as if he was talking about how water is wet. He made it seem like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Emily's green eyes immediately lifted up in surprise. She didn't really know what she thought what Elijah's plan was to do with Klaus, but the thought of killing him never crossed her mind. Emily was definitely kicking herself now for not thinking about that when that is what they always do with the bad guys that come to Mystic Falls. However, as Emily thought of Elijah killing Klaus, she figured it wouldn't be that easy since Klaus is the most feared one. "So, that's it?" Emily inquired as she didn't think it would be that simple.

The original vampire nodded his head as he repeated what the human girl had said while also assuring her that it really was that simple, "that's it."

"How do you plan to keep everyone that I love safe?" Emily questioned as she moved away from the details of Klaus' death. She instead focused onto the present and how Elijah was going to keep everyone safe from here to the end of his plan.

Elijah didn't respond right away. He instead walked around the chair that Emily was sitting in and stood behind her as he continued to look around her things before he asked his own question, "I notice that you have a friend, Bonnie; it it?" Once the original heard the sound of Emily agreeing with a small mumble, Elijah continued as he finally told her how exactly he plans to keep her loved ones safe, "she seems to possess the gift of magic. I happen to have friends with similar gifts."

"Witches," Emily stated as she realized what Elijah was trying to say about her best friend while she also tried to calm her fast heart rate with having the original stand behind her.

Elijah nodded his head once he was finally back in front of the human girl before he assured Emily about the safety of her family and friends, "with my witches, we can protect everyone that matters to you." The original then lifted one of his eyebrows as he questioned, "so, do you accept my terms?"

However, the Gilbert girl didn't give Elijah an answer right away like she originally had planned to do. Emily figured since she had the original willing to compromise with her to help catch Klaus, then maybe he'll grant her the request she needed. Emily was just nervous to ask because she didn't know Elijah well enough to know how he would react. But thanks to whatever connection she felt with Elijah, she decided to just ask as Emily felt like he wouldn't hurt her. "I just need two things from you and I'll agree," the brunette girl anxiously uttered as she began to mess with her fingers.

"We're negotiating now?" Elijah amusingly questioned as he stared at the human girl with a small smile playing on his lips.

"Please, Elijah. It's important," Emily begged. The Gilbert girl didn't know why but she immediately felt confident after hearing the teasing tone come out of the original's mouth. It was like if she was joking around with Elena or Caroline.

The original smirked at the human girl as a small chuckle escaped his mouth. It was like he was looking right at Darina. The doppelganger reminded Elijah so much of his one true love, so he couldn't help but want to help her like he always did with Darina. "You name it and we have a deal," Elijah told Emily as he continued to look at her in amusement as he was curious to what she needed from him.

Emily instantly sighed thankfully when she got the agreement from the original. She was so nervous he would have said no. Emily knew she was definitely going to feel much better if Elijah came through with her first request. "Well, since you have witch friends," Emily began before she told Elijah what she needed from him, "I need their help with getting someone out of the tomb."

"The tomb?" Elijah questioned as his brows furrowed in confusion. The original wasn't familiar with any special tomb in town as he hasn't visited in centuries. He hadn't been here since it wasn't even called Mystic Falls.

Emily nodded her head before she explained, "there's an underground tomb in the center of the town's forest. It's where the old Fell's church used to be." The brunette girl then paused for a moment before she muttered, "and it's where Katherine is located." Emily didn't really want to out her doppelganger's sister to the original as she knew Katherine had some type of history with Elijah, but she had to do it to get Stefan out of the tomb.

"Interesting," Elijah muttered to himself. He hadn't heard that name in quite a long time. Well, not since he agreed to do something for Maria about forty years after Darina's death and Katherine's turning. Elijah mentally shook his head as he focused back onto the human girl when he realized he was lost in thought. "I'll have your friend released," the original promised before he wondered, "now what is your other issue?"

"Well..." Emily trailed off as she tried to think of the best way she could word her question. She already knew it was going to be awkward as she couldn't even comprehend it. So, instead of flat out saying it, Emily decided to slowly walk into it, "I, uh, I need to know something that only you can give me the answer to."

"Yes?" Elijah probed as he was intrigued to what the brunette girl was so nervous to ask him about. It was definitely not like her from what he had learnt about Emily from the town people and her aunt.

The Gilbert girl quickly glanced away from the original's brown eyes when he tried to get her to talk before she awkwardly cleared her throat as she tried to just man up. Finally, Emily looked back up at Elijah after a couple of seconds before she questioned in a mumble, "uh, why do I feel like I can trust you and feel some type of connection when I barely know you?" _God, this is weird,_ Emily thought as she nervously tapped her bare foot against the floor of her bedroom while she waited for her answer to the very awkward question.

The original smirked at the human girl's nervousness while he kept his eyes glued to hers that tried to avoid his. Elijah then softly grabbed ahold of her hand and pulled the brunette girl out of the desk chair. He released her hand after a moment but kept on grazing the inside of her palm with his fingers. "That's a story for another time," Elijah whispered as he stepped closely in her personal space before he swiftly vamp sped away as soon as the last syllable was out of his mouth and only left the cold breeze in his wake.

Emily groaned loudly once she blinked and realized that she was standing alone and the fact that she still didn't know why she felt that way when she's in the original's presence. It was weird. She didn't even trust Damon this soon and he's Elena's boyfriend. But Emily knew she couldn't start worrying about some stupid connection when she had so much more going on with the sacrifice and with the deal to draw Klaus out. Emily just figured the connection with Elijah had something to do with Darina since she remembered how her doppelganger mentioned in her journal that she feels protective over people because of the blood they share, so maybe that is also connected.

The Gilbert girl decided after a moment of standing around that she would rest while she waited for Elijah to fulfill his part of the deal, so she made her way over to her bed and laid back. She, of course, trusted Elijah to come through for her. She trusted that he would also keep her family and friends safe. _Stupid doppelganger blood,_ Emily thought as she tried to relax her mind and calm her heart beat after having that chat with the original. She didn't like how Elijah made her feel when it could be dangerous. And it wasn't even sexual or romantic as those feelings were only reserved for Stefan. It was like she could trust Elijah with anything. It was as if they had been friends their entire life. Emily didn't understand it at all, so she decided to close her eyes as she can only hope Elijah and his witches can get Stefan out of the tomb.

* * *

 **FELL'S CHURCH TOMB**

It had been over five hours since the two vampires had their last visitor, which wasn't even that entertaining for Katherine as it had only been Damon. The Petrova vampire was getting quite bored now as Stefan wouldn't even look her way neither would he sleep, so she couldn't mess with his mind again.

Katherine finally couldn't stand it anymore, so she broke the silence just as it reached the half way mark to six hours of quietness. "Are we seriously not going to talk at all?" Katherine interrogated as she stared directly at her ex lover while she leaned her body against the rough wall.

The younger Salvatore vampire didn't even bother looking over at Katherine as he kept his head titled up while he sat against the wall. He only answered her question in a small mumble while he tried to keep himself awake, "we could talk about how you regret all you've done to make my life miserable."

Katherine rolled her brown eyes before she wondered, "what do you want me to say, Stefan?" She then slowly moved off of the wall as she slowly walked towards Stefan as she continued, "that I'm sorry for everything that I've done?" Katherine placed the small lantern she was holding down onto a small hole in the wall before she told the younger vampire, "well I'm not, okay. It's called self-preservation. I've been looking out for myself for 500 years."

Stefan stared across at Katherine for a moment before he let out a chuckle and moved his green eyes back to the dark ceiling. "Look where it has gotten you," Stefan mumbled as he let out a tired sigh.

"Yes, I've done terrible things," Katherine deadpanned, "I know that." She then slowly walked towards the sitting Stefan as she spoke softly and truthfully, "but I do love you, Stefan." Katherine stared down to the dirty ground as she mumbled, "even if you don't believe it."

The Salvatore vampire looked at Katherine with squinted eyes as he questioned, "you want me to believe you?" Stefan didn't wait for a response before he swiftly commanded the brunette, "then show me. Do something. Prove to me that there's something inside of you that is actually worth trusting."

"What's the point?" Katherine muttered as she looked down and picked the dirt from her nails before she whispered, "you're still gonna hate me."

Stefan shrugged his shoulders as he stated, "maybe and maybe I'll see that there's still hope for you after all."

Katherine stared into the younger vampire's green eyes for a moment as she tried to see what type of game he was playing at or if he was actually telling the truth about giving her a second chance. "You're playing me," Katherine finally concluded as she shook her head in amusement.

"Am I?" Stefan challenged as he raised an eyebrow at the conflicted and confused Katherine Pierce as he gave her a taste of her own medicine. She had spent decades of playing with him and Damon, so it was intriguing to watch it be turned around on her for once.

Katherine took a shaky deep breath as she swallowed down the hope she had for there ever to be a chance with Stefan again. She knew there was never going to be a real chance once Stefan sat his eyes onto her sister's doppelganger. No one could ever turn down Darina and now it was the same with Emily. So, instead of being turned down again, Katherine decided she would help like she had been trying to do for Emily. "You want to find Klaus?" The Petrova vampire questioned, "kill him so that you can protect Emily?"

Stefan turned his body while he nodded his head so he was facing Katherine as he was interested to what she had to say now that she was bringing up the vampire no one could find. "Do you know where he is?" The Salvatore vampire inquired.

Katherine let out an irritated sigh as she mumbled, "no, I don't." Katherine wished she did know where Klaus was. It was one of the reasons why she came to Mystic Falls. And it wasn't the lie that she had told the Gilbert twins and Stefan a few days ago. She wanted to help Emily like she had promised Darina. She then lifted up her point finger as she stated, "but I could help you find him."

"For a price I'm sure," Stefan muttered as he rolled his eyes. He knew he should of known that Katherine would only give him answers that might not even be real just so she could get out of the tomb.

Katherine didn't say anything for a moment, she just shook her head as she wasn't looking for anything in return. She came to realize that she didn't care if she got stuck here forever. She made a promise to her sister and she wanted to at least do that before she had to fight her hardest to survive Klaus again. "Start with Isobel, the twins' mother," Katherine told Stefan once she finally spoke as she gave him the advice he needed, "she was a research expert. She was the one that found me the second time around."

The tomb then was overcome by only silence as a small smile played on the Salvatore vampire's mouth since Katherine was finally helping someone that wasn't herself. It was a nice change of a pace. However, before either vampire could say anything else about finding Klaus, they were soon interrupted as they heard the heavy door being opened.

Stefan and Katherine quickly glanced at one another in confusion as they didn't know who would be standing outside of the tomb. The Bennett witch couldn't have fixed the moonstone that fast as they both knew it was going to be difficult. But when the two vampires didn't hear anything else, they both decided to see who it was.

It took a couple of minutes of them slowly walking with low blood in their system before they finally reached the entrance of the tomb. But the two vampires were both equally shocked when they saw who was standing there.

"Elijah," Katherine gasped as she slowly dragged her feet back away from the edge. She was surprised to see the original vampire in Mystic Falls. Katherine knew it was definitely not good if he's in town as she now had two originals that would know where she is and who both equally want her dead.

"Good evening, Katerina," the original greeted the vampire with her true name. Elijah nodded his head as he commended her, "thank you for having the good sense to be frightened." The original then looked over to the shocked Salvatore vampire before he explained, "your release has been requested."

Stefan glanced back to Katherine in confusion as they both didn't know who would be speaking to Elijah. He then faced the original as he voiced his confusion, "by who?"

"The charming and beautiful Emily drives a hard bargain," Elijah told the younger vampire with a small smile before he continued, "she and I compromised and reached an agreement." The original then pulled his right hand out of his coat pocket as he gestured for Stefan to exit the tomb as he uttered, "please, come."

"I can't," Stefan muttered as he stared across at the vampire he had thought was dead. It made him even more nervous with the fact that he spoke to Emily and made a deal. Stefan knew nothing good could come out of a deal with the oldest vampire in the world.

"Yes, you can," Elijah argued in an annoyed voice before he explained exactly what he had promised the human girl, "I've had the spell lifted."

Stefan glanced between the original and the barrier line that had kept him stuck for a full day as he didn't really know if Elijah was actually telling the truth or it was some sort of trap. So, to be careful and cautious, Stefan kept his back against the hard wall as he slowly continued to step until he sighed as he felt his foot step over the barrier line.

However, while Stefan was busy catching his breath now that he was out of the tomb, the Petrova vampire decided to try her luck as the spell was currently down. But before Katherine could place her foot out of the barrier, she soon stopped when Elijah quickly moved to stand in front of her and blocked her trail to safety.

"As for you," Elijah spoke in his calm voice as he compelled the vampire doppelganger that he hadn't seen in centuries, "you shall not exit until I say so. When Klaus comes, he'll want to know exactly where you are."

Once he finished compelling Katherine and knew that she couldn't escape, Elijah turned his attention on the still shocked Stefan. "You're free to go," Elijah stated, "Emily will surely explain the arrangement to you. If you all follow our deal, then everything shall stay how it is." The original then gave Katherine one last hard glare before he silently took his exit out of the tomb.

"Stefan, no!" The Petrova vampire quickly shouted when she saw that Stefan was about to follow after Elijah and leave her all alone. "Please don't let him leave me here," Katherine begged desperately. She needed to get out. If Elijah tells Klaus where she is, she might be too late in helping the human girl.

The Salvatore vampire stared across at his ex girlfriend, who was still stuck inside of the tomb unlike him. The part of him that still cared about Katherine wanted to help her, but he knew he couldn't. Katherine would just cause more trouble and he only cared about keeping Emily safe. "I'm sorry," Stefan softly whispered before he said his final farewell, "goodbye, Katherine."

* * *

The human Petrova doppelganger was currently pacing her bedroom as she waited for Elijah to fulfill his promise after a full hour since he left. Emily had even taken a shower and she still haven't heard anything from Elijah or Stefan. And it was making her even more nervous than she was when the day started. Emily felt like she was going insane by how many times she had passed her bed and window while waiting for something to happen.

"You really need to get rid of that bad habit of yours," the familiar and amused voice of the youngest Salvatore vampire uttered through the silent room as he stood by the door while he watched the human girl pace up and down.

Emily swiftly stopped her pacing when she heard the voice of the love of her life. The Gilbert girl's green eyes widened in excitement when she saw that she wasn't imagining things. She then quickly rushed towards the now smiling Salvatore with her own before she jumped and wrapped her legs around Stefan's waist. Emily waited no time as soon as Stefan caught her before she crashed her lips against his cracked ones.

The couple then kissed one another for a couple of long and passionate minutes as they had both missed each other. It felt like they hadn't seen each other in years but in reality it was barely over twenty-four hours. However, the loving moment was soon ruined as the Salvatore vampire pulled away with a frown. "We need to talk about what you did yesterday and this deal you made," Stefan muttered as he needed to know what has been going on with Emily.

The Gilbert girl quickly shook her head before she began to kiss all around Stefan's neck until she reached back to his lips. "That can wait," Emily promised before she stated, "I just need to feel you right now."

The Salvatore vampire didn't need much convincing after that before he connected his lips back to the brunette girl's and began to slowly carry her to the large bed. Stefan knew he didn't need the information right now as he also knew Emily was right; it could wait. Stefan just wanted to hold the love of his life while he showed her just how much he cares and wants to keep her safe.


	46. The 1 W The Aftermath Of The Full Moon

A loud and scratchy groan escaped the Gilbert girl's mouth early the next morning as an intrusive and irritating noise of a cell phone ringing right by her ear woke her up from her calm and dreamless sleep. The tired brunette girl then moved her fatigued body all around her bed as she tried to get herself to wake up before she finally opened her green eyes and noticed that it was the younger Salvatore vampire's cell phone that had interrupted her cozy slumber.

"Hey," Emily whispered in a raspy morning voice once she had placed her head into her palm as she sat her body up while she stared across at the green eyed vampire with a small smile. It didn't matter what time it was, Emily would always smile whenever she would see Stefan's face. It just had the ability to keep her calm from the hectic life they live.

Stefan smiled over at the human girl once he had placed his cell phone onto the wooden bedside table after he had received a text message from the vampire hunter; Alaric. "Good morning," the Salvatore vampire whispered before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss onto Emily's inviting lips.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but smile, once again, into the supposedly simple kiss before she swiftly wrapped her arms around Stefan's neck and pulled him into her as she didn't want the embrace to end. It was like every time their lips touched, Emily just couldn't get enough. The brunette girl then laid onto her back as her body was in an awkward position, which caused Stefan to follow with her and hover over the doppelganger's body as they continued to kiss as if they were both addicted to each other.

However, the regular morning make out session didn't last as long as the human girl had wanted because about after four minutes of kissing, the Salvatore vampire slowly pulled away before Stefan stared down at Emily with his brows furrowed deeply.

"Oh, please don't tell me that you're about to destroy our happy world," Emily begged with a pout as she could tell by the look on the vampire's face that something was on Stefan's mind - that probably had something to do with the situations that Emily had been putting herself in these last couple of days.

Stefan gave the human girl a sheepish expression before he muttered apologetically with a tint of humor in his voice, "I'm totally about to ruin it all." The vampire then flipped his body around so he was leaning on his left side before he stated, "but I can't just pretend like everything is okay, babe."

The Gilbert girl let out a quiet sigh as she knew the moment was officially over and that she needed to focus back onto the real world. "Look, everything is going to be fine," Emily told the Salvatore vampire before she explained, "Katherine is still in the tomb like we all wanted."

"I know," Stefan murmured as he slowly pushed Emily's messy bed hair behind her right ear before he stated as he stared into the human girl's bright green eyes, "but we still have this pressing little issue of you being Klaus' human sacrifice."

"Ah, there it is," Emily exclaimed with a chuckle before she gave the brunette vampire a sarcastic grin as she knew it would only take a couple of seconds before Stefan would bring up the large problem that was revolving around their lives. The human girl then lifted up her head and placed a small kiss onto Stefan's lips before she pulled away and assured him that there was nothing to worry about, "everything is going to be fine. Elijah promised to keep everyone safe as long as we just do nothing."

"That's the problem," Stefan mumbled as he shook his head, "I can't just do nothing." The Salvatore vampire couldn't just sit around while the original tries to keep his promise to Emily that they didn't even know he could keep whilst he also uses the human girl to bring Klaus to Mystic Falls. Stefan would rather figure out a way to protect Emily on his own instead of trusting this deal with Elijah.

The Gilbert girl quickly sat up in her bed and twisted her body so she was sitting crisscross and stared at the vampire with a serious expression as soon as she heard the words fall from Stefan's mouth. "Please don't ask my birth giver for help," Emily begged as she remembered what Stefan had told her last night about what he found out from her doppelganger's sister. Emily knew exactly what was going through Stefan's mind as she looked into his green eyes; about how he didn't want to follow Elijah's plan that she had swore they would keep.

"Katherine said Isobel could have some answers," Stefan hurriedly explained his reasoning for wanting to call her mother once the human girl, once again, disagreed with his plan. The Salvatore vampire then innocently lifted up his arms once he had copied how Emily was sitting before he stated, "I just have a couple of questions, that's all."

Emily didn't like the idea of asking Isobel for anything. The woman had done nothing but cause trouble for her family, friends, and the whole town of Mystic Falls, so Isobel was the last person the human doppelganger would ask for help. Besides, she already made a promise to Elijah and she didn't plan on breaking it as a promise is a promise.

"Please don't do it," Emily begged, once more, as she grabbed ahold of Stefan's cold hand before she laced their fingers together. "I made a promise to Elijah and we certainly don't need him backing out of the deal to keep everyone safe by ruining it," the brunette girl stated. That was the last thing she wanted. Emily didn't go through all of her nerves by talking to Elijah just for him to cancel their terms because they weren't following his simple orders of not doing anything like she had promised.

"Right," Stefan exclaimed with a cheeky grin before he clued in the human girl of his master plan of him finding the loop hole, "you made a deal with Elijah." The Salvatore vampire shook his head as he elaborated, "I didn't make one." Stefan then placed a light kiss to Emily's forehead before he told her, "but you should keep your deal."

Emily let out a loud groan and threw her head back as she knew she was getting nowhere with the younger Salvatore vampire. It was as if everything she was saying was going in one ear and out the other. The human girl then decided to see if she could use her charm to keep Stefan from ruining hers and Elijah's plan, so she silently climbed onto the vampire's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck as she gave him a deep pout. "Stefan," Emily whined before she mumbled sadly, "I just don't want anyone to get hurt."

The Salvatore vampire shook his head as he wholeheartedly laughed at the human girl's obvious antics of trying to get him to change his mind before he questioned in amusement, "when have I ever wanted anybody to get hurt?" Unluckily for the brunette girl, Stefan definitely didn't plan on changing his mind anytime soon as he only cared about keeping Emily alive and safe away from the sacrifice.

Emily immediately let out an irritated grumble as soon as she heard the teasing tone from the vampire before she leaned her head against Stefan's bare chest as she knew there was no changing the vampire's mind. "You're the worse," Emily mumbled against Stefan's cold skin and left a soft kiss to his collarbone before she swiftly jumped out of his lap sooner than the vampire would have liked and made her way towards her closet door. Emily figured since she wasn't getting anywhere with Stefan, then she would just get dressed for the day.

"I love you," Stefan sang in a loving and equally teasing voice as he watched the human girl angrily stomp her way into her closet. The vampire couldn't help but always find Emily adorable when she would get mad or when she doesn't get her way. _It was quite cute,_ Stefan thought as he chuckled to himself.

Emily simply rolled her green eyes when she heard Stefan trying to sweet talk her while she changed into a knee length pink floral sundress before she placed her feet into a pair of white slip on Vans. It took Emily a couple of minutes of grabbing the brush off of her dresser and taming her brunette mane before she finally walked back over to Stefan, who was now standing while he was busy throwing on a clean shirt that he had left over at the Gilbert house.

"Wait," Emily mumbled as she lifted up her hand once she was standing in front of the fully dressed Salvatore vampire. She had begun to run back on the conversation that they had shared once they were in bed together last night while she was getting ready for the day before she grew confused about something. "You mentioned that Elijah compelled Katherine to stay in the tomb," Emily stated before she wondered, "I thought vampires couldn't compel other vampires."

"He's an original," Stefan stated with a careless shrug like it would help Emily with her confusion. The vampire then further explained when he saw the annoyed look on the human girl's face after he had chuckled at her cute expression, "I don't really know what it means. I don't think anybody really knows what that means." Stefan then gave the doppelganger a smirk before he added dismissively, "well, except maybe Isobel. I'll make sure to ask her when I see your mother today."

"Fine," Emily mumbled with a deep pout embedded on her face. She knew she wasn't going to be able to change Stefan's mind. Emily just hoped that Elijah wouldn't see Stefan going to talk to Isobel as them breaking his terms of their agreement. "I love you," Emily finally spoke as she told the Salvatore vampire and gave Stefan a loving kiss before she watched Stefan walk out of the Gilbert house to obviously meet up with the woman that gave birth to her.

 _Now what am I suppose to do?_ Emily thought once she was standing all alone in her bedroom with no plans and no one to spend time with.

* * *

 **MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL**

The human Petrova doppelganger grinned immediately once she stepped out of her black Honda and straightened her black leather jacket as she saw all of the smiling and cheerful faces of the normal high school students that didn't know what actually goes on in their small town. It was Mystic Falls High School's bi-monthly Booster Club Barbecue, that Emily almost forgot about which was the reason why it looked like she was the last person here.

Thankfully, Jenna had mentioned the barbecue when Emily finally went downstairs after Stefan had left for the morning to find her birth mother. The Gilbert girl was quite glad that she was actually here and didn't just brush it off as it was nice for her to do something good and it would help Emily get her mind off of everything that goes on in her crazy life.

"Emily!" The perky voice of the brunette girl's fellow cheerleader, Cheryl Blossom, exclaimed as she interrupted the aforementioned doppelganger's thoughts just as the Gilbert girl had made it to the center of the event once she had pushed her way through all of the students and finally got to where everyone was getting set up for the barbecue.

"Hey, Cheryl," the brunette girl greeted her friend with a small smile before she pulled the pale girl into a tight hug. "How are you doing?" Emily wondered once they both broke the embrace before they began to slowly walk around all of the students. The Gilbert girl realized she hadn't even spoken to Cheryl or her brother; Jason, since the day of the Masquerade Ball. Everything has just been too hectic lately with her being kidnapped and meeting Elijah along with everyone knowing about the sacrifice, that she haven't even had time to be a normal teenager.

"I'm good and this is great!" Cheryl exclaimed as she spread her arms out in excitement of the festivities that was going on around them. "Mrs. Davis said everything is running smoothly like you and Caroline planned and the football team should be back soon with the food for the grill," the cheerleader explained to Emily about what their cheer coach had told her a few minutes ago about the event.

Emily silently nodded her head as she was glad that the event was already going very well. She knew by the looks of things that they just needed to start cooking soon as they had posted down at the town hall that the food would be served to the community at noon.

"Thank you so much for helping," Emily praised to her fellow cheerleader as she was glad that everything was running smoothly when she couldn't put all of herself into the event because of what she deals with on a daily basis. Emily wished she could be more involved with everything like she used to but with vampires, witches, werewolves, and originals, it was sort of hard to keep her teenage life on track.

The Blossom teenager quickly shook her head as she carelessly waved her hand. "Oh, it's nothing," Cheryl exclaimed, "I'm just happy to help." The cheerleader then swiftly changed her expression to a smirk while she turned the topic around as she bumped Emily's hip with her Timberwolves uniform before she teasingly stated, "a little birdie told me you are seeing Mr. Cute Gemini."

Emily couldn't help but chuckle as she shook her head at the way Cheryl worded her statement before she answered with a sheepish grin, "yes, I am." The brunette girl couldn't help but get all girly and giggly when someone brings up the love of her life; Stefan Salvatore. He just made her happy - plain and simple. The Gilbert girl then raised an eyebrow in Cheryl's direction as she wondered in amusement as she knew she was right, "let me guess... you heard it from Caroline."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cheryl stated with a straight face before the two teenagers began to full on laugh as it was a common thing that if someone ever wanted to know the gossip in their small town, there was only one person that would have all the juicy details; Caroline Forbes.

 _Speak of the devil,_ Emily thought once she and Cheryl had calmed down from their laughter and noticed that her blonde best friend was heading straight towards them. "Hey!" Caroline exclaimed with a grin once she standing in front of the two human girls. She then focused her blue eyes onto Cheryl as she requested, "do you mind if I borrow our co-captain?"

"Oh! Of course not!" Cheryl exclaimed and told her cheer captains, "anyways, I need to go check if the boys are finally back," before she swiftly jogged her way towards the front of Mystic Falls High School, where they had the grills all ready to go for the football players.

Once the perky cheerleader had walked away, Emily linked her right arm with Caroline's left one before she began to walk with the blonde vampire through the loud event. "So, how did last night go?" The Gilbert girl questioned after a couple of silent minutes had passed of them moving through all of the happy students as she was still worried about how the full moon went since she couldn't get ahold of Tyler before she left the house this morning.

"It was rough," Caroline uttered quietly as she didn't want anyone eavesdropping onto their conversation about the werewolf transformation. "Actually, that's why I came to find you. Tyler was so scared and he's still pretty shaken up about last night," Caroline explained before she mumbled in a disappointed voice, "so, I thought maybe he needs you."

The Gilbert girl immediately picked up on the blonde vampire's disheartened tone of voice but Emily decided not to question it right now as she could only focus on one person at a time and she knew Tyler needed her at the moment. "I will," the brunette girl promised to Caroline before she squeezed the blue eyed vampire's arm and praised, "I wanna thank you so much for helping him." Emily then added as she muttered irritatingly, "I couldn't be there since Bonnie locked me in the house."

Caroline nodded her head with a small giggle before she stated, "oh, I heard all about that. I couldn't stop laughing when Elena told me where you were yesterday." The blonde vampire then pinched the human girl's left cheek as she exclaimed teasingly, "I would have just loved to watch you squirm."

"Oh, shut it," Emily commanded as she pushed her best friend with a chuckle. The human girl knew she should of known that her twin sister would of told Caroline since the blonde vampire is obviously involved with the supernatural world. It also helped with her lie that she had told the Lockwood teenager last night about why she couldn't help him, so Caroline would follow along with what she told the werewolf. That was the last thing Emily wanted to be involved in; an unsuccessful lie.

"But honestly, I was glad to help," Caroline stated once they stopped joking around and had continued to slowly walk through the crowd of happy students. "I think it brought Tyler and I closer," the blonde vampire mumbled as she avoided looking into her best friend's green eyes out of nervousness to what Emily would think of her new and strange feelings.

"Oh?" Emily wondered in surprise along with the fact that she could tell that Caroline wasn't telling her something. "And are you happy about that?" The Gilbert girl interrogated as she tried look through the vampire's short words about what she had missed.

"Well, uh, yeah... I guess," the blonde vampire uttered secretly. Caroline then finally glanced over to Emily after a moment of silence had passed between them before she confessed, "I-I'm just confused. I'm trying to keep Matt safe and happy from all of these secrets I'm hiding from him and trying to be with him, but then there's Tyler making me feel things I didn't know I could feel for him."

The human girl gave her best friend a warm and comforting smile before she leaned her head against Caroline's arm after the blonde vampire told her what was going on with her. "Well, whatever you decide, I'll be right there with you," Emily told her best friend as she tried to ease the blonde vampire's mind. Emily may be going through a lot but she was still going to try her damnedest to be there for her friends no matter what.

"Thanks, Emmie," the blonde vampire praised with a content smile as she was glad that she had Emily on her side with this really confusing situation that she was going through with her feelings for the human teenager; Matt Donovan and the werewolf; Tyler Lockwood.

The two best friends then continued to make their way through the barbecue venue for the boaster club after they got rid of the heartfelt moment and had began to talk about the current event and the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy. However, before Caroline could finish ranting about something Mark Sloan did on the show, the human girl finally saw the person she had been waiting to see.

"Thank God," Emily mumbled to herself before she released Caroline's arm and jogged her way towards the Lockwood teenager. The brunette girl then pulled her best friend into a soft hug as she didn't know what type of condition his body was in. However, when Tyler squeezed her body closely, Emily wrapped her arms fulling around the werewolf instead of partially as she had been afraid that she would hurt him.

If someone was to look at the two teenagers right now, it would look like they were old friends that hadn't seen each other in years. But, in reality, it was really just a werewolf that had missed having his best friend around after experiencing the worst night in his life.

It took about four minutes of Emily holding her best friend before she finally had to force herself from Tyler's body and made her way back to stand by Caroline. Emily just didn't want to let go as she was still worried about the werewolf. "How are you doing?" The Gilbert girl softly wondered after a moment of staring across at Tyler with her brows furrowed as she was curious to how he was feeling after going through his first full moon.

"I'm okay," Tyler mumbled as he nodded his head. The werewolf anxiously rubbed the back of his neck before he added, "I'm sore and every muscle aches but I'm okay."

"You did it, though!" Caroline exclaimed with a smile as she tried to get the Lockwood teenager to see the upside of things, "you did your first full moon and you didn't hurt anyone." The blonde vampire glanced over to the human girl out of nervousness before she focused onto the werewolf as she continued to make Tyler feel better, "it'll get easier. You'll get better at it, you'll learn to control it and it won't hurt so much."

"Well, we don't know any of that for sure," Tyler murmured stubbornly as he crossed his arms over his maroon football jersey.

"It's like I told you, Ty," Emily began as she knew the werewolf was feeling down about what he had went through, so she tried to make him feel better like Caroline had tried to do, "each time it's just going to make you stronger and you'll be able to handle it better."

"Yeah, I guess," Tyler muttered with a small nod before he focused his brown eyes onto Caroline's blue ones. "I wanna thank you for helping me last night," the Lockwood teenager began before he took a quick glance over to his best friend as he stated, "since Emily couldn't be there, I'm glad it was you." Tyler then focused back onto Caroline as he concluded, "I don't know what I would of done if you hadn't been there to help me."

The blonde vampire gave the werewolf a bright and excited smile as she was feeling happy to have done something good for someone. "Um," Caroline had began to speak before she quickly shook her head as she didn't know what to say with the feelings she had. Caroline then cleared her throat while glaring at the smirking Emily before she focused onto Tyler as she finally told him along with trailing off as she was nervous to how Tyler would react, "yeah, anyway, uh, next month we should probably reinforce the wall because you almost got me that one time and it just would been, um..."

The Lockwood teenager looked at the blonde vampire in confusion before he questioned as he didn't understand why Caroline had stopped talking in the middle of her sentence, "what?"

Caroline quickly glanced over to the human girl for help before she turned back to the confused Tyler and mumbled, "uh, never mind..." The vampire then began to awkwardly chuckle as she went to pull Emily with her as she tried to walk away from this very uncomfortable situation.

"No, wait!" Tyler swiftly hollered as he stopped the two best friends from taking another step. The werewolf then glanced between Caroline and Emily in disarray as he could tell they were both hiding something from him before he wondered, "what is it?"

The blonde vampire stared across at the human girl as she didn't know what she was suppose to tell the werewolf. But when Emily gave her a small nod, Caroline let out a slow sigh and turned back around to face Tyler. "Well, it's not a big thing," Caroline began as she didn't want the werewolf to start worrying before she confessed, "it's just that one bite and it's... you know, curtains for me."

The Lockwood teenager still continued to look at the two best friends in confusion as he didn't understand what Caroline was trying to tell him. "What are you talking about?" Tyler questioned as he slowly uttered each word.

Emily knew they weren't going to get anywhere as Caroline was just beating around the bush with the major issue, so she decided she would just tell Tyler. The Gilbert girl then took a step closer towards the Lockwood teenager before she whispered as she didn't want anyone to hear her, "the legend says that a bite from a werewolf can kill a vampire."

"Wait, what?" Tyler interrogated with his dark brows furrowed with even more confusion. "And how do you know that?" The Lockwood teenager questioned his best friend before he pointed towards the blonde vampire and continued to ask in a small whisper, "do you know about Caroline?"

The Gilbert girl rolled her green eyes at Tyler's ignorance and stated, "of course I do. She's my best friend." Emily then glanced up at the blonde vampire with a small smile as she showed how she would always have her back. The brunette girl focused back onto Tyler after a couple of seconds before she answered the werewolf's first question as she covered for Caroline, "and I read it in a book since I was grounded yesterday."

Thankfully for the Gilbert girl and the Forbes vampire, their awkward conversation with the Lockwood werewolf was soon interrupted before Tyler could ask anymore questions as the Donovan teenager made his way up to them and they all knew they couldn't have this type of conversation in Matt's presence since he's still in the dark about what goes on in their small town.

"Matty, hey!" The human doppelganger greeted her friend with a bright smile as she broke the thick air that surrounded the supernatural beings. Emily then pulled the blonde teenager into a tight hug as she expressed, "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

The Donovan teenager chuckled as he hugged the brunette girl back before he pulled away and muttered, "I know, right. I never see you anymore." Matt then ruffled up Emily's brown hair like he always does with a smirk before he turned his gaze onto the silent Caroline and asked softly, "you got a second?"

Caroline shot her best friend a nervous look before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Emily had squeezed her hand and gave her the confidence she needed to speak with the Donovan teenager. "Yeah, sure," the blonde vampire whispered once she had turned back around and faced Matt with a small smile.

The Gilbert girl waited until the obvious awkward and nervous couple had walked away before she turned and faced the werewolf with a smile. Emily then silently nodded her head behind Tyler before she linked their arms together as she began to pull the werewolf with her in the direction she had pointed out so they could talk alone.

"So, how are you really doing?" Emily questioned once she and Tyler had walked behind Mystic Falls High School and sat down on the curb in a small corner away from everyone that was enjoying the barbecue. The brunette girl had noticed that the Lockwood teenager wasn't telling the whole truth when she had asked him in front of Caroline. It was just a small thing Emily had noticed when Tyler avoided looking into their eyes when she asked him.

The Lockwood teenager heavily sighed as he leaned his head into his hands at the question. "My body hurts and I am emotionally drained," the werewolf mumbled as he anxiously tapped his sneakers against the concrete ground. It was as if he was scared that his body would randomly start spazzing again like it did last night when he transformed and that was causing his body to not heal correctly like it should.

"Oh, Ty," the brunette girl cooed as she wrapped her hands around his bicep while she pulled him into her embrace, "I'm so sorry." Emily hated that she couldn't be there for him last night, especially when he really needed her. "I wish I could make the pain stop," the human girl uttered as she felt helpless.

"I don't want to go through it again," Tyler whispered as he rested his head against the short brunette girl's. It was the worse experience the Lockwood teenager had ever went through. It was nothing but pain and destruction - from what Tyler could actually remember before he blacked out.

"I know," Emily murmured as she rubbed her warm hand along Tyler's even warmer arm. "But it'll get easier," the Gilbert girl uttered as she tried to comfort her best friend before she added teasingly while she bumped her shoulder with Tyler's, "if surfer Mason can do it then so can you." Emily knew if she could get Tyler to just laugh at least once, then it would make him feel better like it always does when she gets him to smile.

The Lockwood teenager shook his head with a small chuckle at the brunette girl's small joke before their small corner was then overcome by content silence as they both just enjoyed finally being in the other's presence. Tyler was glad to have his best friend back while Emily was just happy to actually see Tyler and help in anyway she could after being locked in her house all day.

"I promise I'm going to be with you at the next full moon," Emily interrupted the silence as she didn't want Tyler to worry too much about the next transformation that is a full month away. That was no way to live.

"Good," Tyler mumbled as he relaxed his body against the brunette girl's. "Caroline wasn't that bad," the Lockwood teenager stated before he added, "but I'd really like it if you are there with me." The werewolf just felt safer and more confident that he could survive the pain of the transformation if Emily was with him. She just had this aura that kept him calm.

"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore," Emily promised before she stated, "I'm going to be there with you for every full moon until you decide that you are tired of me."

"Like that would ever happen," Tyler uttered with a small chuckle and a smile. The Lockwood teenager was glad that he would have his best friend on his side again and he was now feeling much better after having talked to her in person after these last couple of long and horrible hours of his life. Tyler felt like he could do anything in the world when he's in Emily's presence.

"We'll see," Emily stated with a smirk as she knew she could get quite annoying from what her brother and twin sister had told her plenty of times while growing up. The corner behind the high school was then silent for a couple more minutes as the two best friends just enjoyed the other's company before Emily slowly released Tyler's arm and stuck her hand into the inside pocket of her leather jacket as she remembered something. "Here," the brunette girl exclaimed as she handed her best friend a small silver flask of bourbon, "I thought you would need this."

The Lockwood teenager sighed thankfully when he saw what his best friend was holding up. "No wonder I keep you around," Tyler mumbled jokingly before he unscrewed the top and took a long chug of the amber colored liquid like it was water on a hot summer day.

Emily shook her head with a small chuckle as she muttered with an eye roll, "yeah, I'm sure that's the reason." The Gilbert girl then quickly paused her laughter and frowned when she heard her cell phone ringing in her outside pocket of her leather jacket. _It's probably Caroline freaking out,_ Emily thought as she figured the blonde vampire would need to talk about her feelings that had to do with her two friends; Tyler and Matt.

Emily didn't bother looking down at her notifications as she knew it was a text, she just wiped across her home screen before the messages were on view and began to read her newest one that was obviously not from Caroline ~

 **TWINNIE** **COME 2 THE BOARDING HOUSE. ROSE GOT BIT**

"Dammit," Emily mumbled to herself as she swiftly read the message from her twin sister before she shoved her cell phone back into her leather jacket. "I gotta go," Emily told her best friend as she stood up from the curb, "Elena needs me for something." The Gilbert girl hated leaving Tyler alone when he was just starting to feel better but she knew she had to get back to the real world that revolves around supernatural problems.

The Lockwood teenager pouted up at his best friend before he went to hand the Gilbert girl her flask back. However, before Tyler could extend his long arm all the way, Emily quickly shook her head. "No, no," Emily muttered with a smile, "you keep it. You'll just have to owe me a full flask once you've drunken it all."

Tyler chuckled before he stated with a smirk, "yes, ma'am." The Lockwood teenager then stood up from the hard curb before he pulled his best friend into a tight hug. "Thank you for everything," Tyler praised as he felt more calm than he had been since he experienced his first full moon. He no longer felt jumpy that is his body was just going to start transforming on its own. Tyler now felt calm and relaxed like he could continue to live his life as a normal teenager until next month comes around and he has to go through it all over again.

"Of course," Emily exclaimed as she squeezed her best friend's waist, "I'll always be with you one way or another." The Gilbert girl then pulled away and messed up Tyler's brown hair like the Donovan teenager had to done to her. "I love you, Ty," Emily stated with a bright smile before she quickly turned around and made her way through all of the happy and cheerful people.

However, as Emily walked around the Boaster Club Barbecue and made her way towards her black Honda, she immediately lost her bright smile that she had cherished with her best friend as she knew her day just got that much more difficult than she had originally thought with the news that her twin sister had just delivered to her.


	47. The One When Emily Babysits

The human Petrova doppelganger's mind had been going crazy with rapid thoughts ever since she had left the loud Boaster Club Barbecue and took the long journey to the Salvatore boarding house in her silent black Honda. Emily was getting quite worried as the seconds ticked by with the news that Rose was bit.

The brunette girl knew it wasn't like how humans react by a bite as they would only need a trip to the emergency room. This bite was a life or death situation for Rose as Emily knew without a single doubt that it was from a werewolf since her sister had texted her and Elena only does that if it's important.

Emily was curious to what werewolf had done it, though. She figured Caroline would have told her if it had been Tyler, so that canceled out her best friend. The Gilbert girl was also confused as she didn't even know that there was any other werewolves in Mystic Falls besides Tyler. _I just hope the legend isn't actually true,_ Emily thought as she didn't want what she had barely told Tyler to be real.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes of the human girl driving frantically along the streets of her hometown with a million of thoughts running through her mind, Emily reached the Salvatore boarding house. The Gilbert girl didn't even bother wasting a single second to rest before she jumped out of her black Honda once she was parked beside Damon's blue Mustang and jogged her way to the front door of the large estate.

However as Emily carefully and quietly made her way inside of the boarding house, she soon came to realize just how nervous she was as she didn't want to lose another person that she is close to. She had already lost her parents, Grams, Mason, and even Lexi as she had began to care for the vampire in the short time she had gotten to know Stefan's best friend.

The human girl took a shaky deep breath once she had silently closed the door behind her as she tried to prepare herself to what she could be walking into. But as Emily had barely taken four small steps out of the foyer once she had felt calm enough and walked into the living room, she swiftly came to a stop as she saw the oldest Salvatore vampire along with her twin sister looking down at the werewolf-bitten Rose.

"It's definitely... better," the blue eyed vampire lied as he told Rose while he stared down at the large wound on the back of her right shoulder. Damon then glanced up as he had heard the fast heart rate of his girlfriend's sister as soon as she had arrived inside of the boarding house. "Right, Emily?" Damon questioned with a raised eyebrow as he alerted everyone to the human girl.

Damon knew he hadn't been convincing enough with his response as he had heard Rose scoff at him and he knew Elena, who was standing by his side, wouldn't have been able to lie, so he knew Emily was his chance to get Rose to be convinced even though he really did lie. The Salvatore vampire was just tired of all of this gloomy death talk and the older vampire was definitely not helping with her whining every couple of seconds.

The human girl swallowed thickly as she stared down at the scabby wound on the vampire's back like she was in a trance before she quickly looked up and over to her twin sister when Elena had cleared her throat since she hadn't said anything in over a full minute. The green eyed girl then swallowed down the nerves she had once Elena nodded her head in Rose's direction with a meaningful look before Emily turned her gaze to the injured vampire with the best comforting smile she could offer.

Emily then slowly made her way towards the three vampires as she walked fully into the living room since she finally had the confidence she needed. The human girl laid her hand softly onto Rose's healthy shoulder as she told the vampire with her usual bright smile, "you can barely tell it's there."

The short haired female vampire looked down at the human girl with a pleased smile before she gently placed her cold hand over Emily's warmer one. "Thank you," Rose whispered in a frail voice before she took the bottle of bourbon from Damon's awaiting hand and slowly made her way over to the empty leather couch.

Once the ill supernatural being was relaxed down on the couch, the vampire couple and the human doppelganger migrated towards the edge of the living room so they could talk without the injured vampire hearing them.

The Gilbert vampire was the first one to interrupt the tense silence of the Salvatore boarding house as she stared at her twin sister in confusion. "Where's Stefan?" Elena wondered as she figured the vampire would of been with her sister since he hadn't been here.

The human girl immediately rolled her green eyes at the question as she was still irritated at where and what the younger Salvatore was currently doing. "He left this morning to find our birth giver," Emily told her twin sister before she glanced between the two vampires as she begged, "can you please tell him to stop?" The Gilbert girl shook her head while she crossed her arms over her chest as she added, "he thinks we need Isobel's help and it's only going to piss Elijah off and he's going to think we're messing with the deal he and I made."

"No can do," Damon told the human girl with a wide smirk before he carelessly shrugged his shoulders and commented, "it's not our fault that you made this stupid deal with an original, no less." The Salvatore vampire then wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist and told the human girl while he pointed towards the resting Rose, "it's your turn to babysit."

"It's not necessary," the ill vampire called out before the brunette girl could even open her mouth to respond. Rose then placed the bottle of bourbon into her lap that Damon had mixed with warm blood to help speed up the healing process of her werewolf wound before a painful groan escaped her mouth as she turned her body around to look towards the two vampires and the human doppelganger.

"It is necessary," Damon exclaimed as he disagreed with Rose. He then placed his arm over Elena's shoulder instead of her waist before he began to pull her towards the front door of the boarding house. "Emily here is a do-gooder with her doctor nonsense," Damon explained to the older vampire with an eye roll as everyone knows of the human girl's doctor aspirations, "she likes to protect people, so you're in good hands."

The brunette girl gave Rose a quick smile as she didn't mind helping the vampire and muttered, "I'll be right back," before she quickly went to stop her sister and Damon from leaving the boarding house. "Wait!" Emily exclaimed right before Damon could open the door. "How is she doing with the bite?" The Gilbert girl questioned in a whisper as she didn't know much about what was going on and she wanted to prepare herself for what could happen.

Damon huffed out a sigh before he faced his girlfriend's sister with an annoyed expression as he just wanted to leave the dreary house already. "She's probably going to die," the vampire uttered with a false careless shrug as if he didn't actually care what happens to Rose.

The Gilbert vampire slapped her boyfriend's chest with a glare at this tall wall he was putting up to show he couldn't care less about the werewolf-bitten vampire which Elena knew was completely a lie as they all had gotten close to Rose recently. Elena then looked over to her twin sister with a soft gaze before she explained as she knew Emily was clueless to what all went down last night along with the fact that she knew her sister also cared for Rose, "the werewolf bite caused some kind of infection. It was getting better at first but now it seems like it's just getting worse by the hour."

"Dammit," Emily mumbled to herself as she closed her eyes and grimly shook her head. The human girl was really hoping that the legend that she had learned about at Duke was really just that; a legend or a myth. But no, it seemed to be one hundred percent real which Emily hated. It just means that she gets to watch another person die.

"You know what?" Elena exclaimed as she interrupted the tense and gloomy silence before she faced her boyfriend and told Damon, "I think I'm going to stay behind." The Gilbert vampire didn't feel right about leaving her twin sister all alone with the ill vampire, who was slowly dying. Elena knew her twin sister was going to have a hard time as she knew Emily has the tendency to care deeply about people and she didn't want her twin to have to go through that alone.

"Seriously?" Damon sulked with a heavy sigh before he mumbled to his girlfriend, "I thought you were going to come with me to threaten a werewolf." The Salvatore vampire figured this was the right time to show Elena the enjoyment of torturing and tormenting someone with the power of being a vampire; especially the bitch werewolf that bit Rose.

"As fun as that sounds," Elena began with a small giggle before she glanced over to the upset Emily with a small smile and concluded, "I'd rather spend time with my sister." The Gilbert vampire then pulled her pouting boyfriend into a slow and sweet kiss before she told him teasingly, "have fun and don't get killed."

"Yeah, yeah," Damon muttered as he rolled his blue eyes before he laid a goodbye kiss to his girlfriend's forehead. The Salvatore vampire then grabbed the keys for his blue Mustang before he headed out of the boarding house all alone while he mumbled complaints to himself.

"You are literally dating a big baby," Emily told her twin sister with a chuckle as she watched the older Salvatore vampire stomp his way to his car like an angry toddler from the small window of the large estate's front door.

"Shut up," Elena mumbled in embarrassment before she linked her arm with her sister's and pulled Emily back into the living room, where they immediately saw the ill vampire bent over on the leather couch as Rose coughed her lungs out.

The human girl swiftly released her twin sister's arm as soon as she saw the condition that Rose was in before she rushed towards the ill vampire's side in worry. "Hey, hey, relax," Emily exclaimed as she rubbed the vampire's lower back while Rose continued to cough. The Gilbert girl didn't really know how she was suppose to comfort the vampire as she never experienced a sick supernatural being, but Emily knew when she's sick that she just likes to lay in bed and watch trashy movies all day.

However, before Emily could voice her thoughts once she turned around and faced her vampire sister, Elena beat her to it with the exact idea she was just thinking about. "Maybe we should move her into a bed," Elena suggested as her brown eyes stayed glued onto the ill vampire with concern written all over her face.

"That was exactly what I was thinking," Emily stated before she mumbled as they, of course, would have the same idea, "twins." The human girl then nodded her head towards Rose's direction before she made her way to the vampire's left side while Elena went to Rose's right.

It took a couple of tries before Emily finally found the right position so she wouldn't hurt the ill vampire. The human girl just looped her arm through Rose's while Elena had a strong grip thanks to her new supernatural strength. After they got situated, the two sisters then began to slowly and carefully help Rose walk up the long staircase.

Once they finally reached the second story of the boarding house, Emily decided that they would take Rose into the bedroom that she had claimed as hers seeing as it was the closest. She also figured Damon wouldn't be happy with blood on his sheets and she didn't want to dirty up Stefan's bedroom, so she figured it would be their best option.

"I hate this," Rose moaned as the human girl pushed the deep blue plush comforter to the side while Elena had began to carefully put her into the large bed. "I'm a vampire," Rose continued to rant, "I haven't had a cold in five centuries."

"We all get sick," Emily exclaimed as she tried to get the ill vampire to relax. She knew it wasn't good for Rose's healing with all this stressing out. It was just going to make it that much more difficult - if the werewolf wound could actually even heal.

Rose slowly shook her head while the Gilbert vampire helped her remove the black sweater that was resting against her wound. "We don't get sick," Rose explained to the human girl about the life of a vampire, "when we die, it's fast and sudden and it's certainly not drawn out with an illness."

The human girl silently placed her large comforter across the ill vampire's body once her twin sister had removed Rose's sweater. "Well, good thing you aren't dying anytime soon," Emily remarked as she looked down at the vampire with a soft smile once Rose was comfortable in her bed. The brunette girl knew that she wasn't one hundred percent sure that the vampire would survive the bite, hell, she wasn't even fifty percent sure, but she was still going to keep comforting Rose as best as she could to help her through this tough time.

Rose looked up at the doppelganger from the soft pillow she was resting against with a tiny smile for a couple of seconds as she enjoyed actually being cared for before she told Emily in a soft whisper, "that's such a human thing to say."

Emily's green eyes instantly widened in fake shock as she stared down at the ill vampire in complete disbelief. "What!?" The brunette girl gasped. "I'm human?" Emily hurriedly interrogated as if that was brand new information for her before she uttered with a smirk, "I had no idea."

The Gilbert girl knew the one way she could help a human, vampire, or werewolf feel better and that is by just making them forget about their problems and laugh. It was what she did for Tyler, so Emily hoped it would help Rose keep herself calm and at least keep the pain at bay.

The ill vampire slowly shook her head with an amused eye roll at the comical human girl - just like Emily wanted. Rose then sluggishly rotated her neck to move her groggy gaze over to the Gilbert vampire before she inquired curiously, "is she always this sarcastic?"

The brown eyed Gilbert stared down at the ill vampire as she silently nodded her head before Elena moved her gaze over to her twin sister with a playful glare as she reworded what Emily had told Rose a few moments ago, "you have no idea." Elena then leaned into Rose's side as she muttered teasingly as her glare that she was giving her twin sister turned into a humorous grin, "she's the worse."

The human girl instantly gaped at her other half in disbelief before she quickly grabbed ahold of one of the many pillows that was on her bed in the boarding house and chucked it at Elena's face. Emily then pointed at the Gilbert vampire as she exclaimed with a wide smirk, "you have it backwards, dear sister, you're the worse."

"You remind me so much of Darina," Rose whispered in a hoarse voice as she had only silently watched the two siblings go back and forth with one another like she remembered watching Darina do the same with Katerina. It made Rose recall the many times she had secretly witnessed behind a thick tree as the human Petrova twins ran through the small village in England while they giggled and laughed as they chased after one another.

Emily's humorous and teasing expression that she had been giving her twin sister slowly died out once she looked over to the ill vampire as she heard the name of her doppelganger. The human girl never really got to hear anything about Darina since Rose and Katherine are the only ones that actually knew her and Katherine was obviously locked in the tomb, so she couldn't get any information from her.

The human girl twitched her head to the side while she stared down at the sick vampire before she wondered softly, "what was she like?" Emily decided this could be the only opportunity she could ask Rose about her doppelganger since there would be disruptions while Rose is stuck on bed rest.

A soft smile instantly appeared onto Rose's face at the fact that the human girl wanted to hear about her deceased best friend. "She was literally an angel," the ill vampire whispered with a small chuckle. Rose then quickly coughed for a couple of painful seconds as the action caused the anguish that she had been feeling to run up her lungs thanks to the werewolf wound on her back.

Once Rose could actually breathe again, she shook her head when she noticed the worried expression on the sisters' faces before she continued to speak about the good and angelic Petrova twin, "she was the absolute opposite of her sister; Katerina. She was sweet, caring, and above all; protective. However, Darina did have her ways of showing that spark of Katerina. She could get someone to do anything she wanted. But the difference between the two sisters was that Darina never abused the power she had like Katerina always did. Darina was just an angel." The ill vampire then gently grabbed ahold of the human girl's warm hand as if she was looking right into her deceased best friend's green eyes before she whispered, "she was lovely."

"She sounds great," the Gilbert vampire exclaimed with a kind smile once she had interrupted the calm silence that had surrounded Rose and her twin sister as they all thought of the type of person Darina Petrova was. Elena didn't know that much about her sister's doppelganger since she's dead along with the fact that Emily rarely talks about her unless, of course, they are in Katherine's presence. Elena only knew that Darina was caring and protective just like her sister from the stories she had heard.

"She was," Rose whispered as she looked anywhere but at the girl that reminded her so much of Darina. She instead began to let her teary green eyes roam around the large room as memories of her best friend began to play through her mind. The ill vampire instantly saw the moments she would always remember like the times she and Darina would pick flowers in the field once she saw the roses on Emily's dresser and how she and Darina would always laugh and gossip together when they would watch the sun rise in the early chilly mornings of England once Rose's gaze landed onto the sun peaking through the deep blue curtains of the human girl's bedroom.

The tranquility and content silence in the bedroom of the large estate was, once again, disturbed by the Gilbert vampire. But instead of Elena's voice, it was the nuisance of her cell phone blaring loudly in the back pocket of her jeans. The Gilbert vampire quickly gave her sister and Rose an apologetic smile before she pulled out the device and glanced down, where she noticed she had a new text message.

 **STEFAN : COME 2 THE GRILL. I NEED UR HELP W/ ISOBEL. WE NEED 2 KEEP EMMIE SAFE.**

"It's Stefan," Elena told her awaiting sister once she had sent a quick text back to the younger Salvatore that said she'd be there soon. "He needs my help finding our mother," the Gilbert vampire further explain what Stefan wanted before she gave her twin sister a sheepish smile as she knew Emily didn't want them to find Isobel - which Elena completely disagreed with. If Isobel knew away to stop this, then why shouldn't they ask for her help?

"Will you be okay on your own?" Elena worriedly questioned her twin sister after a moment had passed as she just realized she would have to leave Emily alone with Rose. The Gilbert vampire didn't really like the idea of leaving her human sister with a sick vampire as she didn't know what would happen. However, Elena knew it would be better if she was helping Stefan find Isobel as their birth mother could be their only chance in getting answers about Klaus.

The human doppelganger immediately let out a loud groan as she rolled her green eyes at what Stefan needed her sister for. "Can you guys please stop trying to find her?" Emily begged as she seriously didn't want Isobel involved in their lives anymore than she has been. She just causes destruction when she's in town. Emily also didn't want them to find her and Elena's birth giver as she was afraid that it would mess up her deal with Elijah as he was her only chance of keeping everyone she loves safe.

Elena shook her head and told her sister, "that's not happening." The Gilbert vampire then walked around the large bed and placed a loving kiss to Emily's brown hair before she continued, "Isobel might be able to keep you from being sacrificed and we're going to do everything in our power to keep you safe." Elena looked down into her sister's annoyed green eyes and told her, "give me a call if you need anything," before she gave Emily and the ill vampire a small smile and took her exit out of the bedroom so she could help Stefan hopefully find an answer to solving this sacrifice problem that they are all worried about.

"You know," the tired Rose began once she silently watched the vampire sister make her way through the wooden door and moved her gaze over to the irritated human sister, "you're very lucky." A small sad smile slowly made its way onto her sweaty face before Rose concluded, "no one's ever loved me the way you're loved."

Emily lost her annoyed expression about her twin sister and Stefan searching for Isobel when she heard the ill vampire before she took a seat at the edge of the bed. The human girl then lifted an eyebrow in disbelief at Rose as she knew what the vampire was saying isn't true. "I don't believe that," Emily voiced her thoughts, "from what I've heard, Darina and Trevor both cared for you."

"Trevor was my best friend," Rose began in a whisper before she shook her head, "nothing more." The brunette vampire brought the deep blue comforter closer to her body and continued, "Darina was the only exception. She was like my sister. But after everything that happened, I spent all those years on the run from Elijah. I just never thought it was a good idea to set up roots." Rose gave the human girl a grim smile as she concluded, "the whole idea of family is not exactly compatible with being a vampire."

"Well, my sister is living a life with people that love her, so I think it's possible," Emily told the ill vampire with a small smile. The human girl hated that Rose was filled with such negative thoughts while she laid on her death bed. However, Emily wasn't going to give up on her. She was going to continue to help as much as she can to make the vampire feel better at a time where Rose feels like the world is crashing down on her as it was one of Emily's specialties - the ability to make anyone, supernatural or not, feel happier during a bad moment in their life.

"Why are you so eager to give up?" The ill Rose interrogated as she interrupted the human girl's thoughts of her goal to help the aforementioned vampire while Emily had began to walk away from the bed and over to the small table, where Elena had placed the bottle of bourbon mixed with blood. It saddened Rose that Emily was just so willing to give up like this. It was not what Darina would want for her and it is neither how Rose thought of the route Emily would go on from what Rose had heard from Elena and the Salvatore brothers about how strong and fearless the human girl is.

"I'm not giving up. I'm simply keeping everyone that I love safe," Emily easily responded to the ill vampire's question while she slowly poured the dark red concoction into a small crystal glass that she had in her room. Emily was telling Rose the truth. She wasn't giving up. She was just doing what would keep her family and friends safe from receiving the same fate she would when Klaus arrives in Mystic Falls. "Here," the human girl exclaimed once she had filled the glass half way and walked back over to the large bed.

Rose tiredly grabbed the heavy glass from the doppelganger, but her strength immediately failed her, so she dropped her arm onto the dark sheets and held the glass that way. The ill vampire then drowsily moved her green eyes up to the brunette girl before she continued to question as she couldn't understand why the human girl was giving up like this, "what do you call this whole deal with Elijah?"

The human girl paused as she tried to think of the right way she could explain to the vampire about why she was agreeing to this deal with the original. "I call it my best option," Emily finally answered as that was the only way she could get Rose to understand. She only agreed with this deal because it would be the only sure way she would know that her family and friends would still be alive and that was all she cared about. And Emily knew she couldn't protect them all by herself, so why not enlist the help of the original?

"It's your easiest option," Rose uttered as she disagreed with the human girl. The ill vampire just couldn't get on board with what Emily had decided to do as she knew this wouldn't have been Darina's choice. The Petrova girl would have kept fighting and that was the opposite of what Emily was doing.

"I will do whatever it takes to keep everyone safe and Elijah is the only one that can make that happen," Emily stated as she continued to explain to Rose why she was doing this and how this wasn't her giving up or taking the easy route. She was doing what was right for the people around her. She wasn't going to be selfish like Katherine when she could save everyone from having to experience what Klaus did to the Petrova family.

The ill vampire raised her left eyebrow at the human girl's stubbornness that was so much like Darina's before she continued her interrogation but moved onto another topic as she wondered, "do you really think that your witch friend destroyed the moonstone?" Rose remembered that before everything went horrible with the werewolf last night, that the human girl's witch friend had been over and told her, Damon, and Elena that she could get rid of the moonstone for good so Emily wouldn't get sacrificed.

The brunette girl bit down on her bottom lip at the question as she thought back to the phone call that she had before she fell asleep last night with Elena and Stefan. Elena had explained to her and Stefan that the Bennett witch had released the spell from the milky stone with the help of another witch like they wanted to do all along while Emily was trapped in the Gilbert house.

Once Emily finally looked back into Rose's awaiting green eyes after thinking, she silently shook her head. "I think it's not possible to get rid of it forever like my friends and family all think," Emily explained her thoughts on the whole moonstone release plan they had done, "this sacrifice has been in place for centuries, so no. I don't think the moonstone is actually destroyed."

Rose looked at the human girl in sadness before she mumbled out her question, "you really are determined to die, aren't you?" The ill vampire then stared at the doppelganger with a disappointed expression before she uttered, "at least I ran. You're not even trying."

"I'm protecting -" the green eyed girl had began to explain for the millionth time as to why she was agreeing to Elijah's plan to bring Klaus to Mystic Falls, but before she could say anything more, the ill vampire interrupted her as Rose squeezed her eyes shut and loudly moaned, "I'm so tired."

Emily let out a slow sigh as she realized this conversation was over when she noticed the ill vampire begin to relax into the large bed. The human girl then waited to see if Rose was actually going to sleep or was staying awake, but when she didn't hear anything for a moment from the vampire, Emily slowly grabbed the crystal glass from Rose's hand and silently made her way to the bedside table before she gently placed the bourbon and blood mixture down.

The human girl soon came to the conclusion that she would go back downstairs while Rose slept as she knew the vampire needed all the rest she could get. However, before Emily could even place one of her white shoes over the threshold of the bedroom, she was soon stopped when she heard the pained voice of Rose.

"No," the ill vampire shouted as she thrashed around in her sleep, "stop, wait." Rose then slowly opened up her drowsy green eyes as she looked in the direction she saw a figure before she commanded in a sleepy whisper, "tell them to prepare the horses."

 _This isn't good,_ Emily thought to herself as she stood at the edge of the bedroom while she watched Rose move around in a dream-like state from the werewolf bite. The human girl then quickly made her way to the vampire when she noticed Rose was starting to panic by the way her chest was moving. "Hey, hey. It's okay, Rose," Emily uttered softly as she rubbed the vampire's arm while she tried to comfort her, "you need to rest. Sleep will do you good."

The vampire either didn't hear the human girl or she thought she was still dreaming because Rose didn't cling on to Emily's advice like she thought she would. Rose instead continued to speak in her dream-like state, "Trevor don't be stupid. You're never going to make it there before the sun." The ill vampire then swiftly threw her body forward as soon as the last word escaped her mouth as she felt the pain take over every inch of her being. Rose thrashed around in the bed for a few seconds before she couldn't take it any longer. "Emily!" Rose shouted, "Emily, I need more blood!"

The human girl quickly became worried for the vampire, so she moved as fast she could to the small table and grabbed the glass of bourbon and blood before she swiftly jogged back to the pained vampire. "Here," Emily hurriedly uttered as she placed the heavy cup into Rose's hand while watching carefully so Rose wouldn't drop it from her weak state.

However, that still didn't stop the blood from being spilled all over the large queen sized bed because not even a full second passed after Rose sipped on the bourbon concoction before the ill vampire coughed up all of the blood she had drank along with the blood she had earlier today onto the clean sheets.

Emily instantly sprang into action when she saw the liquid pouring out of Rose's mouth and swiftly grabbed the glass before the vampire could drop it. Once Emily placed the glass onto the bedside table, she then began to rub the vampire's back as she tried to comfort Rose. "It's going to be okay," the human doppelganger whispered. But when Emily realized that more blood that was originally in the glass was coming out of the vampire, she quickly jumped out of the bed and rushed to the adjacent bathroom.

The human girl figured that the vampire just needed to cool her body down from the werewolf bite, so she quickly picked up a clean towel from the bathroom counter and began to run it under the water. Emily then squeezed the excess water from the white towel before she jogged back into the bedroom. However, when Emily looked towards her bed, she was instantly confused as she didn't see the ill vampire where she had left her.

"Rose?" Emily nervously called out as she gently placed the wet towel at the edge of the bed since she didn't need it right now. The Gilbert girl knew she needed to be cautious as she didn't know what the bite could do. Emily soon came to the conclusion as she looked around the bedroom was that Rose wasn't in the room, so the human girl turned around to search the rest of the boarding house. But when Emily turned around, a gasp instantly escaped her mouth as she saw that Rose was standing right behind her with a glare shining across her pale face.

The human doppelganger didn't even get the chance to try to calm down the vampire before Rose lifted up her hand with new found strength and squeezed her fingers around Emily's throat. The sickly vampire then sped towards the closest wall and slowly began to lift the brunette girl from the ground as she growled, "where is Katerina?" But when Rose didn't get the answer she wanted, the vampire continued her torture by squeezing the human girl's neck harder. "I want your sister, Darina," the angry vampire shouted, "this is all her fault and she deserves to die!"

Another loud gasp escaped the scared brunette girl's mouth as she tried to get air into her lungs once she felt her shoes lift from the ground. But when Emily realized there was no way she could do that thanks to Rose's tight grip on her neck, the doppelganger quickly began to scratch at the vampire's fingers. "Rose!" Emily shouted as the vampire still wasn't budging and she had realized Rose was hallucinating the past from the mention of the Petrova sisters, "Rose! It's me, Emily!"

"Stop hiding Katerina!" Rose continued to shout as if she didn't even hear the words coming out of the human girl's mouth. The ill vampire's face then began to transform into her true self as veins began to craw under Rose's eyes before she snarled, "she betrayed us all, Darina!"

"Darina is dead!" Emily shrieked out as she tried everything in her willpower to get the sick vampire to jump out of whatever trance or hallucination she was in. The brunette girl was worried that the older vampire would end up killing her from the tight grip on her neck and the black spots in her vision, so Emily decided to try to wake up Rose by giving her a bad memory of the person Rose thought she was.

It seemed like that was what Rose needed to hear because as soon as the words were out of the human girl's mouth, Rose swiftly dropped Emily to the ground as her face began to transform back to normal before her brows began to furrow in confusion. Rose didn't understand. If Darina is dead, then who is in front of her?

"Emily," the sick vampire whispered as she tried out the name after a moment of staring at the girl in front of her before Rose finally came to her senses. "Oh, my God!" Rose gasped guiltily, "Emily!" The vampire quickly took a couple of steps back as she tripped over her feet to get away from the human girl she had harmed. "I'm so sorry," Rose hurriedly apologized, "I-I d-don't know what happening to me. I'm so sorry."

The human girl took a deep breath and swallowed thickly once she realized she wasn't in anymore danger with the ill vampire picturing the Petrova twins. Emily then closed her green eyes as she tried to calm her nerves before she placed the best comforting smile she could offer after almost being killed by an angry Rose. "It's okay," Emily told the vampire even though she was still mentally shaking before she added, "no harm done."

"My mind," Rose mumbled as she tried to understand what had just happened. She only remembered throwing up all that blood before everything just went dark. The ill vampire quickly looked over her shoulder as the human girl helped her back to the bed with guilt in her eyes as she tried to excuse her behavior, "I'm..."

"It's okay," Emily swiftly interrupted the vampire before she could apologize again. The human girl knew by the look of things that Rose would be saying sorry for hours. But Emily didn't want Rose to feel even worse, so the human girl tried to console her as much as she could. "You just got confused for a moment," Emily added as she rubbed the vampire's lower back.

The vampire swiftly twirled her body around, once again, as she stared into the human girl's green eyes with a frantic expression in hers. "I'm so sorry, Emily," Rose apologized once more before she begged desperately, "please don't be afraid of me."

Emily gave the vampire a small smile as she rubbed Rose's healthy arm. "It'll take more than that to scare me," the human girl stated with a smirk as she hoped she could make the vampire forget about what just happened as that was all she wanted. It was just an accident. Emily didn't blame her, so Rose shouldn't either. It was just the werewolf bite that was causing the ill vampire to act that way.

"Please don't hate me," Rose continued to beg with tears sliding down her green eyes. It was as if the sick vampire didn't even hear the human girl accept her apologies like how she didn't hear Emily when Rose was choking her out. "I didn't mean to scare you," Rose whispered barley above a whisper. The vampire didn't want the human doppelganger to be scared of her as she had only been trying to help her like she tried to do with Darina.

"You're okay," the human girl uttered with a kind smile before she added to get the vampire to understand that she wasn't mad or scared of her, "and we're okay." Emily then silently linked her hand with Rose's and placed her other hand on the vampire's back as she slowly helped the sick supernatural being back into the soft bed. "I think a nice nap will help you feel better," Emily told Rose as she placed the comforter over the vampire's body.

The ill vampire didn't say anything for a moment as she focused on lying her pained and tired body on the healthy side that was facing the human girl before she slowly placed her head onto the soft pillow. "I'm scared," Rose finally confessed after staring into the human girl's concerned green eyes that were so much like her best friend's. Those eyes just always had the ability to make her want to spill her guts and Rose couldn't help but want to trust the human girl even though she swore she would never trust another Petrova doppelganger again.

Emily took a seat on the edge of the bed beside the ill vampire before she gently grabbed ahold of Rose's cold hand at her confession. "I got you," the human girl whispered as she consoled the vampire, "you'll never be alone when you are here with me." Emily could tell that Rose was just afraid to be alone like most people are when they are this close to death, so, the human girl just wanted to comfort the vampire as much as she could to make it easier.

The sick supernatural being quickly lifted up her body from the bed at the doppelganger's words and stared into Emily's green eyes in panic as she realized she didn't know where she was. "Here, where's here?" Rose hurriedly questioned frantically.

The Gilbert girl swiftly placed her hands forcefully onto the ill vampire's arms as she saw Rose was starting to get worked up again. "You're in the Salvatore boarding house in my room," Emily explained in a soothing voice to keep the vampire calm, "you're safe here."

Rose laid back onto the large bed with the help of the human girl before the vampire's green glazed over eyes began to look around around the bedroom as if she couldn't remember ever being inside of it. Rose then pulled the deep blue comforter up to her neck as her body began to shake before she whispered with tears streaming down her cheeks, "I want to go home."

Emily softly raised her hand to the sweaty brunette vampire's face and pushed her hair away from her eyes. The human girl felt extremely bad for Rose. She didn't ask for any of this. Rose was just trying to live her life as best as she could while running from an original. But then she got mixed up in all the drama that comes with associating with the supernatural teenagers of Mystic Falls.

"Tell me about your home," the human girl softly ordered after a moment of staring down at the saddened Rose. Emily knew at least this could make the ill vampire feel better by talking about something that she loves and is close to her heart.

"St. Austell, thirty kilometers south of London," the ill vampire began with a soft smile slowly rising onto her cracked lips at the memories of where she spent her human life and part of her vampire life before she had to get up and leave to run from Elijah. "There was this one place in the village of St. Austell that was my favorite," Rose stated before she told Emily the place she had mentioned to the doppelganger before they had went to find Slater, "it's where I would spend my days in the bright green fields with all the horses trotting around." The sick vampire looked up into Emily's green eyes with tears in her own as she concluded, "that was always my home away from home."

Emily placed her warm hand into the vampire's sickly cold one as she nodded her head to show she was listening with a small smile. The brunette girl instantly remembered Rose telling her about reading in those fields when the vampire mentioned the horses. It always sounded beautiful to her. It reminded Emily of the spot she and Tyler always go to when they are feeling sad or pressured. It was just a place to feel safe in, so Emily could understand why that would be the vampire's happy place.

"It sounds wonderful," the Petrova doppelganger whispered to the vampire after a moment of silence as she gave the vampire's hand a tight squeeze to let Rose know that she was still there with her like Emily had promised to not leave her alone.

Rose let out a small huff as she pushed her head further into the soft pillow before she mumbled, "when you live long enough, everything disappears." The vampire then looked up into the human girl's eyes for one last time and added dishearteningly, "so much time wasted. I just wish I wouldn't have been so afraid," before the fatigue of the bite swallowed her whole.

The human girl breathed out through her nose as she watched the vampire's hand go limp in hers and the small sound of Rose finally sleeping. Emily was glad that Rose was getting some rest. She deserved at least a couple of hours of no pain. The human girl then moved the sweaty hair from the vampire's face once more after making sure Rose was okay and whispered, "sleep tight," before she slowly got up from the bed as quietly as she could.

Once Emily silently exited the bedroom and closed the door behind her, she squeezed her green eyes shut while she leaned her back against the wood. The human girl then took a heavy deep breath as she prayed to whoever was listening that Rose resting would help heal the werewolf bite. Emily was just not ready to lose another person in her life.

* * *

It was about four hours of silence in the Salvatore boarding house before the Gilbert girl found herself trotting back up the long wooden staircase after she herself had a nap along with Rose, who had been resting upstairs in the human girl's bedroom.

Emily had awoken on the couch to the sound of the ill vampire moaning in pain. So, the human girl had grabbed a fresh glass of blood and went to check on Rose. The werewolf-bitten vampire was doing much better after drinking the crimson liquid than she was earlier from what Emily could tell. Rose hadn't had any hallucinations in a couple of hours, so Emily figured that meant Rose was finally healing.

So here was the Petrova doppelganger now, making her way back towards the wooden door of her bedroom with a set of clean sheets. Emily had decided she would get rid of the bloody sheets once she saw that Rose was fully awake and was doing much better after she had drank the whole glass of blood about ten minutes ago.

Emily knocked onto the door once she reached her destination as softly as she could as she didn't want to frighten the vampire. The brunette girl then slowly pushed the door open when she never got a response. "Rose?" Emily called out while she was busy looking down at the sheets in her hands before she questioned, "are you ready to go back downstairs for a little while?" The human girl had told the vampire before she left that she would move her to the couch while she fixed the bedroom up with clean sheets.

However, when Emily finally walked all the way into the bedroom and looked up, she immediately rolled her green eyes, despite her current situation, when she saw Rose was, once again, not in the spot she had left her. "This is the second time," the human girl mumbled in annoyance before she placed the clean sheets onto the wooden dresser to the left of her. Emily then began to search around the bedroom and the bathroom for the vampire. But sadly, Emily couldn't find Rose, so she turned back around and made her way out into the hallway to continue her search.

Emily let out a sigh as she stood there in silence as she knew the scavenger hunt for a sick vampire was on. The human girl then began to look through all ten bedrooms in the boarding house before she, once again, came up empty. "Rose?" Emily called out once she made her way back out into the hallway. But when Emily didn't hear anything, she slowly made her way down the wooden staircase while her green eyes continued to search for the vampire.

The Petrova doppelganger slowly and quietly made her way towards the living room once she had reached the first level on the boarding house. She searched through the study, the library, and the deceased Zach's office. But, of course, Emily still couldn't find Rose anywhere. The brunette girl was beginning to become nervous about where Rose could be or if she having another hallucination again. So with the tense feeling in her bones, Emily moved her body to a small corner in the living room before she pulled out her cell phone from the pocket of her leather jacket.

Emily then began to go through her contacts before she got to the _'D's'_ and selected, _'Devil,'_ for the oldest Salvatore. The human girl figured Damon would be her best option since Stefan and Elena were busy with looking for Isobel. So, Emily tapped on the vampire's name before she brought it towards her ear. _Dammit,_ Emily thought as she only got his voicemail. The Gilbert girl waited for a couple of seconds for the beep before Emily quickly uttered, "Damon, you should get here. I don't think I can control Rose for much longer. Something is wrong."

The Gilbert girl let out a huff once she finished her message before she pushed the device back into her pocket. However, when Emily had barely tucked her cell phone away, she instantly heard the sound of something falling to the ground. It sounded close, Emily realized. "Rose?" The human girl called as she figured it could only be the sick vampire before she began to head towards the stairs to the basement, where she had pinpointed the noise.

Emily walked down the small set of steps before she slowly began to travel through the dark tunnel of the familiar basement. However, before Emily continued her journey to find the vampire, she quickly stopped, turned to her left, and grabbed the wooden stake that was sitting on top of a shelve. _I'm not facing her again with a weapon,_ Emily thought as she didn't want to take a chance of getting choked again by the brunette vampire.

The doppelganger took a deep breath to ready herself before she slowly continued to walk through the dark hallway for the vampire. However, Emily barely had to take three small steps before she spotted something on the floor. The Gilbert girl bent down and noticed that it was a blood bag that looked to have been drunken recently. Emily then quickly became on high alert once she placed the blood bag down and noticed a trail of blood. She took a big gulp of air to calm herself before she slowly began to follow the trail, which instantly caused a gasp to escape her mouth at what Emily saw.

There on the floor of the Salvatore basement was the vampire, Emily had been searching for, drinking hungrily from another blood bag while the refrigerator that the brothers had stashed was ripped open with bags of fresh blood from Mystic Falls Hospital spewed across the ground.

Emily silently placed the wooden stake that she was holding into the pocket of her leather jacket as she knew she had to care for Rose as if she was a caged animal. One wrong move and the vampire could snap. "Rose, hey," the Gilbert girl softly called out as she didn't want to spook the vampire or cause another accident like earlier when Rose attacked her.

The hungry and sick vampire swiftly twisted her head around when she heard the familiar voice. Rose stared up at the brunette girl with a soft gaze before she whispered, "Darina." The vampire then instantly switched a flip inside of her head before a loud snarl escaped her blood-covered lips. "Stop hiding Katerina!" Rose growled like she did earlier while she let the blood bag fall to the ground before she gripped the concrete floor and began to tauntingly crawl towards the human girl.

At the familiar names of her ancestors, Emily quickly pulled the wooden weapon from her pocket and hid it behind her back. The Gilbert girl then held her free hand out in front of her as she slowly took a step away from the vampire before she uttered gently, "this isn't real, Rose. Katherine is locked up in the tomb and Darina is dead."

However, the vampire either didn't hear the human girl or she was just too blinded by rage and betrayal to listen to what Emily was saying. The only thing Rose did do is jump up from the ground with a fierce growl before she began to chase after the human girl, who had started to run from the erratic vampire as soon as she saw Rose's quick movements. "Katerina will cause our death, Darina! Give her up! She deserves to die!" The brunette vampire shouted as she began to run and slam into the walls of the basement to catch her prey.

The human girl run as fast as she could up the stairs and through the living room. Emily was really glad that she didn't wear her usual heeled boots today as she knew she would have tripped by now. But sadly, that still didn't matter because Rose is a vampire and she's only a human. That statement was instantly proven right as the vampire appeared in front of Emily with veins crawling under her fiery eyes.

Emily swallowed thickly when she saw that she was stuck with her back towards a wall with the vampire slowly caging her in. "Rose, this is not real," the Gilbert girl uttered as she knew she would have to use her words again to get the angry vampire out of this trance, "my name is Emily Gilbert. Darina is not here."

Thankfully for the human girl, Rose finally came to a stop at her words. But unluckily for Emily, they did nothing to change the vampire's face back to normal. The brunette girl knew that meant she was definitely still in danger, so she continued to try to convince Rose that she's, in fact, imagining things. "This is just the werewolf bite talking," Emily began to explain in a shaky voice as she held the stake tightly behind her back, "you're hallucinating the past, Rose." The human girl then held out her hand to show the vampire that she wasn't going to hurt her before she continued, "you're here in the boarding house. You're safe. Katherine is gone."

It seemed like the angry and sick vampire was finally turning back to normal at Emily's soothing voice. But it was like Rose was fighting herself because one second her face was human before it went straight back to the monster that's hidden inside. The vampire then swiftly grabbed the brunette girl's hand with the monster in her in charge before she threw Emily across the room.

Emily immediately let out a groan once she felt her body finally fall to the ground. "Dammit," the human girl mumbled as she felt like brain was bouncing off the walls in her head from how hard she landed. Emily then took a small breath of relief before panic instantly raced back into her chest when the angry vampire pounced onto her form and began to, once again, choke her out.

The Gilbert girl's eyes widened in fright as she realized she was now in trouble. Emily quickly began to reach around her for the stake she had but the brunette girl instantly deflated when she saw it was out of her reach. She then started to search around for anything that could keep her alive before she finally spotted something.

Emily stretched her short left arm as far as she could before she squeezed her fingertips around the soft material and pulled the tan and red curtains away from the window - which automatically caused the sun to shine brightly into the living room.

The vampire instantly started to scream as soon as the painful sun reached her exposed skin from her tank top. Rose then swiftly began to crawl off of her targeted prey and tried to push herself away from the bane of her existence while she cried out for mercy.

While the vampire was busy trying to hide away from the sunlight, Emily hurriedly scrambled over to the stake she had dropped before she sprinted towards the front door. The human girl knew this was her only chance to escape, so she ran with everything she had as her life depended on it. However, before Emily could fully open the door and rush out of the boarding house, she was soon stopped by the angry vampire as Rose slammed the door and blocked the human girl from her freedom.

Emily didn't even have time to panic before Rose stretched her mouth open and let her fangs sprout from her gums. The human girl tried to push the vampire away from her awaiting blood before she felt something in her hand. Emily's eyes widened as she had forgot about the weapon. The human girl then tightened her grip on the stake before she swiftly stuck it into the side of the vampire's neck to stop Rose from reaching Emily's own neck.

The Petrova doppelganger swiftly pushed the vampire out of her way as Rose was distracted by the pain of the stake and the pounding agony in her back before Emily rushed up the staircase. The brunette girl knew Rose could grab her if she tried the door again, so Emily decided to put as much space between them as possible.

Once Emily reached the second story of the boarding house, she thought for a second before she jogged towards the last bedroom in the corner of the hallway which happens to be Stefan's. The Gilbert girl figured her room would be the first one Rose would look in, so with Emily going to the aforementioned Salvatore's it gave Damon or whoever was going to help her some time to get here. It was like a very dangerous game of hide-and-seek.

Emily hurriedly slammed the bedroom door behind her as soon as she was in Stefan's bedroom before she dead bolted it. She then took a deep breath for the first time since she was attacked by the sick and angry vampire. However, while Emily stood there as she tried to relax her out-of-control heart rate, she realized she still wouldn't be safe. Rose is an older vampire and she could break down the door at a snap of her fingers. So, with that thought running through her mind, Emily quickly began to look around the room for anything that she could protect herself with.

The Gilbert girl firstly pushed a heavy dresser that was just as tall as she was in front of the door so it could at least stop Rose for a few minutes as Emily knew it would take her a while since Rose was weak right now. The brunette girl then looked around Stefan's bedroom for anything else that could help before she jogged over to the balcony and pushed the doors and curtains out of the way. The sun would always be her protector, Emily realized. So she widened the door as far as they would go - which caused the sun to shine all around the large bedroom.

Emily walked out onto the balcony and glanced over it once she felt the sun on her skin before she thought if she could make it. However, the brunette girl quickly shook her head a moment later as she knew she would break a leg without supernatural healing if she would take the chance to jump down onto the grass. Emily huffed out a disappointed sigh as she ran her hand through her hair before she suddenly thought of something else that could help protect herself from the ill vampire.

The human girl swiftly jogged across Stefan's bedroom before she reached his desk. Emily remembered one night she had spend the night that Stefan had hid stakes for her so if she was ever to be in danger. The brunette girl pulled open the bottom drawer of the wooden desk before she smiled when she saw at least ten stakes already to go. She then swiftly grabbed the largest one before rushed over to another one of Stefan's dressers and grabbed the decanter of vervain that Stefan had been drinking lately. Emily tossed the glass lid to the side, not caring if it broke, before she poured the clear liquid all over the stake.

"Okay," Emily whispered to herself with complete confidence in her voice as she held the stake in a tight hold, "I got this. I can protect myself." She may be only human, but Emily knew she could keep herself safe until someone showed up. She didn't need to be saved all the time. _I don't need a knight when I have a sword,_ Emily thought to herself as her hard green eyes stayed locked onto Stefan's door with fearlessness she had never felt in her life.

It was another three minutes of the steady human girl standing strong on her own before she swiftly stepped back towards the opened door to the balcony when the handle on Stefan's bedroom door began to shake rapidly. "Emily?" The erratic voice of the sick vampire called out as she tried to assure the human girl that she was fine, "I know I'm not in danger because of Katerina right now. Darina is dead and you are Emily Gilbert." The vampire then started to cough roughly as she began to spit up all the blood she had consumed before she begged, "please, Emily. I really need your help."

The Gilbert girl silently shook her head as she knew she would be making a mistake if she went to try to help the vampire again. The same thing would just end up happening and Emily couldn't risk it. "I'm sorry," Emily whispered to the hurting Rose before she stepped back until she reached the sunny balcony. The human girl knew this would be the safest place for her right now since the vampire wouldn't take the chance of getting harmed but the sunlight again. Emily just prayed help was on the way as she held the vervain stake in her hands while the sun continued to beat down onto her warm skin.

* * *

Emily had sat out on the balcony for hours until the sun had sadly disappeared for the day and the bright moon arrived. The Gilbert girl slowly got up from the ground and moved into Stefan's bedroom as her hiding place was no longer any use with the sun not being able to hurt the sick vampire anymore. Emily instead sat down onto Stefan's bed while she nervously kept her green eyes glued to the dead bolted door.

The human girl had soon realized as she boredly sat there for a few minutes that she hadn't heard any noises from the ill vampire in a long time. The last time Emily had heard something was when Rose was continuously pounding on the door as she begged for the human girl to open up - but that was over two hours ago.

Emily promptly came to the decision to scope out the boarding house as she figured Rose must have calmed down after her murderous hallucination rampage or she fell asleep somewhere. The Gilbert then slowly got up from Stefan's bed once she had plan and moved the tall dresser out of the way before she began to search the boarding house all over again with her stake tightly in her hand.

The doppelganger was extra cautious as she slowly moved through the hallway and down the staircase as she didn't know if this was some trick or if Rose was actually sleeping. The human girl felt like she was apart of a SWAT team as she checked every corner and hiding spot for the ill vampire while she made sure to never leave her back open to be attacked.

However, when the human girl finally reached the foyer, she became even more alerted as she noticed the front door was wide open. Emily took a moment to swallow thickly out of nervousness before she slowly began to move towards the entrance with her stake high up in the air as if she was Norman Bates while she kept a look out for any quick movements from Rose as she knew she needed to be ready for anything.

There was just one thing Emily wasn't expecting once she was half way to the front door. and that for two vampires to suddenly pop in front of her. The human girl instantly jumped in fright at the shadows before she thrusted her stake at the attacker. However, before the weapon could come in contact the vampire, which happened to be Damon, the aforementioned Salvatore quickly grabbed ahold of the stake as it reached him before he swiftly released it.

"Dammit, fuck," Damon snarled once he let go of the wooden weapon as it had instantly burned his skin. The vampire then looked into the furrowed and serious green eyes of his girlfriend's sister with his left eyebrow raised before he questioned in annoyance, "seriously? Vervain?"

The Salvatore vampire, however, didn't get his answer as Elena had pushed Damon to the side once she saw the state her sister was in and what the human girl was holding. "Emily! Are you okay?" The Gilbert vampire gasped before she swiftly pulled her twin sister into a tight hug while also avoiding the weapon that would burn her. Elena had pulled Damon out of Mystic Grill as soon as he had noticed that Emily left a worried voicemail about Rose. She hated that she left Emily alone with the vampire even more. But Elena was glad by the looks of things that her sister wasn't hurt.

Emily numbingly nodded her head as she hugged her sister right back with her unoccupied hand and arm. She was silently praising the Lord right now after finally seeing the two vampires as she didn't know what would have happened.

Once Elena had finally released the human doppelganger after a few minutes of the Gilbert vampire uttering soft assuring words, Emily took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest before she looked towards the Salvatore vampire. "Rose is gone," the human girl finally explained as she felt like she could relax for a second.

A serious look immediately spread itself onto Damon's face as he had thought Emily was just pissed at him for leaving her with the duties of watching Rose and that she was just messing with him. But now that Damon knew she wasn't joking around, the Salvatore vampire became worried. "Where did she go?" Damon quickly interrogated as they now had a sick and hungry vampire on the loose.

The human girl bit down on her bottom lip as she glanced between her twin sister and the Salvatore vampire for a moment but didn't say anything. In reality, Emily didn't actually know where Rose was since the vampire had been trying to get her to give up Katherine for the last couple of hours along with continuously attacking her. So, Emily gave the two vampires the only answer she could as she mumbled, "I don't know."


	48. The One With The Murderous Bite

It took about fifteen minutes of the two vampires, Damon and Elena, and the human doppelganger confusingly and worryingly standing in the middle of the foyer of the Salvatore boarding house as they all thought of where the ill vampire could be before they finally rushed out of the large estate. They swiftly jumped into Damon's blue Mustang and drove to the one place that would hold the most fresh blood for the out-of-her-mind vampire; The Boaster Club Barbecue - thanks to the ever so helpful vampire-hating sheriff of Mystic Falls. Caroline's mother, Liz, had called Damon while they had tried to think of what they were going to do and told the Salvatore that they had a dead body - which they all knew could only be caused by the erratic and hungry Rose.

Currently, Emily and Elena were leaning against Damon's car while they secretly watched the aforementioned vampire speak to the sheriff about the body that her deputies had found. The human girl had began to become nervous by just standing there. The parking lot was filled with just too many students and their families which caused the human girl to fear that Rose could kill someone else.

The Gilbert girl couldn't sit still for any longer, so she ignored the confused expression her sister was giving her before she quickly pulled out her cell phone. Emily then went to her recent calls and swiftly pushed on the one that said, _'Steff_ ,' before she brought the device to her ear. Emily immediately sighed when she only reached the vampire's voicemail before she turned her back to her twin and began to leave a message, "Stefan, I don't know where you are. Elena's here with me, so I thought you would be done with the Isobel thing by now. Anyway, it's important. Call me or come to the school. Love you."

Emily huffed out another sigh once she ended the call before she moved back to stand beside her sister, who immediately linked their fingers together to give Emily some comfort. The human doppelganger gave Elena a thankful smile and squeezed the vampire's hand before Emily focused her gaze back to the front, where she noticed Damon speed walking towards them.

"Does Liz know where she is?" Emily swiftly interrogated once the Salvatore vampire had gotten back from his chat with the sheriff. The human girl was sorta hoping that her best friend's mother didn't find Rose as she knew that would mean she's dead. But then again, Emily didn't want anymore people to get hurt by the frantic vampire.

Damon silently shook his head as his blue eyes scanned through all of the human teenagers for the vampire that he just couldn't seem to find. "Nope," the Salvatore vampire finally mumbled before he looked down at his girlfriend's sister and questioned, "you got your stake?"

The human girl pushed her hand into her leather jacket and pulled out the wooden weapon before she stated, "I'm ready," while she ignored the worried look her twin sister was giving her. Emily didn't have time to argue with Elena about this when it was partially her fault that Rose got out as she had hid in Stefan's bedroom. She just wanted to find Rose as soon as possible without causing anymore death for the town of Mystic Falls.

"Emmie, I don't think -" Elena had began to disagree with her human sister coming with her and Damon to find the ill vampire. However, she was soon interrupted before she could even try to convince Emily to stay behind.

"We don't have time for this, Lena," the human girl told her sister with a serious look as this was what she was trying to avoid. Emily loved that her sister was protective like she is, but this wasn't the right time. "We need to find Rose, so worry about me later," the brunette girl told Elena before she gave the Salvatore vampire a small nod and swiftly followed after him with Elena catching up from behind.

The two vampires and the human doppelganger then began to speed walk through the Boaster Club Barbecue with only Damon and Elena listening for any sounds of struggle or the smell of fresh blood. Thankfully, it only took the Salvatore vampire less than two minutes before he finally pinpointed to where Rose was located.

While the Salvatore vampire sped off to find Rose, the brown eyed Gilbert swiftly latched her arm around her sister's waist before she took off with her vamp speed to follow after Damon as Elena figured Damon must have heard the ill vampire. However, once Emily and Elena came to a stop, a gasp instantly escaped their lips at what they saw. There on top of a car was a dead body of a guy in his early twenties and a woman, who's body had just been tossed to the ground after the sick vampire had hungrily ripped her throat out.

It seemed like everything began to move in super speed for the human girl once she and her sister arrived at the scene because one moment she was watching Rose drink the woman's blood before she saw Damon and Elena holding the sick vampire down on the hard ground while Rose tried to fight them off. "Stop!" Emily heard Damon shout to get the vampire to calm down from her hungry and angry trance once the human girl could finally see what was going on, "Rose! It's me! It's Damon!"

Thankfully, the sound of the Salvatore vampire's voice was what Rose needed to hear as her face finally went back to its human form now that she had control of the monster inside that had been surfacing these last few hours. Rose then began to frantically look around now that she wasn't blacking out before she noticed a young woman on the ground. The vampire's brows instantly furrowed before warm tears began to rain down Rose's face as she frighteningly questioned, "did I do this?" However, when Rose didn't get an answer, she hurriedly began to shake her head while the two vampires released her arms. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I never wanted to hurt anymore," Rose continued to cry out as she realized she had killed someone.

Damon looked down at the sick vampire with sorrow in his blue eyes as he wished he could have found a cure for her. "I know. I know," the Salvatore vampire whispered as he leaned down and squeezed Rose's hand to offer some sort of comfort for the crying supernatural being.

"It's okay," Elena added to what Damon had said to the hysterical vampire. The brown eyed Gilbert knew from seeing it first hand of the pain Rose has been experiencing since that wolf had jumped through the window in the living room at the boarding house. Elena felt horrible by just watching the vampire go through so much agony from the bite.

The crying vampire turned her head to the right to avoid the pity gazes as she couldn't stand it before her teary green eyes landed on the one person she felt the most guilt for. "I'm sorry," Rose cried out even louder as she locked her eyes with the human Petrova doppelganger's, "I'm so sorry."

The Gilbert girl slowly dragged her white Vans across the concrete of the parking lot as she shook her head at the hysterical vampire. Emily firstly placed the stake back into her jacket pocket before she placed her bare knees onto the hard ground and sat beside Rose. She then reached for the vampire's bloody hand as she whispered to console the supernatural being, "everything's going to be okay. I forgive you."

Rose nodded her head in a fast motion as she needed the human girl to not hate her before she lightly squeezed Emily's hand as if she was afraid she was going to harm the doppelganger again. "I'm so sorry," Rose uttered as she continued to apologize like it was the only words she knew.

"Come on," the Salvatore vampire exclaimed as he interrupted the mantra that Rose kept repeating as he knew they needed to leave before the sheriff and her deputies spotted them with two dead bodies. Damon then slowly began to pull the sick vampire from the ground as he mumbled, "let's get you home."

Rose quickly began to fight Damon's hold on her as she hurriedly uttered, "no, I don't have a home." The vampire then began to cry, once again, as she mourned for all that she had lost. The parents that died to disease in the fifteenth century, the best friend and sister she had lost in Darina and for Trevor. It all just began to come out as she heart brokenly wailed, "I haven't had a home in so long." The emotional vampire squeezed her eyes shut as she couldn't handle the pain anymore before she begged, "oh, make it stop. Please make it stop! I hate it! Make it stop!"

The human girl's face was filled of sadness as she watched the Salvatore vampire pick up the crying Rose as she finally realized that this was really the end. The werewolf bite wasn't going to get any better like Emily had prayed. This was the end of another person she had cared about.

"Hey," the Gilbert vampire whispered after a moment of watching Emily stand there in silence before she walked up to her saddened sister with pain in her own eyes. Elena then wrapped her arm around Emily's waist as Damon had began to walk away with the sick vampire. "Let's go," Elena whispered before she forcefully moved her sister from the spot where Rose had just laid.

Emily held onto her sister's arm tightly the whole time as they moved back to the blue Mustang with unshed tears clouding her green eyes. The only thought that was running through the human girl's mind was just how sorry she was for Rose to get trapped in this mess. Emily knew she only got bit because Rose was sticking around in Mystic Falls to help them - like the vampire had said she wouldn't. _Here's to another life I couldn't save,_ Emily toasted to herself as she slowly walked with her twin sister by her side for comfort that they both needed at a time like this.

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

"Are you sure about this?" Elena interrogated her twin sister for the third time with her brows deeply furrowed as she and Emily stood in the middle of the hallway in the boarding house. The Gilbert vampire had tried to keep her sister from watching Rose take her last breath, but Emily had begged and said this was something she had to do.

Emily nodded her head as she squeezed her twin sister's hand that was linked with her left one. The Gilbert girl had told Rose she would never be alone with her, so Emily was at least going to keep her promise. "I'm sure," the brunette girl whispered before she and Elena slowly began to walk into the older Salvatore's bedroom, where they both saw the sick vampire lying down with Damon sitting beside her.

The werewolf-bitten vampire was the first one to catch sight of the two sisters as Damon's back was to the door. "I'm sorry, Emily," Rose immediately apologized, once again, to the human girl. She shook her head as she explained once the Gilbert twins moved further into the bedroom, "I don't like taking human life. I never have."

Damon swiftly turned around and glared at the two sisters once he heard the human girl's name leave Rose's mouth. "You guys shouldn't be here," Damon snarled. The Salvatore vampire had told Elena to take her sister home for the night when they arrived back at the boarding house, so he was definitely annoyed that she didn't listen.

"It's the worst part about it," Rose continued as she stared up at the ceiling while she ignored the angry tone in Damon's voice before she listed, "the hunt, the need to kill, the thirst, the pleasure it brings you afterwards." The ill vampire then moved her eyes to the caring green ones of the human girl as she mumbled, "I wasn't meant to be evil. It hurts."

"Well, stop talking about it," Damon commanded as he crossed his arms over his chest while he stared down at the ill vampire. The Salvatore rolled his blue eyes in annoyance of all of this gloom before he silently made his way to stand beside his girlfriend and her sister.

Elena immediately slapped her boyfriend's upper arm along with giving him a glare as soon as Damon stood to her left. The Gilbert vampire knows Damon cares about Rose and about what is about to happen to her, but he always just puts up this front to act like he actually doesn't.

"Damon's a lot like me," Rose interrupted the deadly silence as she looked over to the three figures by the wall with her green eyes squinted. "He wants to care but when he does, he runs away from it," the ill vampire told the Gilbert sisters.

The Salvatore vampire wrapped his arm around Elena's waist tightly and placed a kiss on her forehead when he noticed the worried look on her face. "I've grown," Damon grumbled as he knew Elena has her doubts about their relationship with his history. He definitely didn't want what Rose was sickly blabbering about to ruin that.

Rose silently watched as the Gilbert vampire's face turn soft at the act of Damon defending their relationship with a content smile. The ill supernatural being had thought when she first met the Salvatore that he had the flip switched, but after these last couple of days in the boarding house, Rose had seen just who Damon really is. He puts up this high wall, but in reality, he just loves so strong and she could see that when he's around Elena. It's something Rose had always dreamed of having for herself.

The ill vampire then moved her gaze solely onto the human girl after a moment of trying to control the pain her body was feeling as she tried to savor the time she had left. Rose looked at her best friend's doppelganger with the most meaningful look she could offer as she, once again, apologized for her actions, "I'm sorry for what I've done today. I know it's inexcusable, but I hope you can forgive me."

The human girl released her sister's hand once she noticed the sick vampire was speaking directly to her. However, it took a couple of tries before Elena finally let go when Damon pulled her further away so it forced Elena to release her twin sister. The Gilbert girl then walked up to Damon's bed, that surprisingly didn't have silk sheets, before she grabbed ahold of the vampire's sweaty and cold hand. "I'm not mad at you," Emily promised before she added, "I know it was just the werewolf bite." The human girl then gave Rose a sweet smile as she stated, "we're all good."

Rose instantly smiled out of relief as she slowly nodded her head now that she knew Emily didn't hate her. "Thank you," the ill vampire whispered as she gave the human girl's hand the strongest squeeze she could offer. A serious expression then swiftly slipped onto Rose's face as she told the Petrova doppelganger, "you need to fight, Emily. I know that you are trying to protect everyone, but you need to do it anyway."

The bedroom immediately went dead silent after the words flew out of the ill vampire's mouth as Rose and Emily stared at one another like they were communicating. But in reality, Emily just didn't know what to say. She wanted to argue with the vampire, but she just nodded her head in agreement since she knew that is what Rose wanted to hear; to know she's not just giving up - which Emily wasn't even doing. She was fighting - fighting for her family and friends.

However, before the human girl could even voice what she knew Rose wanted to hear, Emily was soon interrupted as the vampire began to cough which caused the pain that had been kept at bay to push its way through Rose's body. The Gilbert girl quickly jumped into action once she noticed the agony on Rose's face, before Emily slipped her arm behind the vampire's neck and shoulder to hopefully keep her body still from jumping around. Emily had noticed over the hours of watching the vampire that when she would move, it would cause Rose even more pain.

"Mmm," Rose sighed at the feeling of the human girl's warm wrist against her freezing skin. It was nice with all the chills that kept racking her body. The vampire then took a deep breath once the pain went away before she looked into Emily's green eyes with curiousness in her own. "Why are you so nice to me?" Rose wondered before she mumbled guiltily, "I tried to hand you over for my freedom."

The Gilbert girl shrugged her shoulders carelessly before she looked down at Rose with a humorous gaze. "Us humans," Emily stated with a smirk as she recalled the ill vampire telling her that her actions this morning was very human of her.

Rose chuckled slightly as she rubbed her shaky fingers across the human girl's warm leather jacket. "You can never forget it," the ill vampire uttered as she told the brunette girl, "what it's like to be human." Rose slowly shook her head before she mumbled, "it haunts me. It's the only thing that's kept me going." The bedroom then grew silent for a moment as the two vampires and the doppelganger absorbed Rose's words before the aforementioned supernatural being gave Emily the brightest smile she could as she whispered, "it doesn't hurt as much anymore."

However, the feeling of peacefulness seemed to be a fluke because it was barely a second after the last word slipped out of Rose before a loud gasp escaped the vampire's mouth before she squeezed her arms around her stomach as Rose felt the pain shoot up her body.

The two other vampires in the room swiftly rushed towards the king sized bed when they noticed how Rose began to painfully squirm all around. "What do we do?" Elena frantically interrogated as she didn't know how they were suppose to help the sick vampire. The only thing Elena did do was grab ahold of her twin sister's hand and pulled Emily out of the way of the vampire encase Rose decided to go through another murderous spree like she did earlier.

The Salvatore vampire swiftly grabbed ahold of Rose's arm and tried to keep her still as it was the only thing he could do while the werewolf venom moved throughout her body. Damon then glanced behind him when he heard the fast heart rate of the human girl and noticed the two worried twins. "Go," Damon simply told them as there wasn't anyway that could help.

"Damon," Elena softly called out to her boyfriend with her brows furrowed. The Gilbert vampire wanted to help out even though she didn't know how, but she also didn't want to leave Damon all alone with what is going to happen. Elena knew it was going crush him - despite the careless emotions he shows on the outside.

The blue eyed vampire swiftly vamp sped over to the worried Elena and placed a kiss onto her forehead before he stated, "you guys need to just go." Damon then gave his girlfriend a small nod as he promised, "I got this," before he vamp sped back over to Rose to comfort her as best as he could while she continued to scream out in pain.

Once Elena realized that the Salvatore vampire didn't leave any room for arguing as she silently watched Damon care for Rose on his own, she quickly grabbed ahold of Emily's hand before she pulled her twin sister out into the hallway. "Come on. Let's go home," the Gilbert vampire told Emily as she locked their fingers together before she went to pull her twin sister to exit out of the Salvatore boarding house.

However, Elena didn't even get to make a full step down the hallway as Emily instantly stood her ground. "I can't," the human girl whispered as she shook her head. Emily had made a promise to Rose to always be there for her, so the brunette girl couldn't just leave Rose when she was reaching her end. "I'm staying," Emily concluded as she crossed her arms over her sundress to show her sister that she wasn't backing down.

"Emmie, you don't want to see that," the Gilbert vampire uttered softly as she grabbed ahold of both of her sister's hands. Elena didn't want her sister to have to watch the vampire die. She knew it would ruin Emily. She had already seen so many people die, so Elena just wanted to protect her sister from experiencing that again.

"I need to be there for her," Emily exclaimed as she, once again, shook her head at Elena in disagreement. "I made a promise, Lena, and you know I don't break my promises," the human girl added as she tried to persuade her twin sister to not worry about her like she was currently doing. It didn't matter, though, either way Emily was going to stay with Rose. She wasn't going to leave her alone like Rose had spent most of her life.

The Gilbert vampire stared across at her twin sister with her brown eyes furrowed as she didn't know what to do. Elena didn't want to let Emily watch another person die when she could ease the pain by taking her home. However, Elena knew she wasn't going to be able to change Emily's mind. Once Emily sets on something, it's very rarely that it will change.

So, instead of arguing like the vampire had planned, Elena simply squeezed her twin sister's hand with a small nod. "I'm going to be down stairs in the living room," the Gilbert vampire told Emily as she compromised so she could at least listen to make sure her sister was okay.

Emily gave her twin a tiny but thankful smile as she praised, "thank you, Lena," before she added to ease her sister's worrying, "I'll be fine." The human girl then turned her body around and made her way back to the older Salvatore's bedroom, that she had exited about ten minutes ago, to hopefully comfort Rose in her last moments.

Once the Petrova doppelganger took a deep breath and readied herself, she quietly walked back into Damon's bedroom. However, she was soon at the end of a hard look as the Salvatore vampire instantly glared over at her before he uttered in annoyance, "I thought I told you to go home."

"No, no," the sickly and sweaty vampire swiftly called out from the large bed as she turned her gaze to the human girl. Rose smiled slightly before she told Damon, "I think I'd like to go out with a familiar face." If she was going to die, Rose would want nothing more for the last person she sees is her best friend's doppelganger. The ill vampire then slowly moved her body to the left with Damon's help, who was seated by her knees, before she padded the empty spot to her right and commanded, "sit."

The human girl lifted up an eyebrow at her sister's boyfriend as she was challenging him to kick her out again. But when Emily saw the eye roll Damon was giving her, a small smirk appeared onto her face before the brunette girl climbed up onto the tall bed and laid her head against the headboard as she sat next to Rose.

The Salvatore vampire huffed out a sigh as he really just wanted to get this over with. He didn't need an audience of him showing his good side. That was only reserved for Elena. However, Damon knew he wasn't going to be able to get rid of the stubborn human girl as he witnessed Emily comfort the vampire with soft whispers and smiles better than he ever could.

A loud echo of the Salvatore vampire clapping his hands together, once Damon accepted he wasn't going to able to get rid of his girlfriend's sister, sounded through the room as he gained the attention of Rose and the doppelganger. "So, are we ready to do this thing?" Damon interrogated as he had promised the ill vampire that he would send her off with a happy memory before Emily had walked in.

The Gilbert girl immediately looked up from Rose with her brows furrowed and moved her confused gaze over to Damon once the words fell out of the aforementioned vampire's mouth. _What the hell are they going to do?_ Emily thought as Rose is literally on her death bed.

The ill vampire shook her head at the perplexed human girl with a tint of humor in her pain filled eyes. "Damon is sending me home," Rose explained to the doppelganger about what was going on as Emily was obviously clueless.

Damon held out both of his hands for the ill vampire and the human girl once Rose had finished telling Emily about the plan that they had came up with in the last couple of minutes to make Rose's death easier before he commanded, "give me your hand."

Emily's mind was in complete disarray right now. She didn't understand what the hell they were talking about. _Sending me home?_ Emily went back to Rose's words before she thought, _what does that even mean?_ It was like a bunch of gibberish in the human girl's opinion, so Emily raised an eyebrow as she looked at the two vampires before she finally questioned, "what? Why?"

Rose instantly chuckled at the human girl, who still hadn't figured it out yet, while she squeezed Emily's hand that she was holding. The ill vampire then placed her other hand into Damon's like they had planned before she looked back at the confused doppelganger and ordered softly, "just trust me."

The Gilbert girl continued to glance between the two vampires as she wasn't sure if this was some type of joke or what. But when Emily noticed the annoyed expression on Damon's face as he shook his awaiting hand and the amused expression from Rose, the brunette girl finally but cautiously placed her hand into Damon's palm before she was instantly pulled into a whole new universe.

Emily was instantaneously shocked once she noticed her surroundings. The human girl saw dark orange, bright yellow, and deep green colored leaves everywhere she looked. She had never seen anything like it. The only colors she got to see in Mystic Falls was dark brown when it would turn Fall. This was like something out of a dream.

The human girl shook her head after a moment once she jumped out of the trance from the beautiful colors before Emily began to slowly walk down the grassy hill and immediately noticed another amazing view. She saw several horses scattered all across the field that overlooked a town. But the one thing that caught Emily's attention the most was that there was someone standing beside a white horse.

"There you are!" The now long haired Rose cheered when she heard the sound of someone coming towards her and noticed the human doppelganger. The vampire was glad this was how she was spending her last moments. It made Rose feel like she was a princess in a fairy tale with all of the things that makes her happy surrounding her. It was the perfect ending.

"Wow," Emily gaped as that was the only word that would come out of her mouth. She was still in shock at where Damon had transported them to. It was amazing. Finally, after about three minutes of Emily twirling around and looking at the bright colors, she turned back and faced the grinning Rose with her own smile. "Look at your hair," Emily exclaimed as she picked up a strand of Rose's long wavy brown locks. It surprisingly fit the vampire and made her seem so much younger and innocent. "And look at your dress!" The Gilbert girl added as she shrieked. She never thought she would see the day when the strong and tough Rose would be wearing something so feminine as a purple dress.

Rose rolled her green eyes at the human girl's antics before a smirk lifted onto her pale pink lips. "Well, look at you," the vampire uttered right back to the doppelganger before a small smile lifted onto Rose's face. It was as if she was staring right at Darina. The human girl was wearing a dark green dress with her usual straightened medium length hair in waves with two braids connecting in the back. It was exactly what Rose remembered seeing her best friend wear when they would run through these same fields back in the fourteen hundreds.

The human girl swiftly looked down at her outfit at the vampire's comment and saw that she was no longer wearing her knee length floral sundress with her signature leather jacket. She instead was wearing a flowing dress that was definitely not from the twenty-first century. Emily then moved her gaze back to the vampire after getting over the shock of her outfit before she wondered, "so, where are we?"

The now healthy and happy vampire silently turned away from the horse that she had been stroking before she linked her purple covered arm with the human girl's green one and began to slowly walk through the field of horses. "St. Austell," Rose finally answered the doppelganger's question with a small smile shining on her lips as she looked all around the familiar sight.

Emily's green eyes instantly widened in surprise. She was actually in England right now which had to be when Rose was human by the way they are dressed. "Wait," Emily mumbled as she thought of something. "This is what Damon was talking about?" The Gilbert girl wondered before she mumbled softly, "he took you home." Emily was definitely in shock. Damon could be a big softy when he wanted, Emily realized.

Rose nodded her head with the same happy smile adoring her face. She then pointed to where a figure was leaning against an old barn, which the human girl noticed was the Salvatore vampire, before Rose uttered, "Damon has his moments."

"He certainly does," Emily muttered as she stared over at the vampire across the field before she gave Damon a small nod. The human girl was definitely seeing Damon in a new light now after witnessing him so willing to help someone he had said he didn't care if they died by fulfilling Rose's last happy moment.

The vampire and the human girl then silently continued to walk through the field for a couple of minutes as they both enjoyed the beautiful sights that laid in front of them. For Emily, it was like something out of a fairy tale and it was time for her to forget about what is dooming her in her real life with Klaus. But for Rose, it was her last chance of peace before she would pass on.

"So," the voice of the human girl began as she interrupted the calm silence while they walked before she wondered, "this is where you spent your time?"

"Yes," Rose uttered before something caught her eye - which caused an even happier smile to appear on her face. "Come," the vampire commanded before Rose swiftly began to pull the surprised human girl.

It only took a few minutes to reach their destination across the field before Rose finally released the human girl's arm and jogged the short walk towards a small shed that her father had built when she was a child. "Now this is my most favorite spot," Rose called out to the human girl before she slowly opened the wooden door as she absorbed the happy memories of this place.

The Gilbert girl curiously trotted over to the small shed that Rose had walked into while she held the long dress up, so she wouldn't trip. Once Emily finally arrived, a smile instantly made its way onto her face when she saw the vampire in the small building looking like a kid in a candy store.

"I found it!" Rose instantly cheered once Emily reached the entrance of the shed before she showed the human girl what she found. "It's my favorite literature; The Book of the City of Ladies," the vampire exclaimed. Rose then allowed Emily to enter the small room as she explained, "this is where I would stash all the books I would find in my village."

Emily silently nodded her head in understanding as she looked around the small shed. It was filled to the rim with books and leather bound journals. The Gilbert girl then picked up one of the many books that caught her attention the most; a book with a tan cover that read, 'Malleus Maleficarum.'

"Interesting choice," Rose mumbled as she looked at the title from over the human girl's shoulder. "In translation, it means Hammer of Witches," the vampire explained when she noticed the curious look on Emily's face.

"Why is that interesting?" The Gilbert girl wondered as she had just picked up a random book. She didn't see anything special about it besides that it was written in German with small hand writing notes underneath the words with, what Emily could only assume, was the English translation.

"Well, the book explains about how the German men in the early fourteen hundreds could spot witches and get rid of them. It also had a section about how the origin of witchcraft was born; with the evil intentions of the witch, the help of the devil, and the permission of God," Rose explained to the human before she rolled her green eyes and mumbled, "which is total horse shit with men thinking they were all evil. But..." The vampire then bit down on her bottom lip before she confessed, "this was one of the books that Darina would always pick up."

"Wow," the human girl mumbled in surprise. What were the chances she would pick up the one piece that her doppelganger use to read? Emily then looked up from the book in her hands before she wondered, "why was Darina so interested in witchcraft?" Emily couldn't think of a reason why her doppelganger would be into it unless it was for Maria.

A large smirk instantly lifted onto the vampire's face as she stared across at the even more confused human girl. "Well, that's something you'll learn later," Rose secretly told Emily before she swiftly grabbed ahold of the brunette's wrist to stop any questions she would have and stated, "come. I want to feel the sun on my skin."

Emily was even more baffled than she was when she had first picked up the book that had somehow called out to her. However, Emily decided to push that thought away, even though she didn't really have a choice with the vampire pulling her outside, as she wanted to focus on keeping Rose happy by doing whatever she wanted.

The vampire had pulled the human girl out of the shed at lightening speed before they sprinted across the field. Finally, Rose game to a stop after a few minutes once they reached the top of the hill that overlooked her village and the bright colors of the leaves along with the bright sky. Rose then glanced over to the brunette girl once they stopped and gave her a bright and happy smile before Rose took a seat on the grassy hill and padded the spot next to her for the human girl.

The doppelganger playfully rolled her green eyes in false annoyance before she lifted her long dress up to her knees so she could sit before she spread the dress back out to her ankles. Once she was situated, Emily then glanced over to the vampire, who was smiling with her eyes closed as her head was titled to the sky. The brunette girl shook her head with her own smile at seeing how peaceful Rose looked. It was definitely different from what she had seen since she had gotten to know the vampire these last few days.

The field then grew silent for a couple of minutes as the vampire and the human girl both had their eyes closed with the sun beating down on their skin while the Salvatore vampire stood to the side as he watched Rose experience her last happy moment. "Thank you," Rose whispered after another minute of silence once she finally opened her eyes.

The Gilbert girl instantly peaked open one of her own green orbs when she heard the words fall out of the vampire's mouth. Emily then stared over at Rose curiously before she wondered, "what did I do?"

Rose grabbed ahold of the human girl's hand as she uttered with a smile adored on her face, "the pain is gone." That was all the vampire ever wanted. She just wanted the pain from the werewolf bite to just end.

Emily turned her body towards the vampire as she squeezed Rose's hand. "Good," she muttered with her own smile. The brunette girl then pulled Rose closer so the vampire's shoulder was leaning against hers so they both would be more comfortable on the grassy field.

"Will I see them again?" The vampire wondered after another moment of silence had settled between them as they stared at the nature around them. "Will I see my family?" Rose added as she clarified what she was asking.

The Gilbert girl thought for a second as she didn't know anything about the afterlife or if it was different for supernatural beings. Emily only nodded her head after a moment before she uttered as she stared up at the fluffy clouds in the sky, "I think they are standing at the edge waiting with open arms." At least that is what Emily hopes what the afterlife is like. She imagines that will be what is waiting for her once this whole Klaus ordeal is over with; her parents, Grams, Mason, and maybe even Lexi will be there waiting to go to a Bon Jovi concert like they had promised each other all that time ago in Mystic Grill.

"Mmm," Rose hummed as she liked the sound of her parents waiting for her. "That would be nice," the vampire murmured as she rested her head in the crook of the human girl's neck. Rose then glanced up into the doppelganger's green eyes as she added, "maybe I'll get to see Trevor and Darina."

"Well, you better make sure you tell Darina that her doppelganger says hi and tell Trevor to play nice," Emily uttered playfully as she nudged her chin with the top of the vampire's head to add some sorta humor in this serious moment.

Rose silently nodded her head in agreement before she linked her fingers with the human girl's just like they are inside of the real world at the Salvatore boarding house. The vampire then swiftly sat up, with their hands still together, and turned her body towards the human girl as a thought instantly crossed her mind.

"I think I am ready," the vampire confessed as she didn't fear leaving this world anymore. She was just ready to see her family again. Rose gave the human doppelganger a content smile before she uttered her last piece of advice, "Emily, you don't need Elijah's help like you think you do. You just don't know how strong you are yet. But you will. So, you need to continue to fight back. I know you can beat this. You can survive Klaus." The vampire then placed her hand onto the human girl's cheek as she whispered, "it is your destiny," before she closed her green eyes for the last time as peace took over her whole body.

Meanwhile in the Salvatore boarding house, it was as if the human girl was coming up for fresh air after almost drowning as Emily's body jumped and a loud gasp escaped her mouth once she was pulled from the dream of St. Austell. The Gilbert girl then quickly twirled around after noticing the familiar bedroom before a cry flew out once she saw Rose's body with a stake embedded right through her heart.

"No," Emily whispered to herself out of grief and heartbreak. She had knew this was going to happen when she walked back into Damon's bedroom earlier tonight, but she just didn't want it to be real. Emily shaky grabbed ahold of the deceased vampire's gray hand as she whispered over and over again like Rose had done all day, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

The human girl stayed like that as she cried for the friend she had just lost. She ignored everything else around her like the Salvatore vampire, who was staring at Rose with tears in his own eyes, and the sound of someone running up the stairs. Emily's heart just felt so heavy with pain that she didn't care about anything else until she finally felt her twin sister forcefully pull her away from the gray and deceased vampire.

"Hey, hey. It's okay," Elena whispered as she held her twin sister tightly in her chest while Emily's body was racked with sobs. The Gilbert vampire just held Emily as she offered the most comfort she could while she stared across at her boyfriend in worry as she noticed there was tears falling down Damon's face as he stared down at the dead vampire. Elena wanted to comfort her boyfriend, but her family would always come first - no matter what.

The two sisters stayed still like that for a moment before the Gilbert vampire felt Emily's body began to grow weak from all of her emotions and tears, so Elena pulled away from their embrace and grabbed her twin sister's face between her hands. Elena waited until Emily's green eyes were locked with her brown ones before she uttered softly, "let's go home, yeah?"

Emily couldn't even find the energy to say anything, so the human girl only nodded her head before she slowly began to make her way towards the door of Damon's bedroom with her legs shaking as she moved. The brunette girl didn't know why this was effecting her so badly. It wasn't like she was close to Rose. She had only known the vampire for less than a week. But Emily couldn't help but care about the vampire that once tried to turn her over to Elijah for her freedom. Rose had tried to help her and Emily will never forget that.

While the human girl stood at the edge of the door with her thoughts blocking out the real world, the Gilbert vampire slowly and cautiously made her way towards her boyfriend, who stood frozen in his spot as he continued to stare down at the gray body of their friend. "Hey," Elena whispered as she softly placed her hand onto Damon's shoulder to offer some sort of comfort.

However, the Salvatore vampire didn't respond like Elena had wanted. But he did place his hand over hers to show Elena that he was fine - even though he really wasn't. Damon just didn't want Elena to worry about him. That was the last thing he needed.

"It's going to be okay," Elena whispered as she rubbed her hand across Damon's shoulder and upper arm. The Gilbert vampire then used her finger to turn Damon around by guiding his chin towards her direction. Elena stared into Damon's teary blue eyes as she uttered gently, "I'm going to take Emily home and I'll be right back," before she placed a powerful and lovingly kiss onto Damon's lips.

The Gilbert vampire took a step back and stared over at the mournful Damon with a small sigh as she could tell he was having trouble. Elena then grabbed ahold of the Salvatore vampire's hand and gave it a tight squeeze as she whispered, "I love you," before she turned around and wrapped her arm around her sister's waist. Elena knew the vampire could handle it at the moment, so she focused her attention onto her human sister, who needed her right now.

The twin sisters then silently and slowly made their way out into the hallway of the boarding house, made their way down the stairs, before they finally exited and moved towards the human girl's black Honda. Elena had grabbed her sister's keys while she was in the living room earlier, so she didn't have to convince Emily to let her drive. Instead, Elena instantly helped her sister into the car before she vamp sped to the driver's seat and began to drive away.

The car was immediately overcome by only dead silence once the vampire had started to drive through the dark town of Mystic Falls. Elena just kept glancing over to her twin while Emily kept her gaze on the window as she watched the dark brown and green trees pass by. It instantly saddened the human girl that it was nothing like the dream that she was in with Rose. It was just so dark like the life she lives.

 _No one is safe,_ Emily thought as she moved her gaze up to the small moon and the bright stars as she pictured Rose was up there right about now. And it wasn't even Klaus that caused this death. It was because Rose was helping her and her friends and she just so happened to get bitten by a werewolf. It made Emily feel so much guilt as Rose just wanted to live her life without having to run from the originals.

 _I'm so sorry, Rose,_ was the last thought on the human doppelganger's mind before Emily's body and adrenaline finally caught up to her. The brunette girl's green eyes slowly began to fall close once she rested her head against the cold glass window from the exhaustion as she thought about the friend she had lost tonight.

* * *

It was about fifteen minutes of the Gilbert vampire driving through the dark streets of Mystic Falls before she finally pulled into the driveway of her childhood home. Elena then turned off her sister's car once she was parked behind her aunt Jenna's red vehicle before she looked over to the right and sighed softly when she saw her sister slowly opening her eyes. Elena hated that her sister was feeling like this. It was what she had tried to avoid, but Elena knew there was no stopping the grief with the lives they live everyday with supernatural creatures and the troubles that come with living in the small town.

"Are you okay?" Elena whispered over to her twin after she had stared at Emily with worry in her brown eyes for a couple of minutes. The Gilbert vampire knew Emily hated when people would worry for her, so the few moments of the human girl gaining her bearings after falling asleep allowed Elena to watch her other half to make sure she was at least alright after what had just happened.

The human doppelganger moved her tired gaze away from the window at the sound of Elena's voice before she turned to the left to look at her sister. "I'm fine," Emily told the young vampire - even though she knew Elena wouldn't believe her. But it was their life. Emily knew she was going to lose people with how dangerous Mystic Falls was, however she just couldn't let it get to her and stop everything. It just means that she carries them in her heart as she keeps moving forward in life like they would want her to do.

Emily gave her twin sister a meaningful smile at the confidence she had to keep moving forward for the people she had lost; her parents, Grams, Lexi, Mason, and now Rose. The brunette girl knew she couldn't just roll over. She had to keep going and keep fighting. Emily reached over the middle console and gave her sister's hand a tight squeeze to show that she was okay. "I'll be fine," the human girl promised as she nodded her head before she silently jumped out of her car.

The two sisters then quietly began to walk up the driveway of their home as they locked their arms together and comforted each other by standing side by side. Emily knew it would have been more difficult if she didn't have her other half with her, so Emily was extremely thankful for her twin sister as they could always comfort one another by just being in the other's presence.

"So did you guys find Isobel?" Emily finally spoke up as she questioned her sister as they walked up the porch of the Gilbert estate. The human girl had totally forgot about how Elena had went to the Grill with Stefan to find their birth mother and with everything that happened tonight, Emily never had the opportunity to ask how that whole mission went.

"We didn-" Elena had began to explain to her twin sister about what she and Stefan had found. But before she could even finish her sentence, Elena was soon interrupted as she and Emily noticed the aforementioned Salvatore vampire standing by the front door of their home.

"Stef," Emily exhaled loudly in relief once she saw her favorite pair of green eyes before she swiftly released her twin sister's hand and rushed into the vampire's awaiting arms. A sigh immediately escaped the human girl's mouth once she felt Stefan's embrace wrap protectively around her waist.

The Salvatore vampire's brows instantly furrowed in worry as he felt Emily's heart pounding against his chest. Stefan then looked over the human girl's shoulder as he held her tightly and looked towards his ex girlfriend. "Is she okay?" The brunette vampire mouthed over to Elena.

The brown eyed Gilbert nodded her head as she mouthed back, "she will be." Elena then walked over to her sister and squeezed Emily's shoulder before she silently made her way into the house. She figured she could give them a minute alone while she went to greet their guess, who the vampire definitely hated that they had to ask for help, which Elena had tried to tell her sister about before they had noticed Stefan on the porch.

The human girl and the Salvatore vampire stayed in their exact spot once the door had closed as Stefan comforted the girl he loved while he whispered sweet nothings in Emily's ear. Once the brunette girl finally felt calm enough after a few minutes, she pulled away and looked into the warm green eyes that she adored.

Stefan swiftly wiped the tears that he noticed were trailing down the human girl's face before he cupped her right cheek. "You okay?" The Salvatore vampire whispered. Stefan knew it wasn't good if Emily was crying as she is such a strong person.

Emily bit down on her bottom lip as she tried to keep the sorrow warm tears at bay. The human girl then swallowed thickly as she controlled her emotions before she whispered the words for the first time, "Rose is dead."

The Salvatore vampire sighed as he knew something must of happened to cause the human girl to act this way. "Babe," Stefan whispered sadly as he knew Emily had gotten close to Rose over the short time since the human girl was kidnapped by the aforementioned vampire. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there," Stefan whispered, "I'm so sorry," before he placed a kiss onto Emily's forehead and held her close.

The human girl didn't say anything back. Emily just wrapped her arms around Stefan's waist as she absorbed the love that he was giving her. It was just like any other time she is in Stefan's presence - he just gives off this safe aura that helps keep her calm.

Stefan and Emily continued to stand like that for a moment with the vampire's lips against the human girl's warm skin as Emily's arms were locked around Stefan's waist before the Salvatore vampire finally pulled away and looked back into Emily's green eyes. Stefan made sure that the brunette girl was okay by watching her cautiously before he confessed softly, "so, I, um, called Isobel."

"I figured that," Emily mumbled before she fully pulled away from the vampire. The human girl then grabbed ahold of Stefan's larger hand before she finally made her way into the Gilbert house as she was starting to get tired from standing outside.

The Salvatore vampire placed his hand under the human girl's leather jacket and laid it against the thin floral dress as he helped her walk through the foyer of her childhood home. "I know you didn't want me to, but we need help," Stefan gently uttered as he didn't want Emily to be upset with what he and Elena did today.

Emily leaned her head against Stefan's upper arm, the part she could actually reach with her short stature, and squeezed his hand that she was holding before she nodded in understanding. "It's okay," the human girl whispered as she figured the least she could do was fight like Rose wanted. It was just a thing Emily had been doing when she loses someone. She doesn't like their death to be wasted, so Emily always tries to live up to their last wish and that was what Emily was planning to do. Emily was going to fight while she also made sure to keep everyone she loves safe as she couldn't handle losing anyone else.

The human girl stopped walking once she and Stefan reached the wooden staircase. She then took a step onto the platform so she was at least the same height with the vampire before Emily wrapped her arms around Stefan's neck. "So did you and Lena find her?" The Gilbert girl inquired as she was curious if they did actually find her birth mother.

"Not exactly," a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind the human girl and the Salvatore vampire - which immediately caused for Emily to look up from Stefan and towards the entrance of the living room. The person she saw was definitely not Isobel. "Hello, Emily," the man uttered as he gave the young girl a tight smile.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me," Emily groaned as she rolled her green eyes. The human girl glanced between Stefan and over to her twin sister - who was standing beside the man that they hadn't seen in months. However, when Emily saw that they were serious, the brunette girl huffed out a loud sigh.

Emily then dropped her hands from Stefan's neck and stepped around him to stand across from the man that she really didn't want in her and her family's life just as much as she didn't want Isobel around. "John," the human girl finally greeted her biological father with an emotionless voice after she gave him a hard glare to show just how much she didn't want him here.


	49. The One With The John's Arrival

Emily let out another yawn, once again, for the third time since she had been awake in the last two hours - thanks to the loud noises of metal pots and pans banging together downstairs in the kitchen. The human girl had finally accepted defeat after she had thrown two pillows over her ears to block out the sounds, but sadly, it didn't help much. So instead of getting pissed off over the noise and the lack of sleep on a Sunday morning, Emily slowly and tiredly got dressed for the day in a pair of ripped blue jeans and a white crop top before she threw her medium length hair into a half bun.

Once the brunette girl was finally dressed, Emily then pushed her arms through a white jacket to match her shirt and slipped into a simple pair of open-toed black heels before she sluggishly began to make her way down the staircase so she could tell off the person that was making so much racket this early in the morning.

The first thing the Gilbert girl noticed as she was walking passed the living room and heading towards her destination was the sound of Mayor Lockwood's voice from the large TV as she spoke about some sort of tragedy that has plagued the town. _Probably another murder,_ Emily thought as that was all that happens in Mystic Falls - like last night. The brunette girl then quickly shook her head as she knew if she began to think about her fallen friend, Rose, again she would start to feel guilty. So instead, Emily focused on walking into the kitchen with a clear head before a groan instantly fell out of her mouth when Emily saw who was standing by the coffee machine.

"Morning," the gruff voice of the human doppelganger's biological father sounded through the now silent kitchen. The room had grew silent between John and his other daughter; Elena, when the aforementioned brown eyed Gilbert had stopped talking as she heard her twin sister walking towards them.

Emily rolled her green eyes at the fact that the older man was greeting her as if John was even involved in her life - which was far from the truth. It just crushed Emily's mood, even more than it was before because of the loud noise John was obviously making, with seeing her biological father as she had thought he was still at his hotel after John had just disappeared last night after Stefan and Elena had asked him two simple questions; where is Isobel and how do you plan on helping to keep your daughters safe? However, the Gilbert man had avoided all questions that involved anything important. So John was certainly the last person in the world that Emily wanted to see this early in the morning - or at all.

John could instantly feel the anger and irritation radiating from his oldest daughter at uncomfortable levels, so he quickly looked over to Elena for help. John didn't really have any experience with teenage girls, except when Isobel was pregnant, so John didn't even have the slightest clue to how he was suppose to get Emily to actually listen to him as she had only been giving him glares ever since he had told them that he couldn't give up Isobel's location or how he was going to help.

The older man swiftly grabbed the light blue coffee cup from Elena after the aforementioned brown eyed Gilbert had poured her twin sister's caffeinated drink just the way she likes it. John then gave his youngest child a thankful nod before he quickly held out the cup to Emily as he offered a peace treaty to hopefully ease the tension in the room, "coffee?"

However, unluckily for John, the green eyed girl didn't say a single word like he thought she would. Instead, Emily grabbed the coffee cup from her biological father's hands without a sound before she headed straight towards the living room and over to the small cabinet in the corner, where Alaric has his alcohol hidden.

John silently watched his oldest daughter in confusion as he had never noticed the cabinet before when he was last in Mystic Falls. The Gilbert man's blue eyes then swiftly widened and exclaimed, "whoa, whoa, whoa," when Emily turned to face him and Elena while she began to pour amber liquid into her coffee. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" John hollered after he watched Emily take a sip of the obvious alcohol and coffee concoction.

Emily raised an eyebrow at her biological father before she took another gulp of her drink that would help her get through the day if she has to see John's face around town and her own home. The brunette girl, however, still didn't say anything once she settled the cup into her hands like John had thought she would once her mouth wasn't occupied with a drink - which was Emily's current motive. She knew it would piss him off, so Emily stayed quiet for a couple of minutes as she ignored her biological father's presence before she finally saw John roll his eyes like she had done when she had first saw him.

The brunette girl then walked around the man and jumped on top of the kitchen counter next to her amused twin sister once she got the response she wanted from her biological father. "Now," Emily began as she spoke for the first time since she had made her way downstairs before she uttered, "the real question is what are you doing?" The human girl then twitched her head to the side as she tested John's patience before she continued to interrogate, "what is your purpose again? Why are you even here if you aren't going to help?"

"Emily, play nice," Elena scolded her twin sister as she bumped her shoulder into Emily's thigh that was swinging from on top of the kitchen counter. The brown eyed Gilbert didn't enjoy having John around anymore than Emily did, but she knew he was their only option. If John could somehow help them keep her sister safe, then Elena would proudly suck it up and endure having their biological father around.

The Gilbert man let out a heavy sigh as his oldest daughter still wouldn't give him a chance to be there for her. But John knew he should of known this was going to be difficult when the daughters that he wants to help hates his guts. However, John was glad that Elena had accepted him and didn't mind that he was sticking around town - even though Elena would still throw a glare his way when he wouldn't give her the answer she wanted.

"I'm here to protect you," John finally told Emily once he had placed his coffee down on the kitchen island and moved to stand in front of the twin sisters. He then shot his vampire daughter a similar assuring look that he had gave Emily as he added, "I'm here to protect the both of you. But that is all I can say for the moment."

John had sadly learned about the horrible news of Elena being a vampire once he had arrived in town last night and John absolutely hated it. He never wanted either of his daughters to get caught up in all of this vampire mess. However, John was still going to care for Elena even though he should want to kill her like all of the other vampires he had ended over the years. But Elena is his daughter and John still loves her, so he knew he just had to accept who she is now and try to keep both of his daughters safe from the hybrid.

"What does that even mean?" Emily interrogated as she looked at her biological father with her green eyes squinted. The brunette girl hated when she couldn't get a straight answer out of someone and that was exactly what John was doing; avoiding everything they ask him. It was pointless in Emily's opinion to continue to question John as they were obviously getting nowhere. However, the Gilbert girl had promised Rose that she was going to fight, so Emily guessed she just had to face it and bite her tongue to stop from physically hurting her biological father after every unhelpful word he speaks.

John glanced between his two daughters with now an unreadable expression as he was trying to figure out how he was going to answer without causing the twins to be even more upset with him than they already are. "It means that I will tell you all more once I'm convinced that I can trust you," the blue eyed man finally responded as he gave the sisters the first straight answer since he has been back in Mystic Falls.

"Trust - trust us?" The human girl gaped as her green eyes widened in disbelief as she couldn't believe John was actually saying that right now. _It should be the opposite,_ _you asshat,_ the human girl thought. No one around here even trusted or liked him, so John should be the one that should prove himself that they could trust him.

However, unluckily for the increasingly annoyed Emily, she didn't get the chance to yell at her biological father like she wanted as her twin sister swiftly stood in front of her before Elena gave John a quick smile. "That only sounds fair," the Gilbert vampire told the older man in a cool headed voice. They definitely didn't need Emily running John out of town already when they didn't have any answers about Klaus, so Elena knew she had to play peacekeeper to keep her sister from exploding and for John to finally trust them.

The tension in the kitchen was still at an all time high, even though Elena had stopped her twin from starting an argument with their biological father. However, the tension was instantly washed away along with the glare that Emily was giving John over Elena's shoulder once the resident strawberry blonde came rushing into the room. "Oh, God," Jenna shrieked as she jogged her way to the dining room table to grab her purse. She then fast walked into the kitchen as she rumbled around her bag to make sure she had everything for the memorial before she mumbled, "I'm so late."

"That's what you get for hitting the snooze button three times," the amused voice of Alaric Saltzman told his girlfriend before he trailed off towards the end of his statement once he came to a stop behind the frozen strawberry blonde as they had finally looked up and noticed who was standing in the Gilbert kitchen.

"What the hell?" Jenna mumbled as she stared across at the man, who she didn't even know was in town, with a confused but equally annoyed glare. The strawberry blonde then glanced between her two nieces before she mouthed over to Emily, "did you know about this?" However, Jenna only got a small shrug out of her oldest niece, which instantly caused Jenna to let out a sigh as she knew this is payback for not letting Emily know that John was here all those months ago during the Miss Mystic Falls pageant.

"Well, good morning to you, Jenna," the Gilbert man uttered with a small smirk as he raised his coffee cup in the air as if he was toasting his sister-in-law. John then moved his blue gaze over the strawberry blonde's shoulder before he greeted the man with a simple mumble, "Alaric."

"It's okay I'm confused, right?" The strawberry blonde wondered as she glanced at each face around the kitchen before she turned her fierce glare back onto her brother-in-law. "Because we were not expecting you," Jenna began before she glanced up towards the ceiling as if she was thinking hard. She then focused back onto the man in front of her and concluded snarkily, "like, ever."

"Well, I got in late last night," John explained to the strawberry blonde as he took a quick glance back at the two sisters behind him. The older man then turned back around and stared across at the couple that consisted of his sister-in-law and the vampire hunter before he mumbled proudly, "Elena let me in."

The kitchen was then, once again, overcome by a thick and awkward silence once the Gilbert man clued in the strawberry blonde before the brother-in-law and sister-in-law duo began to glare at each other like they were in an angry staring contest while the twin sisters kept their eyes locked on their relatives. However, the tense air was soon paused when the vampire hunter spoke. "You know," Alaric mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head before he lightly touched Jenna's black sleeve covered arm and stated, "I'm, uh, probably just gonna take off."

"I'll come with you!" Emily hurriedly exclaimed as she wanted to get away from John already. She was just annoyed with being in the same room as her biological father as he was offering no help whatsoever. However, before Emily could even take one step after jumping off the counter, she was instantly stopped as Elena swiftly grabbed ahold of her arm.

"I don't think so," the Gilbert vampire told her twin sister with a scolding expression at the fact that Emily was just going to leave her alone with the two hating adults. Elena then glanced over to the awaiting Alaric as he didn't know if Emily was coming with him or not before she told him, "we'll see you later."

The human girl huffed out a sigh as she realized she wasn't going to be able to get out of this just yet. So, Emily only gave the now amused Alaric a small wave to show she was agreeing to what Elena had said before she leaned back against the counter to see who would be the first one to explode; Jenna or John.

The strawberry blonde waited until she heard the front door click shut as she didn't want her lovely boyfriend to hear their family dispute before she turned her fierce glare back onto the man she didn't like. "I'm still confused here," Jenna mumbled out as she twitched her head to the side. She didn't understand why John would be back in town. There was nothing here that needed his attention as that would be the only reason why John would even come to Mystic Falls.

"I decided to come back and stay for a while," John explained to the strawberry blonde woman before he glanced back at the two sisters with a pointed look to show them that he wasn't going anywhere. He was here to stay and there was no way they were getting rid of him as John planned on protecting them as much as he could.

"Not here, you're not," the strawberry blonde argued while she shook her head and kept her hard glare locked on the man that was slowly annoying her even more as the seconds ticked by as she completely disagreed. There was no way in hell that Jenna was going to allow John to just tramp all over their lives like he always does when everything for the Gilbert family is finally going good.

"Actually," John trailed off with a small smile that oozed confidence and cockiness as he took a step closer to the strawberry blonde as he was begging for Jenna to challenge him. "You can't stop me from living here," the Gilbert man concluded his sentence proudly after a tense moment of silence as he knew there was no way for the strawberry blonde to get rid of him.

"Actually," Jenna began in the exact same way as John had with an added snarl as she crossed her pale arms over her black and grey sweater. The strawberry blonde then pointed towards her two nieces, who were nervously standing to the side, to prove her point before she told John, "I can as their legal guardian."

"Yeah," John uttered falsely as if he was finally agreeing with the strawberry blonde before he mumbled, "about that." The blue eyed man then turned his body to the side to look at the two silent sisters as he inquired, "Emily, Elena, you want me to explain the situation, or would one of you guys like to do the honors?"

"John," the human girl quickly warned her biological father as she knew what he was about to do. "Don't you dare," Emily growled as she gave the man an angry glare. John is the last person Emily wanted the news about who her father is to be told to Jenna - her aunt and close friend. It would piss off the strawberry blonde and Emily knew Jenna was going to be hurt that the truth didn't come out of her own mouth.

"Okay," Jenna mumbled as she trailed off. The strawberry blonde didn't understand what was up with all this secrecy as it seems like both Emily and Elena knows what John is talking about. Jenna then moved her gaze over to her nieces as she tried to see if she could read anything off of their body language, but when Jenna noticed the sisters were avoiding her eyes, she turned her glare back onto John as she interrogated, "what's going on?"

"I'm so sorry, Jenna," the Gilbert vampire hurriedly apologized as she knew she only had seconds before John would tell the strawberry blonde the hard truth. Elena then grabbed ahold of her twin sister's hand out of nervousness before she took a step closer to the confused Jenna and continued, "I know we should have told you earlier, but -"

However, before Elena could finish telling Jenna the bad news, John, of course, jumped in as he moved to stand behind the two sisters and placed his hands onto each of their shoulders. "I'm Emily and Elena's biological father," John confessed as he interrupted his vampire daughter's explanation that would have blown over easier. The blue eyed man then shrugged his shoulders like he didn't have care in the world as he uttered with a smile, "there, now you know," before he took his exit in a very John Gilbert fashion by leaving destruction behind like he always does.

The kitchen immediately grew tense at the shocking confession as the strawberry blonde woman silently watched as John walked away and out of the Gilbert house while Elena was shamefully staring down at the ground and Emily was rubbing her temples as they both couldn't believe John actually did it. The silence in the room then swiftly ended once Jenna jumped out of her shocked trance and twirled around to face her two nieces before she finally shrieked out, "what!?"

* * *

The human doppelganger was currently lying horizontally down on the leather couch that was in the living room of the Gilbert house as she let out another sigh, for the tenth time, before a tired and annoyed scowl settled onto her face. Emily and Elena had spent about two hours, after Jenna had told the mayor she was going to be late, and explained to the strawberry blonde about the whole John and Isobel thing.

It took a lot out of the human girl as she hated even thinking about her selfish biological father and her bitchy biological mother along with all the questions that Jenna had, some she and Elena couldn't even answer, like how long they knew about John being their father and how they found out. But thankfully, Jenna finally left to the memorial at Mystic Grill at the two hours and thirty minute mark as Elena had secretly texted Alaric to get their aunt out of the house and get her mind off the fact that her brother-in-law is also her nieces' father.

Currently, Emily was trying to calm her mind from all this family mess now that the house was deadly silent since Jenna was gone, Jeremy was still asleep, and Elena had left to go to the Salvatore boarding house. _It is way too early for my head to be pounding like this,_ Emily thought as she closed her green eyes and rubbed her temples. It's barely noon, and the Gilbert girl felt like she had been up for over three days with all the drama her biological father caused.

"No!" The brunette girl immediately groaned out after about another five minutes of peaceful silence has passed by as the sound of the front door being knocked on interrupted her blissful moment of absolutely no John and no talking.

Emily huffed out a loud and irritated sigh as she pushed her tired body off of the comfortable couch before she sluggishly trotted towards the front door with her black heels clanking across the hardwood floors. _This better not be him,_ the human girl thought as she definitely didn't want to see John's face already. However, when Emily pulled the door open, she was instantly surprised and extremely happy at who she saw.

"Stef," the human girl uttered as she breathed out a small sigh of relief before she swiftly threw her arms around the vampire's neck with a bright smile. Emily didn't even realize just how much she needed to see Stefan until he was standing in front of her as she missed him. The Gilbert girl then slowly pulled away after a moment of them hugging each other before she wondered with a smile still adoring her face, "what are you doing here?"

Stefan gave the human girl a small smile as he rubbed the left side of her warm cheek and whispered, "I missed you." The Salvatore vampire then quickly shook his head as he focused onto the real reason he was here once he got out of his love trance that he always finds himself in whenever Emily is around. "It's Caroline," Stefan began as he pulled out his cell phone with a serious expression, "she said Tyler is pissed about something that we all did."

The Gilbert girl's brows instantly furrowed with worry. _What did Tyler know?_ Emily wondered as she couldn't think of anything that has happened lately that could make the werewolf mad. The brunette girl then quickly grabbed ahold of Stefan's hand, as she didn't have time to rethink about the choices they have made lately, and rushed out of the house as she decided she couldn't wait any longer to know what was going on with her two supernatural best friends.

It only took about eleven minutes of Emily driving frantically through the streets of Mystic Falls after she and Stefan had jumped into her black Honda before she raced to reach the Forbes residence. Once Emily finally pulled in front of the small house, the human girl and the Salvatore vampire vamp sped to the white porch, thanks to Stefan's speed, before Emily began to hurriedly knock on the front door with worry running through her veins.

The Forbes vampire instantly released a small sigh of relief once she saw not only Stefan but also her best friend standing in front of her after she had called the Salvatore vampire a few minutes ago. Caroline was thankful that Stefan brought Emily with him as Caroline knew she would need her best friend's comfort to help keep her calm after she tells them what happened with the Lockwood werewolf.

The Gilbert girl quickly pulled the blonde vampire into a tight hug once she saw her best friend's widened and nervous blue eyes. "What's going on?" Emily interrogated once she had pulled away from their embrace and slowly began to walk through the Forbes house with Stefan following along beside her. The human girl knew it must be bad if Caroline was freaking out like this, which caused Emily to be even more worried than she was when she had first got the news.

Caroline bit down on her bottom lip anxiously while she glanced between the human girl and the Salvatore vampire before she swiftly turned around as she closed her blue eyes and shook her head. "Tyler knows about you and Damon," the blonde finally confessed after she had felt Emily squeeze her hand before she stared across at Stefan. She then glanced over to the human girl as she mumbled warily, "and he knows that Mason is dead."

"No," Emily sadly mumbled as she placed the palm of her hands over her green eyes before she began to quickly pace the Forbes living room. "Dammit," the brunette girl whispered to herself as this was not what Emily needed right now - especially with John in town. She didn't even know what she was suppose to do with that information. Emily only knew that Tyler is going to be so pissed and betrayed when he finds out that she knew and didn't say anything about it.

"It's that woman, Jules," the Salvatore vampire snarled once he wrapped his arm around the pacing human girl's body to help her calm down as he knew Emily was beating herself up over this. Stefan didn't want Emily to feel bad about the whole Mason thing as it was him and Damon that told everyone that no one could find out about the dead werewolf.

The blonde vampire shook her head as she herself began to pace like the human girl had just done before she muttered, "Tyler was so upset." Caroline then nervously ran her hand through her wavy locks before she faced the human girl and the Salvatore vampire as she whispered what Emily knew would happen, "the look on his face. He was so betrayed."

"This isn't good," the human girl mumbled as she leaned her head against Stefan's arm and linked their fingers together for some sort of comfort as her mind was running a mile a minute with thoughts of her best friend. Emily knew this was so bad. Tyler was going to hate her for this - especially if the werewolf knows that Emily was actually there when it all happened.

"You're not gonna tell Damon, are you?" The blonde vampire anxiously asked Stefan after a moment of silence had took over the living room inside of the Forbes house. Caroline knew the older Salvatore vampire wouldn't think twice before ending Tyler's life if Damon was to know that the truth was out.

"No!" Stefan quickly assured the blonde vampire and the worried human girl beside him. "Damon already wants to kill him," the younger Salvatore vampire mumbled as he tiredly rubbed the back of his neck. "He thinks all werewolves should die," Stefan concluded in a whisper as he glanced down at the brunette girl, who is close to the aforementioned werewolf that his brother wants to kill, and squeezed her hand to hopefully make her feel better about the situation they were now in.

"Well, we're not going to let that happen," Emily exclaimed confidently once she got over the shock and distress of what they are up against before she moved and stood next to Caroline to prove her point to Stefan as she crossed her arms over her chest. Emily would rather die herself than let anyone, Damon or not, hurt someone that she deeply cares about.

"Damon's not wrong to think that, though," Stefan uttered under his breath while he shook his head. "I mean, what if Tyler tries to retaliate?" The Salvatore vampire swiftly questioned the two werewolf-defending friends as Stefan was trying to get them to understand the seriousness of Tyler knowing the truth about Mason and what it means. "He has every right to," Stefan added to further his point, "he could get himself killed."

Emily instantly shook her head before she snarled protectively, "it's not happening, Stefan." There was no way in hell that she was just going to sit back and let her best friend get killed by Damon. The human girl then glanced over to Caroline and grabbed the blonde vampire's hand before she told Stefan in a much softer tone, "we have to do something."

The blonde vampire quickly nodded her head in agreement with the human girl before she turned to look at Stefan with her sad blue eyes and told him to hopefully convince Stefan to stop Damon from hurting Tyler, "w-we we have to get to him and reason with him before he does something stupid. Y-You have to talk to him."

The Gilbert girl squeezed her best friend's hand out of comfort before she promised softly, "we will, Care." Emily didn't care about anything else except making sure Tyler doesn't end up with his neck snapped or heart ripped out by her twin sister's boyfriend. She wasn't going to allow Tyler to end up dead like everyone else she gets close to.

Emily then gave the blonde vampire one last reassuring look that told Caroline that Tyler wouldn't be harmed before she swiftly turned around and fast walked out of the Forbes house without caring if Stefan was following her or not. The human girl was only focused on getting to the Lockwood mansion as soon as possible to fix this mess.

However, before the human doppelganger could jump into her car, Emily was instantly stopped as Stefan vamp sped in front of her and blocked the driver side door. "Hey, hey, hey," the Salvatore vampire cooed as he stared into the human girl's green eyes. "I'll talk to him. You should go back home," Stefan softly told Emily as he didn't think it would be safe for the human girl to be around Tyler right now - especially when Stefan was going to try to get the werewolf to understand and the aforementioned vampire knew Tyler was going to be extremely angry.

"Are you kidding me?" Emily gaped in disbelief. She quickly shook her head when she saw Stefan wasn't smiling or laughing before she exclaimed stubbornly, "I'm going with you. Tyler is my best friend and I can get him to understand." The brunette girl hated when people would just tell her to get somewhere safe and stay out of the way just because she's human. Yeah, it could be dangerous, but when is something not? Emily couldn't just stand to the side when this has to do with her childhood best friend.

"Emmie," the Salvatore vampire softly began as he gently grabbed ahold of both of the human girl's hands before he explained why he wanted Emily to not be involved in this, "Tyler's going to be upset and I just don't want that to be all thrown at you when it wasn't even your fault. This is mine and Damon's problem."

"Ty is my best friend," Emily mumbled as she repeated what she had just told Stefan as she tried to convince the Salvatore vampire to let her come along to the Lockwood mansion, "I need to be there fo-" However, before Emily could finish trying to get the Salvatore vampire to not worry about her so she can be there and help her best friend, the human girl was soon interrupted by her cell phone ringing inside of her jacket pocket.

Emily huffed out an annoyed sigh at the disruption before she pulled her hands out of Stefan's soft grip and pulled her device out of her white jacket. The human girl then glanced down at her cell phone and noticed that she had one new text message from her twin sister. Emily immediately frowned when she began to read ~

 **TWINNIE** **: COME 2 THE GRILL. DAMON 911**

The human girl briefly closed her green eyes after she had read the text message from her twin sister as she tried to keep herself calm with everything that has already happened today. If it's not one thing, it's another. Once Emily felt relaxed, she looked back up at the curious Salvatore vampire before she mumbled while she pushed her cell phone back into her pocket, "you just got lucky." The brunette girl then leaned up onto her tippy toes, even with her heels, and pulled Stefan into a sweet kiss.

After the Gilbert girl pulled away from the embrace, Emily stared into the vampire's green eyes before she begged, "please don't hurt Tyler and call me if something happens." Emily knew Stefan wouldn't hurt her best friend on purpose, unless Tyler did something bad, so Emily just prayed everything would go smoothly without her there.

The Salvatore vampire silently nodded his head before he placed a soft kiss onto the human girl's forehead. "I promise," Stefan whispered against Emily's warm skin before he swiftly took off with his vamp speed to the Lockwood mansion while he left behind a saddened and worried human girl.

* * *

 **MYSTIC GRILL**

It only took Emily about twelve minutes to reach the famous restaurant from the Forbes house before the Gilbert girl exited her black Honda and began to look around for her twin sister. The doppelganger figured Elena was going to be somewhere close since the young vampire was the one to text her and knew she was coming.

"Oh, thank God!" The Gilbert vampire sighed out in relief as soon as the human girl had made her way through the front door of Mystic Grill. Elena had been nervously waiting by the entrance of the restaurant as she hoped her twin sister would show up since Emily never gave her a text back. The vampire didn't know how her sister does it, deal with all of this, but it was giving Elena so much anxiety.

Emily rose an eyebrow as she stared over at her frantic sister in confusion. She never seen Elena look so nervous before, but the human girl figured it had something to do with Damon. "So, where's the devil?" Emily questioned her twin once she had linked their arms together and Elena had slowly began to pull her through the packed out Mystic Grill. The human girl didn't even know what she was walking into. She only knew it has something to do with her sister's boyfriend - which meant it was probably something bad.

Elena ignored Emily's name for her boyfriend as she swiftly pulled her twin sister behind a brick pillar before she pointed towards the bright yellow flower arrangement in the center of the large room. "Damon thinks he needs to talk to John," the Gilbert vampire explained in a whisper before she turned around and faced her twin sister with her brows furrowed deeply with worry. "Please go be Switzerland," Elena begged as she didn't trust that Damon and John wouldn't end up killing one another in front of all these people.

Emily glanced between her concerned sister and her biological father standing next to the vampire by the flowers before she rolled her green eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "Fine," the human girl mumbled as she knew Elena was seconds away from having a nervous breakdown. Besides, Emily knew it probably wasn't the best idea to have the men standing so close together when they both equally hate each other with a burning passion.

"Oh, thank you!" The Gilbert vampire sighed out in relief before she pulled her twin sister into a tight hug as she didn't know how much longer she could of stood in the tension filled room with her boyfriend and biological father. Elena had controlled Damon as much as she could without him threatening John but she knew by the looks the two men were giving each other, it wouldn't take long before something bad would end up happening.

"Yeah, yeah," Emily muttered as she carelessly waved her hand even though she was really glad to help her twin sister feel calmer. The human girl then pointed her finger at Elena with her brows furrowed as if she was thinking before she wondered, "would it even be that bad if Damon did end up killing the sperm giver?"

"Emily Nicole!" The Gilbert vampire gasped as her brown eyes widened in shock before she swiftly slapped her twin sister's upper arm. "You can't say that!" Elena reprimanded the human girl.

The Gilbert girl shook her head as she let out a loud giggle before she looked up at her twin sister with a teasing smirk and uttered, "I was joking." Emily then grew serious as she stated truthfully, "I don't want anyone else to have to die."

The human girl shook off the severe moment after a couple of seconds of silence as she wrapped her arm around her twin sister's shoulder and squeezed Elena's upper limb as she promised, "I'll make sure they don't murder each other." Emily then gave her sister one last assuring look before she headed off in the direction of the two men that didn't like each other.

Emily had swiftly swiped a glass of bourbon from one of the trays a waiter was strolling around with for the event as she needed something if she's going to be around the two people she could hardly stand before she continued the short walk to her biological father and her sister's boyfriend, where she heard Damon say something about John not being Isobel. "Boys," the human girl uttered as she finally showed herself after noticing that they were twitching to fight by how close they were getting, "I hope you are both playing nice."

"Emily," John greeted his oldest daughter politely with a tint of shock before he gave her a grim smile when noticed just how close Emily was to Damon and John definitely didn't want the vampire around his human child. "I didn't know you were coming," the Gilbert man added as he moved to stand between Emily and the older Salvatore vampire.

The brunette girl shrugged her shoulders as she muttered, "well, what can I say," before she took a sip of the glass of bourbon that she had stole and uttered, "I can't pass up on the free booze." Emily knew her drinking habits would piss off John, so why not kill two birds with one stone - make sure the men don't murder each other and terrorize her selfish father.

"Now, that's what I'm talking about," the blue eyed Salvatore vampire stated with a smirk after he also took a sip of his own bourbon.

The Gilbert girl rolled her green eyes at the Salvatore vampire as she still wasn't Damon's biggest fan before she glanced between the two men out of curiousness. "So, what are we talking about?" Emily wondered as she had promised to be Switzerland for her twin sister - which meant she had to make sure the conversations didn't get out of hand.

"I was just about to ask daddy dearest about why he is here," the Salvatore vampire explained to the human girl before he turned his head to look at the Gilbert man. "So, John," Damon began as he stalked closer to the aforementioned human, "rumor has it that you know a lot, and you won't say anything."

John shook his head with a small chuckle at the fact that the vampire actually thought he was going tell him something. "How do I know you can be trusted, Damon?" The Gilbert man interrogated as he lit a candle that was surrounding all of the flowers for the memorial. "Originals can compel vampires," John mentioned, something that the human girl and Salvatore already knew, "and according to Stefan, that's why Katherine's still in the tomb, because an original has compelled her to stay there."

 _Elijah,_ Emily thought as she stood to the side as she carefully watched and listened to her biological father and her sister's boyfriend. The Gilbert girl figured that is why Katherine is still stuck in the tomb while Stefan got out thanks to Elijah and his witches. The tomb spell must be down, Emily realized, but Elijah probably compelled Katherine to stay inside.

"Only because of all of the vervain had left her system," the Salvatore vampire explained to his girlfriend's father before he silently moved to light a candle for the people that was killed because of the sick vampire; Rose. The blue eyed Salvatore then moved to stand beside Emily and threw his arm over her shoulder before he told John with a smirk, "Stefan and I, on the other hand, are chock full."

The human girl rolled her green eyes, once again, before she pushed the vampire's hand off of her shoulder. Emily then moved to stand more in between her biological father and Damon while she silently drank her glass of bourbon. The Gilbert girl didn't really want to be apart of all this with the two men, but a promise is a promise.

The light colored eyebrow on the Gilbert man's face twitched ever so lightly as he stared over at his daughter. John hated the fact that Emily openly drinks whenever she pleases, but he knew he couldn't say anything since he was never a father to her or Elena. So instead, John focused on the thing he could have control over and that was the Salvatore vampire as he interrogated, "you guys are drinking vervain?"

Damon shrugged his shoulders carelessly before he gave John a snarky grin and uttered, "it's an acquired taste." The Salvatore vampire then glanced down at the human man's hand by complete accident as he was just lifting his glass of alcohol before he commented with a smirk, "I don't see that magic ring on your stitched finger."

An emotionless expression immediately took over Damon's face as he slowly took a step closer to John and commanded, "so, if you know something about Klaus, you better start talking." Damon then stood in the Gilbert man's personal space before he added sinisterly into John's ear, "or I will kill you in your sleep."

Emily's green eyes instantly widened once she heard Damon's words which was what Elena had most feared would happen before she quickly stood in the middle of the vampire and her biological father as she mumbled, "whoa, whoa, whoa." The human girl placed her unoccupied hand onto Damon's chest as she glanced between the two men before she uttered soothingly, "we're going to stop all of this murder talk. We're just going to play nice in front of the these very human residents."

"Emily's right," John muttered as he glanced around and noticed that there was too many people here that didn't exactly know the truth about their hometown. The Gilbert man then walked around his daughter and stopped once he was shoulder to shoulder with the Salvatore vampire. "Is this any way to convince me that you and I are on the same side?" John questioned before he tsked in false disappointment while he slowly shook his head now that he had the upper hand on the vampire. "First, I need to know that I can trust you, Damon, and that I can count on you," John explained to the vampire about when he would tell them anything that has to do with Klaus. He then glanced over to his daughter for a moment as he took in her features before he told Emily, "I'll see you at home."

The human girl rolled her green eyes once her biological father walked away from her and Damon like he usually does - with destruction in his wake. Emily should of known she wouldn't hear anything useful from John's mouth. He only tells lies and pointless information or something that she already knew. It just annoyed Emily so much that John wouldn't just tell them what they wanted to hear. It was like he was just toying with them.

"What happened?" The Gilbert vampire interrogated with worry in her brown eyes once she jogged towards her boyfriend and twin sister once she had noticed John walking pass her with annoyance and cockiness shining all over his face.

"He still isn't saying anything," Emily told her twin sister as she crossed her arms over her chest while she held onto the now empty crystal glass. "No surprise there," the human girl mumbled irritatingly.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Elena swiftly questioned as she glanced between the annoyed Emily and the pissed Damon. The Gilbert vampire wasn't sure how they were suppose to get John to even tell them anything since he was shutting them out every time they would ask John about Klaus or even Isobel.

"We'll figure it out," the Salvatore vampire mumbled once he took his glare off of John Gilbert, who was talking to some blonde woman. Damon wrapped his arm around Elena's waist before he stared down into her worried brown eyes and whispered, "I promise."

Emily silently pouted as she watched the two vampires be all in love while her vampire was currently interrogating the Lockwood werewolf. "Hey, I gotta go," the human girl told her sister and the Salvatore as she figured Stefan wouldn't just kick her out if she showed up at the Lockwood mansion. Emily gave her sister a pointed look that said it was something serious before she stated, "I need to go find Stef or Tyler."

The Gilbert vampire stared at her twin sister in confusion as she didn't understand why Emily was looking at her like that. However, Elena figured her sister would tell her later, so she just gave Emily a small wave and muttered, "I'll see you later."

Emily knew she couldn't tell her twin sister what was going on in front of the Salvatore vampire that wants to kill her best friend, so Emily decided she would explain to Elena once the Gilbert vampire gets home. Instead, Emily just began to walk her way through the crowded Mystic Grill until she finally reached the entrance and took her exit.

The human girl frowned once she began to walk towards her black Honda and noticed the blonde vampire looking anxious as she talked with the Donovan teenager. Emily decided she would see how Caroline was doing with the whole Tyler thing and what was going on with Matt, so she stood to the side of Mystic Grill as she silently listened to their conversation.

"C-Can we talk later?" The Donovan teenager questioned as he pointed behind him before he explained, "I mean, I'm heading to work right now." Matt looked down at Caroline with his baby blue eyes and suggested, "but maybe after we could talk, to clear some of this weirdness?"

The blonde vampire slowly nodded her head before she quickly exclaimed with a small smile, "yeah, yeah, I'd really like that." Caroline then stared at the human she has feelings for with the smile still glued to her face before she wondered, "I'll just swing by when you're closing?"

"Sounds good," Matt assured the blonde with an even brighter smile on his face. The Donovan teenager was glad to finally get the chance to actually talk with Caroline without any disruptions so they could talk everything over.

"Okay, bye," Caroline whispered as she watched the blonde human teenager walk away with a happy grin. The blonde vampire just wanted to get back to normal already. With the Lockwood werewolf not exactly talking to her right now, Caroline really needed to have Matt back in her life.

"Emily," the Donovan teenager greeted the brunette girl with a tiny smirk as he noticed the Gilbert girl trying to hide behind her car when he began to walk towards the front door of Mystic Grill.

"Matthew," the human doppelganger awkwardly greeted her friend as she placed her two fingers against her temple like she was saluting him. Emily had totally forgot about getting caught while she was engrossed in the conversation between her two friends that she had forgotten to act like she wasn't spying.

The Gilbert girl then quickly headed towards her blonde best friend once the embarrassment of being caught escaped her as she wanted to catch Caroline before she left. "Hey!" Emily shouted just as Caroline was unlocking her silver car.

"Oh, hey, Emmie!" The blonde vampire greeted the human girl with the same happy smile adoring her pale lips. Caroline just couldn't be anymore happier now that she was finally getting the chance to talk with Matt. She just couldn't help but be her giggly and perky self.

"Sooo..." Emily trailed off with a large smirk as she leaned her side against the vampire's car before she questioned, "how is Matt?" The human girl just had to take the chance of teasing her best friend. It is what she does best.

Caroline's pale face instantly turned bright red before she let out a groan as she covered her embarrassed face with her hands. "You were listening, weren't you?" The blonde vampire questioned even though she already knew the answer.

The human girl bumped her shoulder against the blonde vampire's before she stated, "I was just making sure everything was okay with my bestie." Emily then turned her body to the side and grew serious as she wondered, "how are you really doing with the whole Matt and now the Tyler thing?"

The blonde vampire let out a heavy sigh before she confessed while she played with the keys in her hands, "I-I just want to be with Matt. He makes me happy but I just hate all of this lying. It's just too stressful." Caroline then thought of something that she had forgotten about as she questioned, "did you and Stefan get to Tyler before he did something stupid?"

It was now Emily's turn to let out a sigh at the question. "I don't know," the human girl mumbled before she explained to the worried and confused vampire, "Stefan didn't let me go to the mansion with him. But he said he would call if something happens, so I guess everything is fine." Emily didn't really know if everything was okay, that was what she was just telling herself to stop from worrying too much.

Caroline let out a breath of relief as she knew if Stefan is with Tyler then everything should be fine since Stefan is the calmer and reasonable one out of the two Salvatore brothers. "Hey, you wanna come over?" The blonde vampire questioned the human girl as she figured why not? They both are worrying about the same thing so they might as well be together while they wait for the news. "It could be just like old times," Caroline added as she tried coerce the brunette girl.

"Always," Emily stated with a smile as she squeezed Caroline's hand. The Gilbert girl knew the vampire didn't want to be alone right now, which she completely understood, and Emily would never turn the chance of being a normal teenager for a little while. "We should pick up some Chinese from Peking Gourmet Inn," Emily suggested.

"Oh, my God, yes!" Caroline gasped as she couldn't even remember the last time she had gotten to eat at the best Chinese restaurant in Mystic Falls. It was pretty far from her house, but it was so worth it. "And we're watching The Notebook," the blonde vampire told the human girl with a bright smile. She couldn't wait to have a long overdue girls' night with Emily like they used to.

The Gilbert girl was going to let out a loud groan like she usually does when the blonde vampire mentions her favorite movie, but Emily knew Caroline needed this, so the human girl just nodded her head with a small smile as she agreed. "The Notebook and Chinese food," Emily listed before she stated, "you got it."

Once Caroline let out an excited squeal, the human girl chuckled before she went to walk around the silver car so they could get going to the Chinese restaurant. However, before Emily could even take one step away from the blonde vampire, Caroline quickly grabbed her arm and whispered, "wait."

Caroline felt something off and her vampire instincts were blazing with the feeling of danger, so the blonde vampire kept Emily close to her before she turned around and noticed a dirty blonde haired woman standing in front of them.

"Caroline, right?" The woman with the leather jacket questioned before she moved her blue eyes to the other young girl with a twitch of her head and continued, "and that would make you Emily."

"That would be us," Caroline uttered cautiously as she slowly moved her body to be in front of the human girl. The blonde vampire didn't know what it was, but this woman just put her on edge. So, Caroline was definitely not going to allow the woman any closer to Emily as she didn't know what this woman could do.

"I'm looking for Tyler," the woman stated as she took one step closer to the brunette and blonde. She glanced between the two girls as she wondered, "you haven't seen him, have you?"

The Gilbert girl quickly became on guard at the mention of her best friend especially when she had never even seen this woman before. They were definitely not getting food tonight, Emily realized as she knew they needed to get to the Lockwood mansion to see what was happening and to find out who this woman is. "Tyler mentioned he and the mayor had something to do across town," Emily told the woman before she shrugged, "you can try back tomorrow."

"You heard her," Caroline snarled as she glared at the woman, who she had a feeling she knew who she was. "Let's go, Emily," the blonde vampire told the human girl before she turned back around to get into her car.

However, before Emily could continue to walk around the car to finally leave the parking lot, the woman swiftly grabbed ahold of the human girl's upper arm and stated with complete confidence, "I know you're lying."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Caroline growled as she vamp sped across her car and pulled Emily out of the tight grasp. She then placed the human girl behind her before she faced the dirty blonde haired woman and interrogated sarcastically, "is that one of your little wolf tricks? Can you hear the lie in the heartbeat?"

The woman or the female wolf gave the blonde vampire a grin before she reaffirmed Caroline as she nodded her head and stated, "actually, it is."

Caroline glanced up towards the night sky like she was thinking over the fact that she was face to face with a werewolf. She then muttered, "well, I have a trick too," before Caroline instantly vamped out to attack the werewolf.

But before Caroline could end the female werewolf, who couldn't turn thanks to the full moon not being out, she immediately felt a liquid being strayed onto her skin before she felt pain take over as she began to burn from the vervain.

The blonde vampire was quickly pulled back by the worried Emily as she tried to pull Caroline away from the werewolf. But Caroline's anger got the better of her as she took a step away from the human girl and turned to try to attack the werewolf once more.

However, the female werewolf wasn't there when she turned back around. Instead, it was a large man with a buzz cut. Caroline only had the chance to notice the steel gun in his hands and let out a small, "run," to Emily before she was instantly shot in the head - which caused her to drop unconsciously to the ground as she temporarily died.

Emily was shocked as she watched her best friend basically die in front of her before she quickly turned around to get out of here. She wouldn't be able to heal like Caroline did, so she knew she was definitely in danger. But before Emily could even take one step in the direction to Mystic Grill, where everyone was, the female werewolf appeared in front of her.

"Oh, no, no, no. You aren't going anywhere," the werewolf uttered with a smirk. She then took a small step towards the human girl as she stated, "I don't think we've had the pleasure to meet. I'm Jules and that handsome man behind you is Brady."

"You don't have to do this," Emily exclaimed while she ignored the friendly act as she made sure to keep her eyes on the two werewolves. She would either have to fight through Jules or get shot by Brady, so Emily needed to be cautious right now.

Jules ignored what the human girl said as she twitched her head to the side. "You know, Mason use to always talk about you," the female werewolf stated before she let out a tsk, "I bet he didn't see it coming when you and your friends killed him."

The Gilbert girl swallowed thickly at the mention of the deceased werewolf that she cared deeply for. "Mason didn't want to face the curse anymore," Emily mumbled as that was her only explanation to what happened on that horrible night. Mason gave up because he didn't want to have to deal with the pain anymore. "Mason knew that I cared and loved him," Emily added as she wasn't going to let this wolf make her feel like she killed someone she cherished.

Jules shrugged her shoulders as she uttered, "you were still there." The female werewolf took a step closer to the human girl before she questioned, "so, princess, are we going to do this the easy or the hard way?"

The Gilbert girl didn't answer the werewolf as she knew either way it wasn't going to be good for her. Emily knew she needed to somehow get some help. _Maybe if I get close enough to the Grill Elena or Damon will hear me,_ the human girl thought before she took off as fast as she could as the restaurant was only a few steps away from her.

"The hard way it is," Jules mumbled out as she watched the human girl run off. The female werewolf let out a loud sigh before she glanced over to her boyfriend and nodded her head in the direction of Emily Gilbert.

Brady ran up to the human girl before she could reach the front door of the establishment and muttered, "it's your turn, princess," before he swiftly grabbed ahold of the human girl's waist and placed a cloth soaked in chloroform over Emily's face until her body fell limp. The werewolf then threw the human girl's body over his shoulder before he looked over to Jules with a smirk. They not only caught the vampire who is close with the young werewolf, Tyler, but they also got the girl that everyone would die to protect. _Our mission just got that much easier_ , the two werewolves thought as they knew they would soon have Tyler in their possession and could end the vampires who killed Mason once and for all.


	50. The One With The Wolf Pack

**THE WOODS**

A loud and painful groan escaped the mouth of the human Petrova doppelganger as her green eyes slowly cracked open. Emily then began to tiredly rub her temples as she started to regain feeling in her body along with the severe pounding in her head. It was something Emily had never felt in her entire life. It was like as if someone was continuously screaming directly in front of her with a large blow horn. It also didn't help the agony that Emily was currently enduring as she finally realized her body was in an awkward and scrunched up position.

However, the pain and the discomfort instantly turned into panic and terror as soon as Emily's last memory began to play through her mind. It all started to come back to her at hyper speed as she remembered going to the Grill, playing Switzerland for her sister, going out to her car to check on Stefan and Tyler, talking to Caroline, before she finally remembered the cause of her current dilemma; the two werewolves.

Emily then began to look around her surroundings with her green eyes widened as she tried to connect the dots together. But sadly, the only thing the Gilbert girl could actually see in the dark was a set of bars directly in front of her. _A cage?_ Emily questioned herself in confusion, _who the hell puts someone in a cage?_ The human girl then quickly shook her head as she knew she needed to find a way out of here instead of questioning why the psychopathic werewolves kidnapped and locked her in a dog kennel-like cage.

It took the human Petrova doppelganger a little over two minutes of searching around the small space once she got over the shock of the situation she was in before she finally found something that could help her; a cell phone. Emily immediately realized it was Caroline's device when she turned on the screen and saw the smiling picture of the blonde vampire and human duo.

A loud gasp instantly escaped the human girl's mouth once she shakily pushed onto the flashlight icon and saw that her currently dead blonde best friend was lying beside her. Emily quickly scooted closer to the vampire as she shinned the light on Caroline while she also kept a lookout for any sign of the werewolves.

"Caroline. Care. Caroline," the Gilbert girl whispered as she began to shake her best friend awake. Emily knew she needed to get the blonde vampire up now before Jules and Brady came back. She didn't want to find out what they would do to her and Caroline now that the werewolves knew the truth about what really happened to Mason.

Thankfully, after about three shakes, the ocean blue irises of Caroline Forbes finally opened before a painful moan sounded through the cage as the blonde was trying to get use to being alive again after being dead for a couple of hours. Once Caroline could actually focus her mind and knew where she was, the blonde vampire swiftly looked over at the human girl with panic in her eyes before she whimpered, "Emmie."

The Gilbert girl instantly found her best friend's hand through the dark as soon as she heard the sobs escape Caroline's mouth as she tried to comfort her. "Hey, hey, hey. It's okay. We're gonna get out of here," Emily assured the blonde vampire as she gave Caroline's hand the tightest squeeze she could offer. There was no way in hell Emily was staying here any longer than she needed, so the human girl knew she needed to try to calm Caroline down so they could think clearly about how they were going to get out of this hellhole.

However, the blonde vampire either didn't hear the human girl or she was too distracted of being in the middle of an anxiety attack as Caroline began to hurriedly shake her head with warm tears clouding her blue eyes. "I-I-I c-can't," the blonde vampire hysterically cried out as she was scared out of her mind along with the fact that she felt frozen in her spot from all of the pain she was feeling.

Emily quickly moved up onto her knees and pushed the sleeves of her white jacket up to her elbows as she moved closer to the blonde vampire. "We have to move," the Gilbert girl whispered to Caroline in a deadly serious voice while she also kept glancing behind them as she cautiously looked out for the werewolves before she continued to hopefully get Caroline to move out of her shock trance, "they will come back and they will kill us, Care."

The blonde vampire continuously shook her head as loud and tearful sobs kept falling out of her sore body. Caroline then shakily brought her hand towards the middle of her forehead as she finally explained to the human girl why she couldn't get up, "I-I'm not healing. It hurts." She swiftly moved her scared eyes up to Emily as she began to panic, "y-you have to pull it out. Please!"

Emily confusingly shined the flashlight from Caroline's cell phone up to the vampire's forehead and took a closer look before her green eyes widened in shock when she saw that there was a bullet lodged in her best friend's skin. The human girl had totally forgotten about the shot that Caroline had took at the hands of Brady when she was remembering what happened as her memories ended with only seeing the two werewolves.

The Gilbert girl swallowed thickly as she continued to hear the blonde vampire begging for her to take out the bullet while she stared at the wound. It made Emily quite nervous as this isn't her field of expertise. However, though, the human girl knew this was going to be the only way for them to escape, so Emily sucked it up as she mumbled, "okay," before she gave Caroline an apologetic grim smile and shakily brought her thumb and point finger to the vampire's forehead.

"I'm so sorry," Emily whispered as she closed her green eyes before she swiftly grabbed ahold of the bullet that was sticking out of Caroline's head and began to pull. The human girl immediately cringed when she heard the blonde vampire cry out in pain, but Emily knew she couldn't stop. She just needed to rip the band-aid off, so that's exactly what she did without overthinking it as she grabbed and pulled at the edge of the bullet until it finally and thankfully popped out of Caroline's forehead.

Another loud and painful groan escaped the blonde vampire's mouth as the bullet was officially removed - which allowed her skin to finally heal. Caroline then brought her shaky and bloody fingers up to her forehead before she let out a sigh when she realized she could only feel a flat and painless surface - no more bullet wound.

"You okay?" The human girl whispered as she had carefully watched her best friend with the flashlight for a couple of seconds. "Do you need any blood?" Emily continued to worriedly interrogate as she held out her wrist. The Gilbert girl would never openly offer her blood to a vampire, but she knew they were in a difficult predicament and it could help them escape this mess.

The blonde vampire quickly shook her head as she wouldn't dare try to drink from her best friend. She just couldn't do that to Emily. Instead, Caroline moved herself into the very corner of the small cage as she tried to clear her head and think of what they were suppose to do while her body slowly began to heal as she refused to feed off of the human girl.

Emily sighed as she gave the blonde vampire a sad look as she could see that Caroline was struggling with her true nature. But the human girl knew she couldn't focus on that right now as she needed to find a way out of here. So, while Caroline was trying to calm herself, Emily scooted to the edge of the cage with the flashlight from the aforementioned vampire's cell phone as she tried to see what was stopping them from leaving.

"There you are," Emily mumbled as she pushed her thin arm through the steel bars and felt her fingers graze a large latch that would open the cage. _Thank God it's not a padlock_ , Emily praised as they wouldn't have been able to open it unless Caroline was fully healed and could break it. However, though, when Emily tried to get ahold of the latch, she realized her reach was just too short to actually grab ahold of their only escape.

"Caroline!" Emily yelled in a whisper as she knew the blonde vampire would be able to reach it since she was much taller. "Caroline, I need your help!" The human girl continued to whisper as she knew the vampire wasn't paying attention as she could only hear Caroline's whimpering from behind her.

Finally, after about a minute or so after Caroline got, mostly, over the shock of what was happening to them, the blonde vampire hurriedly scooted over to sit beside the human girl. Caroline then waited until Emily moved her hand out of the way before she slowly slipped her arm through the steel bars and reached for the latch.

"I don't think so, sweethearts," the thick and gravel voice of Brady, who Emily instantly recognized, called out as he stepped out from the shadows that he had been resting in. The male werewolf then slowly began to stalk towards the human girl and the vampire with the same gun that he had shot the vampire with as a large smirk settled onto his lips.

Brady squatted down in front of the cage as he tsked at the two captees, who were trying to escape. The werewolf then reached into his belt loop and pulled out a small squirt bottle before he swiftly sprayed it onto the blonde vampire when she continued to try to reach the latch. "I see you got the bullet out," Brady commented with a smirk as he watched the vampire scream out in pain before she finally pushed herself back into the corner of the cage.

"Please," Emily begged to the chuckling werewolf as she grabbed ahold of Caroline's hand to comfort her while the vervain did its job by burning the blonde vampire's skin. "You don't have to do this," the human girl continued as she prayed she could hopefully save Caroline from feeling anymore pain by convincing Brady to stop, "you can just let us go."

The werewolf shook his head with another loud chuckle as he stared across at the human girl. Brady then silently grabbed the chair behind him and pulled it in front of the cage while he kept eye contact before he lastly sat down in the chair in a backwards position. "Actually, I do have to do this," the werewolf uttered as he finally spoke directly to the Gilbert girl while he began to clean the steel gun with his plaid shirt, "your friends killed Mason, so this is just payback."

"Mason wouldn't want this," Emily hurriedly uttered as she kept her eyes cautiously locked onto the psychopathic werewolf as she tried to reason with him, "he accepted his death. So, please just let us go. I'll personally make sure my friends don't come after you and Jules. You guys can just leave town." Emily definitely wasn't the begging type, especially with someone that kidnapped her, but Emily would do it if it meant she could get Caroline and herself out of danger.

"You know, since you're human, I can't use the same toys I'm gonna use on the vampire," Brady began as he completely ignored the compromising the brunette girl was trying to do as he got up and moved towards the table on the opposite side of the RV. "But I do have some other toys," Brady continued once he walked back to the cage. He then pulled his hand from behind his back and showed the human girl what he had; a long cattle prodder.

Emily immediately began to panic when she realized the werewolf was going to use the weapon on her. "Please! Mason wouldn't want this!" The human girl shouted as she knew she wasn't going to be able to convince the werewolf to let them go. Emily then quickly looked over to Caroline for some sort of help, but instantly began to tremble when she saw that the vampire had passed out from the pain. So, Emily did the only thing she could do once she realized she was all alone - she moved to the far right corner while she prayed the shocking device wouldn't be able to reach her.

"Oh, this is gonna be a long night, sweetpea," the male werewolf uttered with a large smirk settled on his lips before he pushed down onto the button and saw the electricity fly through the air. "Perfect," Brady whispered, mostly to himself, before he stalked towards the shaking human girl. The werewolf then stuck the thin device through the small hole in the cage and placed the cattle prodder onto the human girl's thigh before he uttered sinisterly while he enjoyed the sounds of her cries, "let the fun begin, princess."

* * *

 **LOCKWOOD MANSION**

Meanwhile, across town inside of the mayor's large white estate was the newest werewolf of Mystic Falls and the younger resident Salvatore vampire. Stefan was still trying to convince the Lockwood teenager to keep the knowledge of his uncle's death to himself. But that was over five hours ago and they were still not getting anywhere - which was making both supernatural beings that much more agitated as the seconds ticked by.

"You want to be friends?" The Lockwood werewolf questioned as he stared across at the vampire while he lounged in his deceased father's leather chair. Tyler instantly nodded his head once without waiting for a response before he uttered sarcastically, "great, we're friends." The werewolf then shot Stefan a glare before he deadpanned, "will you go now?"

The Salvatore vampire rolled his green eyes at the werewolf as he finally stopped pacing for the first time in over an hour before he took a seat in the adjacent brown leather chair. "I don't know what else to say to you, Tyler," the vampire mumbled as he leaned his elbows on his knees and tiredly ran his fingers through his hair.

Stefan shook his head once he looked back up into the annoyed brown eyes of Tyler Lockwood after a couple of silent and tense minutes had passed before he continued to try to convince the werewolf to forget about what happened to Mason, "I came back to this town because I wanted a life, I wanted to exist where I could have friends and where I could build a family." The Salvatore vampire then padded his chest to express his intentions and exclaimed, "I have that here. We can both have that."

However, when Stefan saw the Lockwood teenager shake his head, once again, as he was disagreeing, the Salvatore vampire let out another sigh. It was an endless cycle of Stefan trying to convince the werewolf to let it go and Tyler not agreeing. It was getting on the vampire's nerves that he wasn't getting anywhere with the teenager and it was testing Stefan's temper.

"What would Emily think of this, huh? Do you think Emily would want this for you?" The Salvatore vampire interrogated after another moment of tense silence had passed as Stefan thought bringing up the werewolf's best friend would help get Tyler to understand that he was going to make a mistake if he goes to confront Damon about his dead uncle.

The Lockwood teenager immediately frowned when the vampire mentioned his best friend. Tyler hadn't spoken to the Gilbert girl since he found out the truth about Mason. He didn't even know if he wanted to talk to Emily now that he knows that she knew about Mason's death this whole time - thanks to the information Jules gave him. It angered Tyler that Emily would hide this secret from him and side with the vampires when Mason always treated her like family.

"She di-" Tyler began to speak angrily as he was still pissed about how Emily didn't tell him the moment she knew about Mason. However, before the Lockwood teenager could rant and annoy the Salvatore vampire even more, Stefan's cell phone began to ring.

The Salvatore vampire ignored the werewolf as he stood up from the leather chair and pulled out his cell phone. Stefan then quickly shouted, "shut up," as he began to read the new text message from his ex girlfriend with concern.

 **ELENA : Did Emmie make it? She's not answering my txts. I'm worried.**

The Lockwood werewolf grew curious and a bit anxious once Tyler noticed the furrowed expression on the vampire's face after Stefan began to look down at his cell phone. "What's going on?" Tyler inquired as he knew it had to be something bad if the vampire was so worried like that.

The Salvatore vampire, once again, ignored the Lockwood teenager as he swallowed thickly while he stared down at the small and short sentences from the Gilbert vampire. Stefan then quickly shook himself out of his shocked and concerned state before he finally mumbled out an answer, "it's Emily," while he hurriedly dialed the familiar number.

"Come on, Emmie," the Salvatore vampire uttered under his breath as he waited for the human girl to pick up. It felt like it was taking hours just for the call to be picked up as it should really only take seconds. The waiting was making Stefan feel like a nervous wreck as he was worried about the human girl. Stefan had thought Emily was at the Gilbert house like they had agreed this morning, so it made him even more anxious since he didn't even know where she's been all day.

"Hey!" Stefan sighed out in relief once he could hear breathing on the other end of the call. The Salvatore vampire then took a seat on the edge of the leather chair now that he could relax before he questioned curiously, "where are you? Elena's worried and so am I. Everything okay, Emmie?"

"That depends," a calm voice muttered that certainly didn't belong to the aforementioned human girl. It instead belonged to the dirty blonde haired werewolf. Jules then paused for dramatic effect as she waited for the vampire to realize who he was speaking with as she walked through the woods before Jules questioned, "how badly do you want to keep sweet Emily and the blonde vampire alive?"

The Salvatore vampire swiftly became on high alert as he jumped up from the edge of the leather chair at the unfamiliar voice that was answering the human girl's cell phone. Stefan then slowly began to pace the small office that belonged to the deceased mayor before he cautiously asked after a short moment of silence, "who is this?"

"Ask your brother," Jules muttered as she rolled her blue eyes at the memory of yesterday when the oldest Salvatore vampire bothered her when she was just trying to eat a grilled chicken sandwich at the Grill by asking about his friend's poisonous bite. The female werewolf then jumped over a high branch in her way before she interrogated, "where's Tyler?"

Stefan furrowed his brows in confusion about how this unknown woman knew Damon. There hadn't been any woman in Mystic Falls that his brother had pissed off lately, unless... "Jules?" The Salvatore vampire cautiously guessed as he began to connect the dots with the information of his brother and the young werewolf coming out of the woman's mouth. "Where's Emily and Caroline?" Stefan interrogated now that he knew who he was talking to before he commanded, "don't you dare hurt her."

Jules ignored the vampire's measly question and demand as she paused in front of the brown and white RV as she exclaimed, "you made a mistake, Stefan." The female werewolf then placed her hand onto the door handle before she told the vampire, "I'm gonna give you a chance to fix it."

"Where are they?" The Salvatore vampire commanded as he didn't have time for any games. If he wanted to play games, he would go visit Katherine. The brunette vampire only cared about making sure Emily and Caroline were safe and away from the revenging werewolves.

"Oh, they're right here," Jules uttered in a singing voice before a smirk settled onto her pink lips. The female werewolf then finally pulled open the door to the old RV and inquired, "would you like proof?" However, when Jules didn't hear a reply but only a growl, the female werewolf let out a low chuckle before she made her way down the narrow hallway towards Brady and their captees.

Jules ignored the cries from the human girl and the sobbing vampire as she moved Emily's cell phone away from her ear as she looked at the curious Brady. "He needs proof," the female werewolf explained to her companion as she pointed her head towards the cage with an amused smirk.

The werewolf with the buzz cut gave Jules a smirk right back as he knew exactly what he needed to do. "You got it, babe," Brady muttered to the blue eyed wolf before he stood up from his chair and grabbed the two weapons; the gun and the cattle prodder. The werewolf then walked towards the cage before he twitched his head to the side and wondered, "which one?"

"Hmm," Jules mumbled as she realized she has an option. The female werewolf then grinned sinisterly as she heard the Salvatore vampire shouting at her. "The human," Jules finally answered Brady as she knew the brunette girl would get the vampires to bring the Lockwood werewolf to them much faster.

"Good choice," Brady muttered, mostly to himself, before he squatted down in front of the steel cage. "Oh, princess," the male werewolf sang as he taunted the crying human girl and ignored the pleading vampire before he finally placed the cattle prodder onto a spot he hadn't touched yet; Emily's right collarbone.

Back in the Lockwood mansion, the young werewolf jumped up from his leather chair for the first time since they were interrupted by learning the disappearance of the Gilbert girl as he became worried. "What's happening?" Tyler asked the vampire with his dark brows furrowed as the Lockwood werewolf had heard his best friend scream in pain thanks to his new enhanced hearing.

The Salvatore vampire, once again, ignored the young werewolf's question as he placed his squeezed fist against the pale wall of the room after hearing the agony that Emily was in. "Hurt her again and you're dead," Stefan threatened in a snarl.

"I hurt her again, and she's dead," the female werewolf muttered as she left Brady alone with the human girl and the blonde vampire. "Bring Tyler to me," Jules commanded as she was done compromising with the vampire, "the clearing by Wickery Falls." The female werewolf then stood in front of a small fire as she commented in a calm voice, "you have 20 minutes until she dies and I rip out the vampire's heart," before Jules swiftly ended the call as she knew the vampire would come now that he knows his precious Emily is in danger.

* * *

 **THE WOODS**

While the younger Salvatore vampire was busy calling up his brother and the human girl's sister to devise a plan to get Emily and Caroline back from the werewolves, back in the dark woods and inside of the rundown RV was just the beginning of the interrogation and the torture for the human girl and the blonde vampire.

"So," the male werewolf trailed off once he finished listening in on the conversation that Jules was having with the vampire. Brady then slowly began to walk up and down the side of the steel cage with his two weapons hanging by his side. "How many vampires are there in this town, anyway?" The werewolf wondered as he glanced over to the sobbing blonde.

However, when Brady didn't get the answer he wanted as the blonde vampire only avoided his question by looking away, the male werewolf sighed before he grabbed the spray bottle from his belt loop and squirted the vampire with the vervain mixture. "No?" Brady teased as he listened to the vampire cry out in pain.

"Please, stop!" The human girl begged while she held her left hand onto her burning collarbone. Emily couldn't take it, having to hear her best friend cry from the pain of the vampire poison. Honestly, the Gilbert girl would rather take all of the pain, so Caroline could heal. At least that way, they could surprise the werewolves and get the hell out of here.

"Why are you doing this to us?!" The blonde vampire hurriedly called out as she saw the werewolf was moving towards Emily. Even though she was going through hell, Caroline knew she could survive the shots for at least a couple more hours, unlike the human girl who was taking the electric pokes and wouldn't be able to heal. The blonde vampire kicked her heeled boots as hard as she could against the steel bars of the cage as she continued to yell at the werewolf, "why are you doing this? Why?"

Brady swiftly turned course at the nuisance the blonde vampire was making instead of going to shock the human girl, once again, like he had planned. The male werewolf shot the vampire a wide grin once he was standing directly in front of her before he explained, "you're a vampire." Brady then glanced over to the human girl as he added, "and because everyone loves her."

The werewolf with the dirty blonde haired buzz cut dug into the pocket of his jeans while he, once again, ignored the yelling and crying from his targets before he pulled out a wide straw and three pieces of wood. Brady then brought the new toy up to his lips and muttered as he continued to further his answer before he shot the wooden sticks at the vampire, " and why not?"

"Leave her alone!" The human girl screamed as she quickly pulled the wood out of Caroline's neck as she hoped it would help. Emily just couldn't stand by and let the wolf hurt her best friend. The doppelganger didn't give a crap if she was the only one to get hurt anymore, so she would gladly take the pain instead of Caroline right now. _I'm mostly numb, anyways,_ Emily thought as she glared over at the werewolf.

Brady rose an amused eyebrow at the strong human girl that was testing him and protecting the vampire. "I'm sorry. What was that, princess?" The werewolf inquired as he moved a little bit down so he was now eye to eye with Emily. Brady then stuck the cattle prodder through the cage bars as he silently threatened for the human girl to backtalk him again.

Emily swallowed thickly as she stared at the weapon that had been causing her pain these last couple of hours before she swiftly shook her head. She wasn't backing down. The Gilbert girl was going to protect Caroline from anymore agony no matter what. _Bring it on,_ Emily thought before she threatened the werewolf back but with her words, "my friends and my sister are going to kill you." Emily shook her head with a chuckle, "and they aren't gonna go easy on you."

"Ah, you stupid, stupid, little girl," Brady chuckled sinisterly before he slammed the cattle prodder against the human's stomach. "They aren't coming," the werewolf taunted the screaming girl before he slammed the cattle prodder onto her shoulder. "You're going to pay for your role in Mason's death," Brady snarled as he pushed the weapon onto the human girl's neck before he finally turned the electricity off once the brunette fell over and made his way out of the RV for the first time in hours since his targets were just about knocked out from the pain.

The small and dark mobile home immediately grew silent once the werewolf slammed the door behind him - well, besides the sounds of the blonde vampire and the human girl sobbing and crying from the vicious attacks. The two best friends were just trying to catch their breath after all the torture that the werewolf had done to them over the last hour.

Finally, after about ten minutes of the blonde vampire wailing as she pulled out four new wooden bullets from her limbs, Caroline slowly turned her sore body to look at the shaky human girl with a sad expression before she whispered, "w-why did you do that?" The Forbes vampire couldn't believe Emily had actually taunted the werewolf - who was probably going to kill them. Caroline couldn't decide if the human girl was stupid or just crazy.

The Gilbert girl slowly lifted up her head from her knees in her huddled position before she gave her best friend a grim smile. "I was protecting you," Emily explained softly before she let out a groan as she could feel the electricity firing through her veins. The human girl coughed heavily before she whispered as she shook her head, "I couldn't watch you get hurt anymore."

The Forbes vampire let out a small sigh that was equally thankful and annoyed that the stubborn human girl was so willing to get tortured by the werewolf so she wouldn't get anymore wood shoved into her body. Caroline then slowly and silently scooted closer to her best friend before she muttered, "I'll heal but you won't, Emmie." The last thing the blonde vampire wanted was for Emily to take all of the pain for her as it could end up killing the human girl.

Emily shrugged her left shoulder, since her right collarbone was still on fire, as she showed Caroline that she wouldn't take it back. "I'll always protect you," the human girl whispered as she squeezed the blonde vampire's hand before she added, "anyways, I can take the pain until someone comes for us."

Caroline sat there in silence for a couple of minutes as she tried to force her body to heal as she thought she got all of the wood out of her skin. The Forbes vampire then slowly looked over at the resting human as she whispered frighteningly, "I don't think we're ever gonna get out of here." Caroline didn't see how anyone would come for them when no one knew they were missing. So, the vampire didn't really have a lot of faith that help was coming like the human girl did.

Emily sluggishly shook her head as she felt the fatigue stage enter her body before she locked her confident green eyes with her best friend's scared blue ones. "Jules was using my cell phone," the human girl whispered as she hoped the werewolves weren't listening before she concluded with a small smile, "someone knows we are in danger. They're coming for us."

The human doppelganger could only pray that she is right as she rested her head onto the blonde vampire's shoulder while she held her best friend's hand. Emily didn't have supernatural hearing so she didn't hear if Jules was talking to one of their friends or just another werewolf when she came into the RV. The Gilbert girl just had to keep on hoping and praying that help is on its way as she wasn't sure just how much more electricity her body could handle.

* * *

It took about fifteen minutes of the female werewolf pacing in front of the small fire that Brady had made when the sun had started to disappear for the night before she finally heard a movement in the dark woods. Jules twitched her head at the sound as she tried to figure out if it was just Brady. The blue eyed werewolf then smirked after a second as she could smell the scent of death and the fast heart rate that had to belong to the Salvatore vampire and the Lockwood teenager. "I know you're out there," Jules called out in a loud voice as she moved her focused eyes between the trees as she tried to find the two figures in the dark.

The thick and cold woods of Mystic Falls was silent for a couple of minutes before the younger Salvatore vampire stomped his way through the brown leaves with the young werewolf on his left. Stefan glared at the woman he guessed is Jules before he interrogated, "where are they? Where is Emily?"

Jules titled her head behind her to the small mobile home as she crossed her arms over her chest to keep herself warm. "They're locked up tight," the female werewolf explained with a small smirk playing on her lips.

"Let them go and I'll release Tyler," the Salvatore vampire commanded along with a compromise as he held onto the young werewolf's upper arm. Stefan shook his head and stated as he continued to walk towards the female wolf, "it doesn't have to get any messier than it already has." The Salvatore vampire came to a stop in front of the aforementioned supernatural being before Stefan added, "I'm not your enemy, Jules."

The female werewolf scoffed in disbelief before she growled, "it's a little late to be waving the white flag, don't you think?" We _are way past that,_ Jules thought. The vampires crossed that line when they decided to kill Mason.

The Salvatore vampire nodded his head once as he licked his pale lips while he momentarily closed his green eyes. Stefan then looked directly at the werewolf with an emotionless expression before he told Jules, "you need to leave town." He squeezed the young werewolf's upper arm to get his point across before he added, "no one else has to get hurt."

"I'm not leaving without Tyler," the female werewolf stated as she kept her hard gaze locked onto the vampire. There was no compromising in this situation. It was either the vampire hands over the young Lockwood or the human girl and her vampire friend dies.

Stefan silently nodded his head as if he was agreeing with the werewolf's terms as he released the Lockwood teenager's arm before he uttered with a humorous grin, "Tyler is free to make his own decisions." The Salvatore vampire paused for dramatic effect before he added with zero emotion, "as soon as you release the girls."

However, before Jules could open her mouth to disagree with the Salvatore vampire, once again, they were soon interrupted as the youngest vampire in Mystic Falls vamp sped right in front of the female werewolf. "Let my sister go," Elena snarled as her face turned black and red with anger.

"Ah, my brother - the peacemaker," the new voice of the oldest Salvatore vampire called out as he lazily walked up and placed a warning hand around the angry Gilbert's shoulder to tell her it wasn't time just yet to attack the wolf. "Since Stefan got here before we could," Damon began as he pulled Elena a few steps away from Jules before he continued with a smirk, "I'm gonna let him try it his way before we resort to my way, which is a little bloodier."

"Give us my sister and Caroline," the Gilbert vampire growled out as her vamp face was still showing as she couldn't control her anger with knowing that the wolf had been harming her twin sister. That was the number one thing that stopped Elena from getting control of her emotions; when her twin sister gets hurt. It was like her kryptonite and Elena wanted nothing more than to rip the werewolf's head off - but she knew she couldn't... at least not right now.

"Let go of Tyler," the female werewolf snarled, once again, as she was not compromising with the vampires. That was the last thing Jules would ever do. She was going to get the Lockwood teenager and they were not going to stop her.

"Give us Emily and Caroline," the older Salvatore vampire commanded right back. Damon then glanced up at the dark sky before he looked back at the female werewolf as he shook his head and uttered cockily, "without a full moon, it's not an even fight and you know it." The blue eyed vampire took a threatening step closer as he growled, "we will take you."

Jules rose an eyebrow at the vampire in amusement before she let out a loud and hearty chuckle. "I'm not so sure about that, tough guy," the female werewolf uttered tauntingly before she brought her left hand up to her lips and let out a piercing whistle before she glanced to her left towards the open space as she waited with a proud smirk.

The three vampires and the young werewolf anxiously followed Jules' eyes as they had thought they were all alone in the woods. However, unlike what the anxious supernatural beings thought, about seven men walked out from the shadows with all different types of weapons like wooden stakes, heavy crossbows, and one guy even had a flamethrower.

"Now," the female werewolf exclaimed with a smirk as she twitched her head to the side now that she has the upper hand on the three vampires. "Let's try this again," Jules uttered before she commanded for the last time, "give us Tyler."

Damon glanced around them as he held a tight hold on the still angry and now scared Elena. However, when the older Salvatore realized that they were out numbered, he moved his blue eyes over to the Lockwood teenager. "You heard her," Damon exclaimed before he pointed his head towards the female werewolf, "go. Get over there."

Once the young Lockwood glanced anxiously between the two Salvatore vampires and his best friend's sister, Tyler finally slowly walked across the woods until he was standing close to the RV before Brady, the buzz cut werewolf, spoke up as he moved to stand beside Jules as he questioned the three vampires, "so, which one of you killed Mason?"

The blue eyed vampire slowly raised up his hand in the cool air like he was embarrassed to confess before a large smirk swiftly rose onto his lips. "That would be me," Damon proudly told the werewolf with humor shining throughout his eyes.

Brady silently nodded his head as if he was soaking in the information before he spoke directly to the pack that surrounded the woods. "Boys," Brady uttered as he pointed at the dark haired vampire before he ordered, "make sure that one suffers."

Damon chuckled at the werewolf like he wasn't worried about anything before he slowly moved his gaze over to his nervous brother and girlfriend. "We can take them," the older Salvatore vampire whispered confidently.

"I don't know about that," the younger Salvatore vampire mumbled as he glanced at the angry werewolf glaring at him over his brother's shoulder and noticed the large crossbow that was most likely loaded with wooden arrows.

The Gilbert vampire moved her brown eyes around as she tried not to move too much so she wouldn't gain the angry werewolves' attention. "We don't really have a choice," Elena mumbled to Damon once she focused back onto the Salvatore brothers. "We have to save them," the Gilbert supernatural being stated with determination.

Stefan turned his gaze over to his ex girlfriend for a moment before he finally nodded his head. This is Emily, the Salvatore vampire had to remind himself and he knew he would do whatever it took to keep her safe. So, if he had to go through a couple of werewolves that wanted to kill them - then so be it.

Damon smirked when he saw his girlfriend and brother were on board with attacking the werewolves. "Let's go hunting," the older Salvatore vampire whispered with a small nod as he turned his eyes onto the werewolf that bit the now deceased Rose with a glare before he vamp sped over to Jules to attack her.

That was all the vampires and werewolves needed as if Damon vamp speeding towards Jules was like a gun being fired for the start of a track meet as the werewolves cocked their stake filled crossbows and started up the flamethrower while the three vampires showed their true nature and sped to rip out the werewolves' hearts.

However, for the young Lockwood werewolf, while the fight broke out, he rushed into the small mobile home to keep out of the vampires' way so he wouldn't accidentally get killed like the pack of wolves. Tyler swiftly let out a heavy sigh once he ran towards the back of the RV. It felt like he could finally breathe after the long day of arguing with Stefan and trying to stay alive.

"Tyler!" The human Petrova doppelganger gasped as soon as she heard the noise inside of the RV. The blonde vampire had told Emily that their friends were here as Caroline finally could use her enhanced hearing now that she was healed. "Tyler, come on! We need help out of here!" Emily shouted out to her shocked best friend, who probably hates her and Caroline right now. "Please! They're going to kill us," the human girl continued to beg as Tyler was only staring at her and the Forbes vampire.

"Tyler!" The blonde supernatural being shouted as she began to shake the bars of the cage. "There's a latch on the door," Caroline explained to the Lockwood as she pointed down to the steel lock before she hurriedly uttered, "I can't get to it."

The Gilbert girl's green eyes instantly widened in shock and betrayal when she noticed through the pain as her best friend took a step back away from the cage like he was actually thinking about leaving them in here. "Don't you dare leave us like this!" Emily shouted with tears clouding her vision. The human girl couldn't believe Tyler was even second guessing about helping them - his best friend and a girl he had been getting close to.

"Tyler?" The blonde vampire whimpered as she shook the door of the cage. Caroline furrowed her blue eyes in confusion as she didn't understand why the Lockwood werewolf wasn't helping them. "Please, Tyler!" The Forbes vampire begged as he was their only chance of escaping this hellhole, "please help us!"

The Lockwood teenager glanced between the hysterical Caroline and the teary-eyed Emily before he quickly jogged towards the steel cage. Tyler then bent down and hurriedly undid the large latch on the door as fast as he could before he slowly lifted up the heavy sliding door and waited until Caroline and Emily crawled out.

"Come on, Emmie," the blonde vampire whispered as she tried to get the human girl to stand up. The Gilbert girl was far weaker than they had both realized, so Caroline swiftly tossed Emily's arm over her shoulder before she jogged her way towards the entrance of the RV as quickly as she could as she was also still hurting from all of the wooden weapons her body had endured.

Finally, after about two long minutes of Caroline hopping around with the fatigued Emily leaning against her, they reached the chilly woods of Mystic Falls. The blonde vampire immediately let out a heavy sigh once she felt the leaves crunch underneath her black heeled boots before a loud gasp escaped her mouth when she felt her body being slammed against the RV before she fell to the ground.

The Gilbert girl let out a painful groan when she all sudden felt the back of her head bang onto the mobile home before she felt a hand tightly grip her throat. Emily then opened up her green eyes before they instantly widened as she saw an angry Jules in front of her with a gun tucked under her chin.

"It's your fault," Jules growled as she pushed the gun against the human girl's skin, "Mason would have left after his brother's funeral if it wasn't for the precious Emily Gilbert." The female werewolf shook her head with a sadistic chuckle as she stared at the crying human before she whispered, "tell Mase I said hi."

However, before Jules could pull the trigger and end the human girl's life, someone swiftly rammed into the side of the werewolf's body before she was thrown against a thick tree. "You do not touch my sister," the Gilbert vampire growled as she squatted protectively in front of Emily.

The angry vampire went to end the life of the werewolf that hurt her twin sister, but before she could even take another step towards the frightened but confident Jules, who was stalking towards her, all of the werewolves instantly fell to the ground in pain as they all held onto their heads while they screamed - well, except for the youngest werewolf; Tyler Lockwood.

The Forbes vampire looked around in confusion once the werewolf that was holding her on the ground started to scream. Caroline glanced beside her and saw Elena holding the human girl close before she looked across the woods as she mumbled, "what's happening?"

"Hey, hey, hey," the Gilbert vampire uttered as she brought her hands to her twin sister's face. "Are you okay?" Elena questioned worriedly as she stared into Emily's teary green eyes. The young vampire didn't care what was happening with the werewolves. She only cared about making sure her other half was still standing.

The human girl silently nodded her head as she gave her twin sister a grim smile before she wrapped her arm through Elena's so she wouldn't fall. Emily then looked around as she just realized that all of the werewolves were falling to the ground while they screamed. However, when the Gilbert girl glanced towards her right, she noticed that Tyler was the only wolf that was still on his feet - which confused Emily even more. "What the hell is going on?" Emily mumbled as she didn't understand why they were all dropping like this.

Caroline and Emily's question soon got answered when the vampires, human doppelganger, and the Lockwood werewolf noticed a dark skinned man walking in their direction with his hands out as he was controlling the wolf that was crawling in front of him. The man, the warlock - Jonas Martin stopped once he was standing in front of the Gilbert twins before he spoke directly to the human doppelganger, "Elijah made a promise to you." The warlock then glanced over to the Salvatore brothers, who were quickly walking towards the sisters, before he told them, "I'm here to see it's upheld. You all need to leave now."

The warlock then slowly walked towards the human Petrova doppelganger that he was here to keep safe before he placed his point finger onto her temple and began to chant in Latin. The woods that surrounded Mystic Falls grew thick with silence and tension for a few minutes before Jonas explained to the concerned vampires, who were looking down at the now passed out Emily, "she'll be fine. I healed her."

The four vampires all sighed out in relief after knowing the human girl was going to be okay as Caroline had witnessed all the torture Emily had endured and the other three could tell the Gilbert girl was hurting badly. The younger Salvatore vampire gave the warlock a cautious but thankful nod and swiftly grabbed Emily out of Elena's hands before they all vamp sped out of the woods now that they didn't have to worry about the werewolves - thanks to the human girl's deal with the original.

* * *

 **GILBERT HOUSE**

It was about three long hours later, at around eleven o'clock at night, when the human Petrova doppelganger finally and thankfully opened her tired green eyes. Emily swiftly jumped up from the soft material that she was lying on when she felt her body wake up before she hurriedly looked around as she didn't know where she was. The Gilbert girl was worried that her being saved was all just a dream and she was still inside of the cage being tortured by the werewolf.

"Hey, you're safe," a soft and gentle voice interrupted the human girl's fears as the aforementioned girl's twin sister placed her hand onto Emily's lower arm as she whispered, "you're okay. You're home." Elena had been sitting beside her sister in a chair ever since they left the woods a couple of hours ago. The Gilbert vampire knew her sister was okay as there wasn't anymore wounds on her body, but Elena felt like she just needed to watch her twin to make sure she really was okay and wasn't going to die on them as Elena had been so worried for her sister's life.

Emily let out a heavy but thankful sigh once she realized she was in her bedroom in the Gilbert house instead of in that creepy cage in the middle of nowhere. The human girl then glanced up from her pillow once she relaxed her heart rate and over to her worried-looking sister as she wondered, "how's Care?" Emily couldn't even remember most of the events that happened tonight, so she had no idea how her best friend was doing or if she was even okay.

The Gilbert vampire grabbed ahold of her twin sister's hand in a tight grip as she quickly wiped the loose tear out of her eyes. "She's okay," Elena finally answered Emily's question with a rough and emotional voice, "Damon took her to the Forbes house while Stefan and I brought you here."

"Good," the human girl mumbled as she briefly closed her sleepy green eyes. Emily was glad that Caroline was okay. She was glad that her taking the vampire's torture kept her alive and well. That was all Emily really cared about. She just wanted to keep everyone safe.

Elena squeezed her twin sister's hand as she watched Emily relax with her clouded brown eyes. The Gilbert vampire just couldn't help but still be worried about her other half. Elena felt like Emily was going to disappear on her again and get hurt. "How are you feeling?" The Gilbert vampire whispered once her twin sister focused back onto her.

Emily squeezed the vampire's hand back to show she was okay before she answered, "I'm not hurting anymore, so I'm better than I was." The human girl then lifted herself to lean against the headboard as her body was starting to ache from lying down before she wondered curiously, "did you or Stef heal me?"

Elena shook her head as she sat up straight in her sister's vanity chair while she kept Emily's hand tightly in her own. "It was, uh, Elijah's witch," the Gilbert vampire explained to her twin sister about who was the one to heal her.

"Oh?" Emily mumbled with her brows furrowed. The human girl couldn't remember much, so that was definitely new information for her. Emily only remembered getting pulled out of the mobile home by Caroline before everything just blended together.

However, before the human girl could ask anymore questions about the things that she couldn't remember during the werewolf and vampire showdown, the two sisters were soon interrupted as the resident strawberry blonde shouted from downstairs, "Emily! Someone's at the door for you!"

The Gilbert twins stared at one another in confusion when they heard their aunt as they didn't think anyone would be stopping by the house this late. The human girl then shrugged her shoulders at her sister before she slowly got up from her large bed and sluggishly made her way down the stairs with Elena following closely behind.

Emily was instantly surprised at who she was standing in the middle of the foyer, other than her aunt, who quickly walked back into the living room. It was none other than the young Lockwood werewolf. "Tyler," Emily awkwardly greeted the person she saw as her best friend.

The Lockwood teenager gave the human girl a grim smile as he wave his hand out of nervousness while he mumbled, "hi." Tyler then pointed his thumb towards the front door before he wondered softly, "can we talk?"

The Gilbert vampire swiftly moved in front of her twin sister and blocked Emily's view of the werewolf before she snapped, "no." There was no way Elena was going to let the wolf talk to her twin sister when he was involved with that woman that kidnapped Emily and Caroline in the first place.

Emily lightly placed her hand onto her tense sister's shoulder as she uttered gently, "it's okay, Lena." The human girl then walked around the vampire and gave Tyler a short smile before she faced her worried sister. "I'll be right outside," Emily uttered as she tried to assure Elena that she would be okay with the Lockwood teenager, "you can even listen in if it'll make you feel better."

Elena stared into her twin sister's green eyes for a couple of seconds before she finally nodded her head. The Gilbert vampire figured she could listen out encase it was a trap. Elena then turned her gaze onto the Lockwood teenager with a fierce glare before she snarled, "watch yourself, Tyler."

The human girl let out a small sigh at the fact that she knew her twin sister was never going to like the Lockwood ever again. However, Emily quickly pushed that thought away as she needed to focus on the talk that she knew would happen. The doppelganger then squeezed Elena's hand before she gave Tyler a small nod and walked out onto the Gilbert porch.

The air around the white two story house grew heavy with tension as the human girl took a seat onto the large porch swing while the Lockwood werewolf kept his wide brown eyes locked onto his best friend. Finally, after about another minute or so of quietness, Tyler opened his mouth and questioned, "are you okay?"

Emily glanced up from her fingers, that she had nervously began to play with, before she moved her gaze over to the Lockwood teenager. "I'll be fine. I always am," the human girl uttered with absolutely zero emotion in her voice. Emily honestly didn't know how to feel about the Tyler situation. This morning Emily was worried that Tyler was going to hate her but by the end of the night, the only thing that was on Emily's mind was that if she could even trust him since he hesitated helping her in the woods. It made Emily confused and it made her wonder if Tyler would do that again. Would he side with the wolves again over someone he grew up with?

"I had no idea they would come for you and Caroline," the Lockwood teenager quickly explained as he didn't want Emily to think that he had any involvement in her kidnapping and whatever else Jules and Brady did to her.

The human girl chuckled humorlessly as she moved her teary eyed gaze back onto her now clean fingers. _Elena must have cleaned me up,_ Emily guessed as she also noticed she was in a new outfit that consisted of a black pair of sweatpants and a black long sleeve crop top instead of her bloody white crop top, jacket, and blue jeans.

Emily then moved her green eyes back up to the anxious werewolf once she got control of her emotions. "Do you know what they did to us?" The human girl whispered as a shiver ran down her spine at the memories of the torture. "Brady shot Caroline up with wooden stakes and vervain for hours," Emily broke down angrily as she told Tyler what happened while he was busy doing nothing, "and I took about 5,000 volts of electricity all over my body to the point I couldn't feel anything!" The human girl swiftly wiped a loose tear as she snarled, "so I don't want your bullshit about how you didn't know."

"I'm so sorry. But I really didn't know, Emmie," the Lockwood teenager apologized wholeheartedly as he cautiously took a step closer to the human girl on the porch swing. Tyler hurriedly shook his head as he ran his fingers through his dark hair before he exclaimed, "I-I didn't know who to trust. Jules told me about Mason and what your friends did. I didn't know if I could trust you or Caroline." Tyler looked down at the emotional Gilbert as he questioned, "did you know? Were you involved like Jules said? Did you know all this time and lied to me?"

The human girl scoffed at the werewolf at the fact that he didn't know if he could trust her. It shouldn't matter if she lied about something. That shouldn't change Tyler's mind about the girl he grew up with. Emily then nodded her head once to answer Tyler's question after she got control of her anger and stated, "I was there. I knew. I said goodbye to Mason right before he died."

The Gilbert girl swiftly held out her finger when she saw Tyler was about to say something. "I'm not finished," Emily growled, "I didn't tell you the truth because that is what Mason wanted! He wanted me to protect you from this cursed life. Everything I did was to protect you." Emily wiped the tears from her eyes, once again, before she uttered in a whisper as she was growing tired and sad, "so you do not get to come to my house after I was attacked by your new wolf friends to yell at me about lies and betrayal because you caused the biggest betrayal of them all."

"Emily," the Lockwood teenager uttered softly as he watched the Gilbert girl sob into her hands after her large rant. Tyler didn't know what to think now. He never would have thought that Mason had something to do with his best friend lying to him. Tyler only just saw anger and betrayal towards Caroline and Emily after Jules told him the truth about what happened to his uncle. But now, Tyler felt bad that he never asked Emily, someone he sees as a sister, about what really happened.

The Gilbert girl shook her head as she swiftly stood up from the white porch swing before she crossed her arms over her black crop top and looked at Tyler in disgust. "I saw you," Emily mumbled in disbelief, "you just stood there while Jules had a gun to my head." The brunette girl then lifted her arm and shook her hand as she continued with a hateful glare, "never mind me, but you also just let a wolf hold Caroline, the girl who cares about you, on the ground. You did absolutely nothing to save your friends."

The Lockwood werewolf's anger couldn't handle being yelled out any longer as he suddenly threw his arms in the air and exclaimed, "I didn't know what to do!"

Emily pointed her finger at the werewolf that she thought she could trust as she snapped, "you help your friends, that's what you do, not a pack of wolves you just met!" The human girl couldn't believe that she even had to tell Tyler this. Emily always thought it was common sense, but apparently she was wrong.

Tyler let out a heavy sigh as he ran his fingers through his messy brown hair. "I'm so sorry," the Lockwood werewolf apologized softly before he slowly and gently grabbed ahold of the angry human girl's hand.

"Do not touch me," Emily snarled as she ripped her hand out of the Lockwood teenager's grip. The human girl then shook her head with an emotionless chuckle as she mumbled, "I don't even know who you are anymore." Emily placed her hand over her heart as she poured out, "I thought you would always believe me and trust me." The human girl then started to walk towards the white door of the Gilbert house before she turned back and faced the wolf. "You need to figure out who your real friends are and who will always have your back," Emily told Tyler, "until then, I can't be around someone who doesn't trust me like I trust them," before she ignored the Lockwood's pleading and silently made her way back into the Gilbert house.

The human girl let out a heavy sigh and wiped the tears from her green eyes after officially letting go of one of the people that she had always loved and cared deeply for. Emily grew up beside the Lockwood family and was closest to Tyler her entire life, but now; Emily knew she needed to let him go. She couldn't be friends with someone that wouldn't protect her and defend her against people that he had just met. Toxic people are never good, so Emily just couldn't keep Tyler in her life especially when she has Klaus and sacrifice issues right now. She just needed to focus on the good in her life before it all turns to hell.

"Hey," the Gilbert vampire uttered softly as she slowly walked towards her silent but heartbroken sister. Elena had listened to everything like her twin sister said she could, so she knew Emily was going to need her after letting go of the Lockwood teenager. "You okay?" Elena whispered as she rubbed her twin's right shoulder.

Emily swiftly wiped the rest of the tears from her green eyes before she gave her twin sister a small smile. "I'm fine," the human girl promised as she rubbed her hands across her crop top covered arms. _I always am,_ Emily thought as she gave Elena an assuring look. Emily then let out a large yawn before she told the vampire, "I think I'm just gonna go back to sleep and rest."

"Okay," the Gilbert supernatural being mumbled as she gave her sister a tiny smile. Elena knew her sister just needed time to deal with all the stuff that she went through tonight. If her sister wasn't emotional right now, Elena would of been worried. It was normal to feel this way after a traumatic experience like feeling constant physical pain and letting go of someone she loved.

Elena watched her twin sister walk up the stairs for a couple of seconds before Elena's brown eyes widened when she felt the cold metal bracelet around her wrist that John had gave her a few minutes ago. "Wait!" The Gilbert vampire yelped. However, though, when Emily turned back around and faced her, Elena changed her answer as she was originally going to tell her sister about who was waiting for her. Elena wanted to tell her sister that their biological father was waiting on her, but she knew she couldn't. She had promised John that she wouldn't say anything. So instead, Elena just gave a twin sister another smile as she told her, "you're gonna be okay," before she added, "I'll be up in a little while to check on you."

Emily rose an amused eyebrow at her twin sister as Elena was being weird again. But the human girl didn't question it. Instead, she just have a twin sister another smile and uttered, "come up soon and we'll watch a movie." Emily hadn't had a movie night with her sister in forever, so why not? It could at least help her forget about the horrible night for a couple of hours.

Once the human girl saw her twin sister nod her head in agreement, Emily turned back around and sluggishly and tiredly made her way up the staircase. Emily was just ready to jump into her bed with her other half and just relax. However, the human girl's plan of having a good rest of the night with her twin sister was immediately thrown away when she saw her biological father staring at a picture on her dresser.

The older Gilbert man quickly turned towards the entrance of his daughter's bedroom when he heard someone clear their throat. "Hey," John uttered quietly when he noticed it was the child he was waiting for. "I heard what happened tonight," the blue eyed man commented as he leaned against the tall dresser before he wondered, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the human girl mumbled as she walked past her biological father without looking at him before she sat at the edge of her bed. Emily then began to play with her fingers for about a minute or so before she looked up and sighed when she noticed John was still in her room. "What do you want, John?" Emily interrogated boredly as she wasn't in the mood to talk to the man. She didn't go through everything today just to have to talk to her father like she did this morning.

John crossed his arms over his dark sweater as he stared across at his daughter before he finally spoke as he shook his head, "I didn't come here to fight with you, Emily." The Gilbert man moved towards the large bed and stood a couple of feet from the brunette girl as he added, "I want to help keep you safe."

Emily silently nodded her head as if she was finally agreeing with her biological father before she looked up at John with annoyance displayed in her green eyes as she moved her point finger up and down as she uttered, "you know, you keep saying that but I still haven't seen anything from you." The human girl folded her legs underneath her as she moved further into her large and comfortable bed before she continued, "all you do is talk but you never show anything for it. So excuse me, if I don't believe that you are here to help."

The blue eyed man ignored his daughter's ranting about him not helping as he couldn't actually tell her how he was in fact helping keep her and Elena safe. John made a promise to Isobel, so Emily could yell at him all she wanted as he knew what he was doing to keep her safe. So instead of blowing the raven haired vampire's plan, John dug his hand into his pocket before he pulled out a ring and told his oldest daughter, "I thought you might want this. It was your mother's."

Emily rolled her green eyes as she huffed out a sigh before she took a quick careless glance at the item in her biological father's opened palm. She then looked up at John with a bored expression as questioned, "it's Isobel's?"

John shook his head and muttered, "no," as he continued to hold out the small piece of jewelry before he explained softly, "it belonged to your real mother, Miranda." The older man looked down at the ring with a small smile as he continued, "I remember her wearing it when she was young - along with the silver bracelet I gave to Elena. I found it in a box, with some things that your dad left me." John then held out the small piece of jewelry out to his oldest daughter as he muttered, "here, it's yours now."

Emily looked at her biological father with her brows furrowed before she slowly grabbed the ring from John's hands. The human girl then rolled the item in her hands as she looked it over. It was a simple ring that anyone could find in any jewelry store, Emily noticed. It was a two piece set that had a thin band of small diamonds and the top layer was a thicker band with two small and one large stone in the center. But it wasn't like any regular white diamond, either. No, the main piece was a beautiful light sea blue color that instantly reminded Emily of her mother's eyes.

"Miranda and Grayson were your parents, Emily," the older man spoke after a moment of calm silence had settled in the bedroom. John shook his head as he uttered, "and I know I'm nothing to you or Elena. You have no reason to believe me or trust me." The Gilbert man then paused for a moment as he cleared his throat before he continued with emotion clouding his blue eyes, "I've done so many horrible things, but when you and Elena lost your parents, I lost my brother, my family. I lost my way."

John took a small breather as he quickly wiped the tears from his eyes at the memories of the family he had lost and the nonexistent relationship he has with his daughters. The older man then looked down at his oldest child that was staring into his eyes with tears in her own before he brought his hand down onto Emily's lower arm. "I know that I probably won't ever get to make things right with you and your sister," John began as he gave Emily his undivided attention as he confessed, "but I'm gonna do everything I can to protect you and protect this family."

The older man cleared his throat as he tried to get rid of the sadness he was feeling and back to the careless person he had became over the last couple of years. John then walked towards the doorway of his daughter's bedroom before he swore, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you or Elena. You will always be my daughter no matter how you feel about me." The Gilbert man then gave his oldest daughter one last look before he silently exited out of her bedroom.

Emily didn't know if it was the emotions of hearing about her mother, Miranda, or John's confession, or even the traumatic experience that she went through tonight, but as soon as her biological father walked out, all of the tears and sobs began to pour out of Emily's body like a waterfall. It was like all of her emotions just broke down this wall that she had built and Emily didn't know how to make it stop. So instead of fighting it like she wanted, Emily just let it pour out as she stared at the light blue colored ring that belonged to her mother as everything came crashing down.

"Babe," the soft and concerned voice of the youngest Salvatore vampire called out as soon as he noticed the state that the human girl was in once he walked into the Gilbert bedroom. Stefan then swiftly vamp sped in front of Emily before he squatted down in front of the brunette girl and grabbed her face. "Hey, are you okay?" Stefan worriedly questioned.

The human girl sniffed as she wiped all of the tears from her face before she finally looked up and gave Stefan a grim smile. "I'm fine," Emily mumbled as she shakily pushed her mother's ring onto her point finger before she explained to the vampire with an eye roll, "it was just John doing John things."

Stefan silently nodded his head in understanding, even though he was still worried about the human girl. The Salvatore vampire had came over because Elena had told him what happened between Emily and Tyler along with the talk with John. Stefan figured he must of caught the end of it as he saw John grabbing a bottle of bourbon from Alaric's cabinet before he rushed out the front door.

The Salvatore vampire then lifted up the human girl's face by her chin and stared into her green eyes for a moment before he whispered, "are you really okay?" Stefan needed to make sure Emily was absolutely okay as he felt guilty that he wasn't there when the human girl woke up and didn't have the chance to check on her after the torture that Jules and her werewolf did to Emily.

Emily gave Stefan the first real smile all night as she slowly brought her hand to the vampire's left cheek. "I'm fine," the human girl promised. Emily didn't know how Stefan does it, but whenever she's in his presence, all the bad things just disappears. The Gilbert girl then leaned across and brought her lips to Stefan's for a sweet and passionate kiss before she whispered, "thank you."

Stefan brought his lips in for another kiss after the human girl had pulled away as he couldn't get enough. The Salvatore vampire then released the doppelganger's mouth after about another minute or so before he began to trace a small pattern onto Emily thigh as he wondered curiously, "for what?"

The human girl gave Stefan another bright smile as she stood up from her soft bed, while also bringing the vampire up with her, before she wrapped her hands around Stefan's neck. "Just by always being here for me," Emily answered the vampire's question as she began to aimlessly play with her mother's ring, "I can't thank you enough for all that you do for my family and I. It means a lot."

The Salvatore vampire let out a small chuckle before he brought his lips down to the human girl's as if he was accepting her praise. Stefan then pulled away after a couple of minutes of their passionate embrace and told Emily with a cheeky grin, "you can thank me all you want by allowing me to sleep next to the prettiest girl in the world."

Emily rolled her green eyes at the Salvatore vampire in amusement and turned bright red at his compliment. The human girl pushed Stefan's shoulder as she mumbled, "whatever," in complete embarrassment. Emily then brought Stefan into another kiss as she cuddled up next to his cold body before she suddenly pulled away as she thought of something.

The Gilbert girl ignored the vampire's pouting with a soft chuckle before she began to rub her fingers through the back of Stefan's brown hair and stated, "Lena mentioned that Damon dropped Caroline off earlier." Emily then twitched her head to the side as she wondered, "do you know how she's doing?" The human girl knew that her sister told her that Caroline was okay, but she couldn't help but still be worried about her best friend.

Stefan bit down on his bottom lip as he recalled the short conversation that he had with the blonde vampire before Elena called him and he showed up at the Gilbert house. The Salvatore vampire then focused back onto the human girl as he silently nodded his head to himself and told her, "she's okay but I think I could use your help with something."

* * *

 **FORBES HOUSE**

It took the younger Salvatore vampire about fifteen minutes to get his plan all in order once he had explained to Emily about what he wanted to do before he showed back up at the blonde vampire's house with the perfect strategy to make the night end with a good note after what Caroline and the human girl had went through with the pack of wolves. Stefan took a quick glance over to his left on the Forbes porch at the three grinning girls before he shook his head with a chuckle and brought his knuckles down onto the white door.

"Hey," the blonde vampire greeted Stefan, who she had barely saw twenty minutes ago, in confusion as she straightened out her clean sweater that she had barely just put on after she finally took a shower and washed away all of the blood and wooden pieces. Caroline rose an eyebrow at the brunette vampire as she wondered, "what's going on?"

"I was a bit worried about you," the Salvatore vampire explained to the blonde supernatural being as he leaned the side of his body on the edge of the white Forbes door before he concluded, "after everything that you went through tonight."

Caroline shook her head with a soft chuckle at her concerned friend. "I'm fine," the blonde vampire promised as she grabbed onto the edge of the door to close it. Caroline didn't need anyone to worry about her. She just wanted to sleep for a couple of days and wash out the horrible night.

Stefan nodded his head as he mumbled, "good." The Salvatore vampire then pushed the door back to all the way open for what was about to stun the blonde vampire as he told Caroline, "but, just in case, I brought some back up."

The Salvatore vampire then quickly took a couple of steps back on the porch and gave the three girls a nod to let them know that they could show themselves. The three girls, Emily, Bonnie, and Elena, then swiftly jumped in front of the doorway as they all yelled excitedly, "surprise!"

"Oh, my God!" The blonde vampire squealed as she quickly placed her hand over her mouth while her body was instantly racked with sobs. Caroline couldn't believe it. It was her three close friends - here for her. Caroline was so touched that Stefan arranged this along with the fact that she didn't have to be all alone when she falls asleep - which she always hates doing since her mother is always working long hours at the police station.

"We're gonna slumber it!" The Gilbert vampire uttered softly as she walked through the entrance of the Forbes house while she gave the sobbing and emotional blonde a small smile.

Emily pushed her twin sister's shoulder playfully as she rolled her green eyes before she interrogated, "when have we ever called it a slumber?" The human girl then stood directly in front of her blonde friend as she corrected her sister with a bright smile, "it's called girls' night."

"Well, whatever it is called," the Bennett witch began with a chuckle as she followed after the Gilbert twins through the foyer of the Forbes house before she stood in front of Caroline with her own smile and uttered, "we haven't done it in ages but that is about to change tonight."

"I love you guys," the blonde vampire finally spoke in a loud sob after she got over the shock of seeing all three of her best friends in her house for the first time in forever. Caroline then wrapped her arms around the three different supernatural beings; vampire, witch, and doppelganger as she absorbed the very happy moment with her favorite people.

The four girls stood there for a couple of minutes as they hugged each other before the human girl was the first one to pull away as she noticed the Salvatore vampire was about to leave. "Hey, I'll be right back," Emily promised her friends and twin sister before she quickly jogged out onto the porch and threw herself into the smiling Salvatore's awaiting arms. "Thank you for this," Emily whispered once she pulled away from Stefan's embrace.

"You are very welcome," the Salvatore vampire uttered with a grin while he pushed the human girl's brown hair behind her right ear before he cupped Emily's face and began to softly rub along her cheek. Stefan then brought his lips to the human girl's forehead before he told her, "have fun."

Emily silently nodded her head with a happy smile before she brought her lips back to Stefan's for another meaningful and passionate kiss as she showed the vampire all that she was feeling. After about a minute or so, Emily pulled away and took a step back before she uttered, "I love you."

The Salvatore vampire brought the tips of his fingers to his lips as he slowly stepped backwards until he reached the steps before he blew the human girl a kiss. Stefan then gave Emily one last smile and whispered, "love you too," before he finally forced himself to vamp speed away so the Gilbert girl could have time with her close friends.

The human Petrova doppelganger shook her head with a small chuckle once she was standing all alone on the Forbes porch before she turned back around to go back inside of the warm house. But before Emily could take the two short steps through the entrance, she was suddenly vamp sped to the side of the porch before she felt her back land against the hard wall of the house.

Emily winced when she felt her body come in contact with the rough surface and opened her green eyes, that she didn't even know she had closed, before they instantly widened when she saw who was in front of her; the original.

The original, Elijah, swiftly placed his point finger in front of his lips when he noticed the human girl was about to open her mouth as he heard footsteps coming towards them. Emily furrowed her brows in confusion about this whole situation. She hadn't seen Elijah since they made their deal and she didn't understand why he was showing his face now. But Emily did listen to the original as she figured someone was coming and she wanted to know what he wanted with her.

It was a good thing Emily did listen to the original, too, because after a second of the human girl nodding in agreement, the Gilbert vampire popped her head out of the door while Elijah hid in the shadows. "Hey, come on," Elena told her twin sister as she pointed towards the inside of the Forbes house.

Emily gave her twin sister an easy smile as she told Elena, "give me a sec." The human girl then furrowed her brows in fake worry as she explained, "I dropped my ring." Emily knew she needed to make up excuse or Elena would end up coming out onto the porch to see what was wrong with her.

The Gilbert vampire silently nodded her head as she remembered their biological father showing her the ring that he was going to give to Emily. "Alright," Elena mumbled and commanded teasingly, "well, you better hurry up," before she headed back into the Forbes house.

Emily immediately closed her green eyes and let out a heavy sigh once her twin sister actually listened to her and went back inside to Caroline and Bonnie instead of coming out onto the porch and finding the original. The human girl then quickly remembered why she was feeling relief and remembered Elijah.

Emily swiftly reopened her green eyes and cautiously watched the original, who had moved out of the shadows once he heard the vampire sister begin to talk to their friends. The human girl quickly grew nervous as she watched the original slowly move until he was directly in front of her with barely an inch between them. It also didn't help that Elijah's presence always made her nervous and feel something - so needless to say, Emily was becoming quite anxious to why the original was here right now.

The thick tension on the porch only lasted for about two minutes, which felt like a lifetime for the human girl, before the original slowly brought his right hand to Emily's warm cheek as he kept his brown gaze locked onto the confused human girl's green irises. "You just don't know how to stay out of trouble," Elijah finally spoke in a soft whisper as he looked at the brunette girl with a look of remembrance as if he was staring right at Darina Petrova. The original vampire then brought his smooth lips down onto the human girl's forehead for a couple of seconds and vamp sped away a moment later before Emily even had the chance to question him.

 _What the hell just happened?_ Emily silently questioned herself as her green eyes widened in shock. The human girl was so confused that she couldn't even form a sentence. Emily just still couldn't understand the connection that she had with Elijah or why she feels like she can trust him with her life. Emily figured that he has something to do with whatever relationship Elijah had with her doppelganger - well, that's what the human girl had been telling herself. It was the same thing with Katherine as the original Petrova treats her like she is her sister, so Emily guessed it was the stupid doppelganger connection.

The human girl quickly shook her head after a couple of minutes of standing outside in the dark all by herself as she didn't have time to question some sort of connection with a dangerous original and her sister's bitchy doppelganger. Instead, Emily turned to the right to finally go back to her sister and friends.

"Hey!" The Bennett witch exclaimed as she bumped right into the human girl. Bonnie had came to check on Emily since she nor Caroline or Elena hadn't heard anything from her in a while. "Did you find your ring?" The brown eyed supernatural being wondered as the Gilbert vampire told them why Emily was out in the cold.

Emily looked at her friend with her brows furrowed for a second before her green eyes instantly widened. "Oh, yeah!" The human girl exclaimed as she held up her hand and showed the Bennett witch the new ring she was sporting. Emily mentally sighed as she was almost caught up in a lie as she had momentarily forgotten that she told her twin sister that she was looking for the piece of jewelry.

Bonnie gave her a friend a small smile as she muttered, "good." The Bennett witch then held out her arm for the human girl as she exclaimed, "well, come on then." She shot Emily a smirk as she added, "we're about to watch The Notebook."

Emily let out a heavy groan when she heard the title of the movie fall out of the Bennett witch's mouth. The human girl then pouted as she linked her arm with the giggling Bonnie before the two girls began to walk through the Forbes house and headed towards the living room, where Caroline and Elena were waiting to push play on their movie.

The human girl wanted to complain about the blonde vampire's choice of movie, but Emily knew this was what they all needed. They just needed a night of normalcy and that all starts with watching the movie that they have all seen over a million of times.

So, instead of complaining like she usually would, Emily leaned her head against Bonnie's shoulder and held Caroline's left hand while she watched the bright orange sunset display onto the large TV in the Forbes house and listened to the beginning of the soft classical music of Caroline's favorite movie.


	51. The One With The Getaway

**FORBES HOUSE**

No matter where she falls asleep, Emily seems to always be awoken in the worse way possible, except when she has Stefan by her side, and that was exactly what was happening once again as she was awoken to her cell phone blaring loudly through the blonde vampire's bedroom along with the groans of the three supernatural beings; Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie.

The human girl instantly rolled her green eyes in annoyance at the fact that her cell phone was going off at whatever time it was and at her twin sister along with the Bennett witch, who were groaning, and most of all; at the blonde vampire, who swiftly pushed her out of the large and comfortable bed.

"Rude," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she glared over at the blonde vampire from her spot on the hard floor while the Forbes supernatural being looked quite cozy in her bed - where the human girl should be right now. Emily then huffed out a sigh when she didn't get a reaction from her best friend before she pushed herself up from her uncomfortable spot and crawled to the bedside table to finally answer her ringing cell phone.

Emily pushed her messy brown hair out of her eyes once she settled her back against the wall that was adjacent to the large bed after she had grabbed her cell phone before she aimlessly pressed the accept button as she was too tired to even see who was calling her this early in the morning. "Whoever this is, it better be important," the brunette girl snarled as she accidentally banged her head against the wall before she let out a groan and closed her green eyes as she just wanted to go back to sleep.

There was instantly a hearty chuckle that rang throughout the sleepy human girl's cell phone, which Emily found absolutely heavenly, before she heard the familiar voice of the Salvatore vampire. "Well, good morning to you too," Stefan uttered in amusement at the crankiness that the brunette girl was sporting at eight o'clock in the morning.

Emily's green eyes instantly widened when she realized she wasn't talking to her brother or her aunt that are use to her attitude, but she was instead talking to the Salvatore vampire. "Heeey," the human girl trailed off in embarrassment of greeting Stefan so rudely before she let out an awkward and nervous chuckle.

"Shut up!" The Bennett witch exclaimed as soon as the human girl had squeakily and loudly spoken into her cell phone before both of the Gilbert and Forbes vampires immediately shouted as well while they had their heads shoved into Caroline's baby blue pillows, "Emily!"

The human girl rolled her green eyes at the three complaining supernatural beings. "Oh, shut up, you babies," Emily mumbled as she tiredly pulled herself off of the tan carpeted ground of the blonde vampire's bedroom. "Sleep tight!" The brunette girl yelled with a smirk to the sleeping girls before she slammed the door behind her just to annoy her sister and friends even more.

"Was that really necessary?" The younger Salvatore vampire wondered teasingly once he heard the human girl's breathing become louder when Emily finally brought the cell phone back to her face after she had finished torturing the two vampires and the Bennett witch.

The Gilbert girl let out a small chuckle as she made her way to the small Forbes kitchen and headed straight towards the coffee machine. "If I have to wake up, then so do they," Emily mumbled as she defended her actions with a deep pout before she focused on fully waking herself up with some caffeine. _Thank you, Liz,_ the human girl immediately praised when she noticed the dark liquid was still hot from the sheriff making a pot of coffee a few hours ago for work.

"Whatever you say, babe," the Salvatore vampire muttered in amusement with a chuckling smile still displayed across his face as he sat on the edge of his bed in the boarding house. "So, how did the girls' night go?" Stefan wondered after a calm silence had settled between them as he had just listened to the human girl pour her coffee with his enhanced hearing.

Emily immediately released a happy sigh as she remembered the fun that she, Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline had last night and partly this morning. "It was so good," the human girl gushed as she took a seat onto the dark grey wool couch with her warm coffee cup balancing on her thigh. "I can't thank you enough for setting that up for us," Emily praised. The brunette girl couldn't even remember the last time that she, Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline all hung out together without a care in the world.

"You know I'd do anything for you," Stefan uttered sweetly. The Salvatore vampire had arranged the girls' night partly because of his friendship with Caroline and he had been worried, but Stefan had also done it for Emily. He could tell that she was mentally drowning with everything that has happened lately, so Stefan just wanted to make her happy like she deserves.

"Maybe we should have our own night together," the Salvatore vampire suggested after another moment of tranquility settled between them. If he wants to keep Emily safe and happy, why not go out for a small trip to keep the calmness that Emily was currently feeling going. It was the least Stefan could do when their lives were gonna get that much more difficult when Klaus shows up in Mystic Falls.

"Oh, really?" The Gilbert girl wondered as her brows instantly rose to her forehead in surprise at the Salvatore vampire's offer as she never really thought about going away - especially with the crazy life they live, but she definitely wasn't against the idea. Emily then took a low sip of her warm coffee before she curiously inquired, "what did you have in mind?"

"Hmm," the Salvatore vampire hummed as he was glad that the human girl was on board. Stefan had been thinking about taking Emily out since they never even had a first date, so he figured this would be the perfect opportunity. "What do you say to a trip to somewhere with a lake, a fireplace, a nice Italian meal, and just the two of us?" Stefan questioned once he listed all of the things that would make the best first date.

Emily grinned excitedly as she leaned back onto the wool couch in the silent Forbes house. "I say I love it," the Gilbert girl commented as everything that Stefan listed sounded so amazing and relaxing. Emily then sat there for a couple of seconds as she thought about the alone time she would have with the vampire before her green eyes instantly widened as she knew just the place where they could go.

"I have the perfect destination," Emily told the Salvatore vampire in a soft voice as she was immediately pulled into her memories of spending time at the place she was suggesting; her childhood getaway cabin that her parents use to always take her and her siblings to. It would be the perfect place for her and Stefan to get away from all of the vampire and werewolf drama, despite the feelings she may feel once she gets there as she hadn't been there since before her parents' death.

"Have you been secretly planning this, Miss Gilbert?" The Salvatore vampire teasingly questioned. It seemed to Stefan that the human girl had been thinking about it since she already had a destination in mind when the vampire was just going to find a place a couple of towns over. However, Stefan wasn't complaining. He was glad that they already had a place to go to so they could get out of Mystic Falls as soon as possible and keep this happy Emily mood going instead of the stressed and worried one that had been showing these past few days.

"You caught me," Emily uttered with a smirk. However, in reality, the human girl had never really thought about leaving Mystic Falls. It just never popped into her head that she should leave for awhile when almost everyday something bad happens. She's always so worried about keeping everyone safe to even think about leaving, but the human girl did like the idea of going somewhere with Stefan for a small break. Emily figured everything in Mystic Falls would be okay for a couple of days, so why not? Once the Gilbert girl had finally convinced herself into actually leaving town, she quickly told Stefan as she couldn't wait for their getaway, "meet you at the house in 20?"

The Salvatore vampire grinned through the phone as he muttered, "you got it." Stefan couldn't be anymore happier to know that the human girl was willing to leave for a couple of days. The supernatural being was glad that he didn't have to recruit the other Gilbert twin to convince Emily to forget about all of the sacrifice stuff for a little while to just relax. "Love you," Stefan uttered softly to say goodbye to Emily as he knew he needed to get everything they would need ready before meeting the human girl at the Gilbert house.

"Love you too," Emily told the Salvatore vampire with a bright smile adoring her face and said a quick goodbye before she ended the call. The human girl couldn't help but become a giggling mess and feel her cheeks turn red over the fact that she was finally getting some alone time with Stefan.

Emily did feel bad about leaving town when something could happen but she was only human and everyone else was either a witch, a vampire, or a werewolf so they should be fine for a couple of days - at least that is what the Gilbert girl was telling herself. Emily just had to remember that they will be okay or she wouldn't even dare step foot out of Mystic Falls.

The human Petrova doppelganger then shook her head with another giggly smile as she couldn't believe and couldn't wait that she was actually going to have one-on-one time with the Salvatore vampire. The only time that does actually happen is when they are in bed together and they aren't really alone as her family are always somewhere in the house.

Once Emily finally calmed her giggly and girly self down for what she was looking forward to today, the human girl jogged towards the kitchen and placed her now empty coffee cup into the sink without even losing her bright smile. Emily then ran back towards the blonde vampire's bedroom as she couldn't wait any longer to what was waiting for her at the Gilbert cabin before she shouted to her sister once she saw the three sleeping supernatural beings, "Elena! Get up! We gotta go!"

* * *

 **GILBERT HOUSE**

Emily felt like she wanted to die right now. She was currently standing in the middle of the kitchen with her face ruby red with the Salvatore vampire holding her hand and rubbing her skin while her lovely aunt Jenna stood in front of them with the keys to the cabin in her hands while talking about safe sex. It's worse than the time that Emily had the birds and the bees talk with her mother when she was fifteen and her mother ended up crying that her daughter was growing up, but that didn't even come close to the embarrassment Jenna was causing her right now.

"OKAY!" The human girl finally shouted to interrupt the strawberry blonde woman as she couldn't take it any longer when her aunt began to talk about 'the backdoor.' Emily just couldn't listen to it anymore. It was just too much and Emily knew her aunt was just doing it to tease her as they didn't have any secrets and the strawberry blonde knows what happens in Emily's bedroom. "We get it, Jenna," the human girl mumbled before she begged, "can we please have the keys?"

The strawberry blonde quickly placed her hand over her mouth and acted like she was coughing as she tried to hide her amused smile. _This is payback for not telling me John was in town,_ Jenna thought before she finally placed the keys into her niece's hand after about ten minutes of embarrassment.

"You are the worse," Emily whispered to her strawberry blonde aunt with a glare as she could still feel her cheeks on fire once she grabbed the keys to the cabin from Jenna. This is officially the most she had been embarrassed, Emily realized. "And I'm so getting you back for this, Jennie," Emily taunted with a smirk before she looked up like she was thinking. "Maybe I'll embarrass you in front of Ric," the human girl thought out loud and gave her aunt another smirk before she uttered her farewell to the now nervous looking Jenna, "have a good day."

"Oh, whatever," Jenna mumbled as she prayed Emily would forget about getting her back once she comes back into town. "You should probably leave now before John pops up," the strawberry blonde suggested with an innocent smile before she carelessly added with a shrug of her shoulders to hopefully convince Emily to not embarrass her in front of Alaric, "you know, just helping out my niece so she'll go easy on me since I saved her from facing the man she despises."

Emily nodded her head at her aunt with a smirk and muttered, "duly noted." The human girl knew what her aunt was doing, but it doesn't mean she was going to go easy on her when Jenna embarrassed her in front of Stefan - however, Jenna doesn't know that. The Gilbert girl then gave her aunt a small wave when she felt the Salvatore vampire squeeze her waist as she knew they needed to get onto the road. "Love you, Jennie," Emily told her aunt before she and Stefan began to walk away after Jenna told them to have fun, but not too much fun - which caused the doppelganger and vampire duo to chuckle.

"So, are you ready to get out of Mystic Falls for awhile?" The Salvatore vampire wondered in amusement as he and Emily slowly walked through the foyer of the Gilbert house after they had been grilled by Jenna. Stefan hadn't been too effected by the strawberry blonde's teasing and her version of 'the talk,' it was more enjoyment of seeing Emily's face turn red.

"Oh, you have no idea," the human girl mumbled with an eye roll at what her aunt had just pulled as she leaned her head against Stefan's upper arm. Emily then swiftly slapped the Salvatore vampire's stomach and shot him a playful glare when he started laughing at her before she silently walked over to the staircase to grab her bag for their getaway that she packed earlier when Elena had dropped her off.

"Aw," the Salvatore vampire cooed as he grabbed the bag from the human girl's hand with one arm and with the other he titled Emily's head up so he was looking down at her pouting face. "You know I'm just teasing," Stefan uttered before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss onto the human girl's plump lips. The vampire then grinned when Emily gave him a bright smile before he told her, "I'll go put your bag in the car."

Emily nodded her head as she looked into her favorite pair of green eyes before she praised, "thank you," as she held onto the Salvatore vampire's cold hand until he was far enough that she had to let go when he made it to the front door. The Gilbert girl then watched Stefan reach the door knob with a happy and content smile before she instantly groaned when she heard her cell phone ring inside of the pocket of her shorts.

"No, no, no," the human girl mumbled as she slowly pulled out the device while she prayed that something wasn't already wrong. Emily then closed her green eyes and said another quick prayer before she finally opened up the message from the blonde vampire and began to read.

 **FROM; CARE BEAR - Where are you? I need to talk... It's important.**

Emily furrowed her brows in confusion as she read the new text message from her best friend. It confused the human girl as she had told Caroline where she was going before she left the Forbes house with her twin sister. However, she just took it as the blonde vampire forgot and she was worried about something before Emily threw her best friend a message back.

 **TO; CARE BEAR - Heading 2 the Gilbert cabin. What's goin on? Do I need 2 come over?**

"Please tell me there's nothing wrong," the Salvatore vampire begged just as the human girl was pressing send on her message to the blonde supernatural being. Stefan had only opened the door to take Emily's bag to his car before he heard the sound of the doppelganger's cell phone.

The human girl took a quick glance up at the worried Salvatore vampire while she was waiting for her best friend to explain the situation before she swiftly moved her green eyes back to her cell phone when she felt the device vibrate in her hands that alerted her to a new message.

 **FROM; CARE BEAR - All good, never mind. Have fun.**

Emily instantly sighed in relief when she noticed that the blonde vampire didn't need her right now. But the human girl was still worried, just not as worried, since Caroline wouldn't just text her if it wasn't really important, so Emily made a mental note that she would give her best friend a call once she got back.

The human girl then looked back up at the Salvatore vampire once she knew that whatever problem was bothering her best friend could wait for now. "False alarm," Emily told Stefan with a bright smile as she slipped her cell phone into the back pocket of her jean shorts. The brunette girl then held out her arm with a charming grin as she asked, "are we ready to go, Mr. Salvatore?"

Stefan shot the brunette girl a wide smile as he slowly shook his head in amusement before he linked his fingers with Emily's. "Certainly, Miss. Gilbert," the Salvatore vampire uttered before he pulled the human girl out of the house to begin their getaway from all the drama that comes with being involved with the supernatural in their small town of Mystic Falls.

* * *

 **GILBERT CABIN**

It took a little over three hours of Emily and Stefan driving around before they finally pulled in front of the cabin that the human girl used to spend her childhood during the summer or other small vacations and birthday parties. It would have taken two hours, but Stefan made Emily pull over and switch seats as the vampire had told the human girl that she was driving his red Porsche too fast and that she needs to be gentle with it - which caused Emily to playfully roll her green eyes immediately as no one ever likes her driving.

Once the Salvatore vampire finally and slowly pulled in front of the cabin, Emily couldn't help but let out a shaky breath that she didn't know she was holding. Emily thought she would go back to how she use to spend her time here with her family; happy and carefree. But now that she's looking at the large cabin, all she can feel is sadness. It also caused Emily to automatically recall the last time she was here as she glanced at the old exterior of the cabin. It was one week before the car crash that killed her parents, Emily realized.

"Hey," the gentle and concerned voice of the Salvatore vampire interrupted the human girl's thoughts as he softly placed his large hand onto Emily's bare thigh. "You all right?" Stefan cautiously asked as he had noticed the brunette girl's mood drop dramatically.

Emily swiftly jumped in her seat when she felt Stefan's cold touch as she was so lost inside of her memories of the last vacation that she had gotten to spend with her whole family. The human girl then gave the vampire a sheepish smile before she placed her hand over Stefan's and gave it a small squeeze. "I'm fine," Emily promised before she explained as she looked back at the cabin with an emotional gaze, "it has just been awhile since I've been back here."

The Salvatore vampire's green eyes instantly widened as he realized what the human girl meant. "Oh, my God," Stefan mumbled. This was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted their time together to be happy not sad from the memories of Emily's deceased parents. Stefan didn't want Emily to feel pressured to stay here so he quickly turned his body, so he was fully facing the human girl before he softly grabbed ahold of her face and told Emily honestly, "if you aren't comfortable being here, we can always find some other place. We can even drive across the world if you want."

Emily shook her head with a soft chuckle as she stared at the serious Salvatore vampire, who was willing to do anything to make her happy. "No, No," the human girl assured Stefan as she grabbed the hand from her cheek and brought the vampire's palm to her lips. "I'm the one that picked this place, anyway," Emily uttered before she continued with a small smile, "I was just thinking about the memories I had here and now I want to make more with you."

Stefan stared into Emily's green eyes for a moment to make sure she was telling the truth before he nodded his head once and muttered, "okay." The Salvatore vampire then leaned over the middle console and pulled the human girl into a sweet and soft kiss before they both pulled away and finally exited the red Porsche.

The doppelganger and vampire duo silently began to walk up the pavement sidewalk to the front door hand in hand as Emily smiled softly at the little things she noticed that happened during her childhood like the tire tracks that are embedded into the pavement from when Jeremy was learning to ride a bike, or the empty flowerbed where she and Elena use to help their mother plant flowers. It was all just happy memories that Emily was glad that she still had and that she never wanted to lose. It was what made the cabin so special to her because it will always be the place that held nothing but happiness and Emily hopes that bringing Stefan here will bring more memories that she will cherish forever.

Finally, after a minute or two of absorbing all the good memories of this place, the human girl pulled out the keys from her pocket that her aunt Jenna had gave her before she slowly opened the front door. "Wow," Emily mumbled as she took a few steps into the foyer and just immediately felt a presence of safety and protectiveness that use to always follow her parents. It was as if they were here with her.

"It still looks exactly the sam-" the Gilbert girl had began to tell the Salvatore vampire as she twirled around. But Emily soon stopped talking and moving once she noticed that Stefan was still standing in front of the door. The brunette girl lifted an eyebrow at the vampire in confusion as she didn't understand why he was still outside. "What are you doing?" Emily interrogated before she stated as she waved her hand, "come on. I want to give you a tour."

"Uh, I would love to see it," Stefan muttered as he shot the human girl a small smile. The Salvatore vampire then paused for dramatic effect before he lifted his fist and pounded onto the invisible wall that stops him from entering as he uttered, "but there's just one small problem."

Emily's green eyes instantly widened as she gasped, "you got to be kidding me." The human girl couldn't believe that she didn't notice this earlier. Of course Stefan couldn't get in because he's a vampire. No invitation equals no getting in.

Stefan nodded his head once as he uttered, "I'm afraid so." The Salvatore vampire then placed his right hand flat against the invisible wall as he stated in amusement, "I don't think we'll be making any good memories if you don't invite me inside."

Emily figured that as she knew the only way Stefan could enter the cabin was by, of course, being invited inside by the owner. The human girl then opened her mouth to allow the Salvatore vampire to enter but quickly shut it as she had another idea. Emily swiftly acted like she was coughing for a moment, like Jenna had done to her, as she hid her smirk before she told Stefan in a sad voice, "well, that's going to be a problem."

The Salvatore vampire instantly furrowed his brows in concern as he turned his body all around so he was standing directly in front of the door instead of just lounging on the side amusingly. "What? Why?" Stefan interrogated as he grew worried about why the human girl couldn't just invite him in.

"Yeah," Emily mumbled in false sadness as she pushed her brown hair behind her left ear as she took a couple of steps closer to the front door. "My dad put the cabin in John's name on his will," the human girl explained the fake issue as she shook her head in disappointment, "the asshat is the only person that is allowed to invite vampires in here." Emily then swiftly wiped the false tears away as she avoided Stefan's gaze as she mumbled, "I-I'm so sorry, Stef. I-I totally just ruined our time together. I-I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's alright," the Salvatore vampire quickly uttered as he tried to assure the human girl that everything would be okay. Stefan was bummed that he wouldn't get to give Emily anymore good memories inside of the place that makes her happy but he wasn't going to let his vampirism ruin that. "We can, we can just go somewhere else," Stefan added as he didn't want to take Emily back to Mystic Falls when she was so excited to have some time alone.

The human girl couldn't help but swoon at the Salvatore vampire. He was just so sweet and was willing to do anything for her and it touched Emily's heart so much that she couldn't keep up her facade any longer as she was starting to feel bad. So, instead of continuing her lie, Emily let a smile slowly build up onto her face as she silently told Stefan the truth.

"You were joking?" The Salvatore vampire gaped in disbelief as soon as he noticed the sadness wash away from the human girl's appearance. Stefan had believed every word that Emily had said as it really sounded real as Stefan could see Emily's father giving the cabin to his brother. "So, I can come in?" The vampire questioned after a moment as he lifted up an amused eyebrow.

Emily let out a heavy chuckle as she nodded her head. The human girl didn't think her fake act was actually going to work on the Salvatore vampire. _The fun has already began,_ Emily thought as she was already feeling better about being in her family's cabin than she did a few minutes ago. The Gilbert girl then gave the vampire an excited grin before she officially allowed him inside with a teasing smirk and a posh voice, "Mr. Stefan Salvatore, you may come in and join Queen Emily."

"Oh, Queen Emily, huh?" The Salvatore vampire uttered with his own smirk as he slowly stepped over the threshold of the cabin while he kept his amused green eyes locked onto Emily's teasing ones. Stefan shook his head with a chuckle as he slowly stalked towards the human girl until he grabbed ahold of her thin waist. "You are so in trouble, Queen Emily," the Salvatore vampire uttered before he swooped the human girl up into his arms and swiftly twirled her around.

"No, stop!" Emily gasped with her green eyes widened before laughter quickly escaped her mouth as she felt Stefan's fingers tickle her sides. "Queen Emily commands you!" The Gilbert girl jokingly commanded as she could barely breath.

"Yes, my Queen," Stefan whispered as he stopped tickling the human girl before he brought Emily's legs around his waist and stared up at the brunette girl. The doppelganger and vampire duo then locked eyes for a couple of seconds before they both rushed to reach each other's lips at the same time.

It was exactly how they both imagined how they would spend their alone time together. There was no problem, supernatural or not, to interrupt them. No originals, No John Gilbert, no Katherine Pierce. It was just Emily Gilbert and Stefan Salvatore, and that all they really needed.

* * *

It was about two hours later when the human girl found herself out on the wooden dock with a wool blanket thrown over her shoulders and covering her bare legs. She and Stefan had a small make out session in the kitchen before they had their much needed alone time on the couch in the living room. There had been no rushing encase someone would catch them. It was just two people that loved and cherished each other.

However, currently, the human girl was lost in her memories of the Gilbert cabin as she sits in front of the light blue lake now that she is all alone since the Salvatore vampire said he needed to go into town about an hour ago. There was just so many good memories that instantly came rushing into Emily's mind by just staring out at the water. The wooden dock that she was resting on had at least ten different memories on its own.

"Hey," the soft voice of the Salvatore vampire interrupted the human girl as she moved her bare feet around in the water with a small remembrance smile plastered onto her face. "You okay?" Stefan quietly questioned as he took a seat on the edge of the dock before he threw his arm across Emily's shoulder and placed a gentle kiss to her temple.

Emily shot the vampire a soft smile as she nodded her head before she leaned her body against Stefan's. "I'm good," the human girl muttered before she continued as she looked out onto the water, "I was just remembering some things." Emily sat there in silence for a few moments before her green eyes found a jet ski to her left. She pointed towards the white and yellow watercraft and muttered with the same soft smile, "Jer tried to do a trick off that thing right before eighth grade and broke his leg." Emily then moved her eyes to the thinner dock across the lake as she mumbled, "Lena and I use to race off of that and swim all the way to this side every summer."

Emily shook her head with a soft chuckle before she uttered, "I just can't believe that I have so many memories here. It has always been like my second home." The human girl then let a low sigh as she stared out onto the water before she glanced up at the Salvatore vampire. "Do you ever think what kind of memories we will have in the future?" Emily curiously wondered. "I mean, you never know what memories will mean something until that is all you have," the human girl mumbled as she grabbed Stefan's hand and aimlessly began to nervously play with his fingers as she remembered the deal she made with the original, "you never know when it'll be your last with someone."

Stefan furrowed his brows when he heard the sadness in the human girl's voice towards the end of her small speech. The Salvatore vampire then swiftly moved his arm from around Emily's shoulder and softly grabbed ahold of Emily's chin so she was facing him. "Hey, we're going to have a future and a whole bunch of happy memories," the supernatural being promised as he rubbed the human girl's cheek before he added, "even though I don't like it, Elijah is going to keep you safe from being sacrificed."

The Gilbert girl instantly looked down at her lap when the vampire mentioned the sacrifice. Emily felt horrible that she never told Stefan, or her family and friends, the truth about the plan with Elijah. But Emily knew if she tells everyone that she isn't one of the people Elijah is going to keep save then they would find someway to anger the original and ruin the plan that she had to make sure they stay safe from Klaus' wrath. Emily just had to keep telling herself that she was protecting them. _It's not like they'll ever figure out the truth,_ the human girl thought as she finally looked back up at the concerned Stefan with a small smile.

"Okay," Emily finally mumbled as she agreed with the same small smile before she leaned up and brought her lips to Stefan's for a short kiss. The human girl knew that was the only thing she could do; agree or it would just become an argument about protecting her. But Emily didn't want to be thinking about the sacrifice right now, she just wanted to spend time with Stefan, so she tried to get the topic off the vampire's mind. "I just want to be here with you," Emily uttered as she stared up into Stefan's green eyes, "I just want to focus on the memories that are happening right now."

The Salvatore vampire gave the human girl a small nod as he was definitely okay with that. Stefan then grabbed ahold of Emily's light body before he settled her onto his lap in a sideways position and held onto her hand. "You know, I have a memory that we both will never forget about," the Salvatore vampire uttered softly into Emily's ear.

"Yeah?" Emily wondered with an raised eyebrow as she titled her head up so she was now looking into the Salvatore vampire's soft green eyes.

"Mhmm," Stefan mumbled with a small smile as he brought his other hand that wasn't holding the human girl's to Emily's cheek. "It is the moment that Stefan Salvatore officially asks Emily Gilbert to be his girlfriend," the supernatural being whispered as he stared directly into his favorite pair of eyes.

A real and bright smile instantly rose onto the human girl's face as the vampire was actually saying the g-word. It had never really bothered Emily that Stefan never asked her to be his girlfriend. It always sounded childish to her to put a label onto their relationship since she is literally together with her sister's ex along with the fact that they starting seeing each other after confessing their love to one another - plus the whole compulsion ordeal. However, Emily did love the action of Stefan asking her as it was honestly the sweetest thing in the world.

Emily brought both of her hands up to the Salvatore vampire's face after they stayed silent for couple of calm seconds. The human girl just stared into Stefan's eyes with the same happy smile adoring her face while she rubbed the vampire's cheeks before she whispered to her entire world, "I love you, boyfriend."

Stefan chuckled lightly before he commented softly, "I like the sound of that, girlfriend." The Salvatore vampire then brought his lips to Emily's for a slow and sweet kiss before he pulled back by just an inch and whispered, "I love you too."

The official couple brought their lips to each other once more for about a minute or so before Stefan pulled away and moved the human girl so she was sitting back onto the dock. The Salvatore vampire then quickly stood up from his spot with a smile on his face before he held out his hand to the human girl.

Emily looked up at the Salvatore vampire with her brows furrowed in confusion as she thought they were just going to sit here on the dock for a little while. "What's going on?" The Gilbert girl wondered as she voiced her thoughts.

The Salvatore vampire shook his head with a small smile as he moved his hand around to get the human girl to grab ahold of it. "It's time for the Italian meal part of our alone time," Stefan explained as the now grinning Emily finally placed her hand into his before he swiftly pulled her up from the wooden dock.

The doppelganger and vampire duo then silently walked back into the Gilbert cabin while they held hands before they finally reached the large kitchen. "I went to the grocery store earlier," Stefan explained as he walked further into the room after he noticed the human girl's shocked expression, "I just wanted to make sure everything goes perfectly." The Salvatore vampire then sped over towards the counter and poured a glass of red wine before he vamp sped back to the human girl. "Red wine pairs well with Italian," Stefan explained to the pouting Gilbert before he added teasingly, "and it'll do you good to take a rest from bourbon."

Emily looked at the dark substance with squinted brows. She never been much of a wine drinker as that was Jenna's and her mother's department. But Emily shrugged her shoulders as she brought the glass to her lips and mumbled, "when in Rome," before she took a small sip.

"See, it's not bad," Stefan uttered with a small chuckle as he watched that Emily's face didn't turn into one of disgust once she took a drink of the wine as he stood in front of the kitchen counter and was beginning to chop up fresh tomatoes.

Emily shrugged her shoulders, once again, as she leaned her body against the island that separates the kitchen and the living room. "It's alright," the human girl mumbled. It wasn't the worse thing she had ever tasted. Emily then moved her eyes back onto the deep red alcohol with a soft smile before she whispered, "this is what my mom would always do. She would sit down with a glass of wine and watch my dad prepare dinner."

The Salvatore vampire looked up at the human girl with a gentle smile as he knew she was experiencing her memories again. "And what would you be doing?" Stefan wondered as he placed the chopped up tomatoes into a large pot before he began to chop up an onion.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle as she instantly remembered all of the memories that were made with her siblings in the living room while their parents would be in the kitchen preparing dinner. "We used to have this dog named Lucky," Emily began to explain one of her memories to the vampire with an amused smile, "that Jer was so afraid of when we were in middle school. So, Lena and I would always chase Jer around with the small dog when our parents were busy."

Stefan full on belly laughed and immediately paused his cutting of the onion before he commented with a teasing smirk as he found Emily's memories quite humorous, "I see nothing has changed." The Salvatore vampire could definitely see both of the Gilbert twins doing that to the youngest Gilbert even to this day.

Emily instantly rolled her green eyes and mumbled embarrassingly, "oh, whatever." The human girl then brought the glass of wine up to her lips and took another gulp when she heard the vampire was starting to laugh. However, though, when Emily brought her eyes back onto the now calm Stefan and watched him prepare their meal, a shiver swiftly ran down her spine. "Dammit," Emily mumbled as she rubbed her bare legs, "who knew North Carolina could be so cold."

The Salvatore vampire looked up at the shivering human girl as he didn't want her to get sick before he glanced over to the fire place and immediately saw their problem. "Ah, fire's dying," Stefan told Emily as he placed the knife down onto the counter before he uttered, "I'll go get some more wood."

"No, no, please," Emily quickly uttered as she stood up straight from the island counter top. "You've already done so much for me today," the human girl uttered as she grabbed ahold of the vampire's hand, "I'll just go put on some sweatpants and a jacket and grab the firewood." Emily felt bad about letting the vampire do all this stuff for her, so she wanted to at least do something and let Stefan have a little bit of rest.

"You don't have to do that," Stefan told the human girl as he squeezed both of her hands while he stood in front of her. "It'll only take me a second to gather the wood," the vampire explained before he gave Emily a soft smile and added, "plus, I don't want you to get sick."

The Gilbert girl rolled her green eyes at the worried vampire before she leaned up and patted Stefan's left cheek and stated, "I'm just going to grab some warm clothes while you finish cooking." Emily then quickly turned around so Stefan couldn't disagree with her and jogged her way up the wooden staircase.

Emily let out a small chuckle when she heard the Salvatore vampire yell up to her that she still wasn't going out into the cold just as she reached the long hallway of the second level of the cabin. The human girl shook her head in amusement at the worried Stefan before she headed towards her parents' bedroom after she didn't hear anything more from the Salvatore vampire as she didn't have any clothes here in the cabin since she took them all home the last time she was here.

The brunette girl then headed towards her parents' dresser as she knew her mother must have left a pair of sweats here in the cabin for times like this when it would get cold. However, before Emily could even make it to the dresser, she came to a stop when she was about to pass her mother's vanity table that matched the one she has in her own bedroom in Mystic Falls.

Emily slowly looked at each item with emotion clouding her green eyes before she shakily picked up a gold necklace from the white vanity table. The human girl instantly smiled once she opened up the small locket and saw the two small pictures; one side was an image of a normal picture of the whole family, her siblings and parents, and the other was another picture of them but with all funny faces instead of serious ones like the previous image. Emily shook her head as she wiped away a tear as she remembered her mother proudly wearing the necklace around the house, which she used to embarrass her children with most of the time.

"Hey," the soft voice of the Salvatore vampire called out from the entrance of the bedroom as he had watched the human girl for a moment. Stefan knew Emily needed some time with her parents' things, so he just stood there until he noticed that Emily had tears in her eyes. "You okay?" The Salvatore vampire gently inquired as he walked into the large room.

Emily quickly wiped the rest of the tears from her face before she gave Stefan a small smile. "Y-Yeah," the human girl mumbled as she softly placed the necklace back onto her mother's vanity table, "I just haven't been in here in a long time." Emily then slowly walked around the room for a moment as she uttered, "Jenna was suppose to pack up all their things but she just never had the chance to come up here." The Gilbert girl walked towards the large closet as she figured her parents' clothes were still inside as she mumbled, "I don't blame Jenna, though. It's tough even being in here."

The human doppelganger briefly closed her green eyes and cleared her throat as she hated getting so emotional before she flipped on the light switch to the closet so she could actually see. Emily then began to look on the inside door, where there was some jackets before she grabbed one that would fit Stefan. The human girl knew the vampire wasn't going to allow her to go alone so she figured she would get him suited up as well.

"This one is for you," Emily muttered as she tossed Stefan the red and black plaid zip up jacket. She then walked further into the closet and grabbed a pair of her mother's black sweatpants and pulled them over her shorts before she grabbed her father's hoodie and slipped it over her body as well.

Once Emily was finally ready to go into the chilly air of North Carolina, she turned around and instantly smiled when she saw that the jacket fitted Stefan perfectly. Emily then slowly walked towards Stefan before she wrapped her arms around the vampire's neck and uttered softly, "you fit right into this family."

"Oh, I do, don't I?" The Salvatore vampire uttered teasingly as he wrapped his arms around the human girl's small waist. Stefan then surprised the Gilbert girl as he swiftly brought his lips down to her's for a hard kiss while he slowly walked her into the closet and pushed Emily's back against the wall.

The human girl sighed softly when she felt Stefan's cold lips trail down her neck once he pulled her father's hoodie off of her skin. However as the vampire lowered his mouth down to her collarbone, Emily swiftly realized where she was. "Stef," the brunette girl mumbled after she let out a small moan, "maybe we should go somewhere else."

The Salvatore vampire chuckled softly before he shook his head and brought his hands to the human girl's cheek. "I just can't get enough of you," Stefan whispered before he leaned down and linked his lips with Emily's for another passionate kiss.

Emily mentally rolled her eyes as she knew she wasn't going to win, even though she really wasn't complaining. She was in the same boat as the vampire. It was like whenever she is in Stefan's presence, all she cares about is feeling his body on her's. So Emily didn't let any other thought bother her about moving or stopping as she brought her hands around the vampire's neck and pulled him even closer as they continued to kiss.

However, as their small make out session was slowly getting more aggressive and more passionate, the human girl knocked her head against the wall a couple of times which caused the Salvatore vampire to pull away as he heard something that shouldn't be there. "What's wrong?" Emily wondered confusingly as she noticed Stefan's focused expression.

The Salvatore vampire didn't say anything, instead he brought his hand down onto the wall beside the human girl's head. "Huh," Stefan mumbled after a couple of knocks on the wood and realized something. "It's hollow inside," the supernatural being explained once he looked down at the human girl before he softly moved Emily to the side and easily pulled a piece of the wooden panels from the wall.

"What the hell," Emily mumbled to herself as she watched the Salvatore vampire began to remove the supposedly wall of her parents' closest and showed another door that she didn't even know existed. The human girl then watched Stefan break off the lock from the door before he slowly pushed it open.

"Holy crap," the Gilbert girl gasped as soon as Stefan pulled on the light switch and noticed that the small room was covered in weapons. It wasn't any normal weapons, either. They were all weapons that would kill a vampire. Emily couldn't help but glance over to her vampire boyfriend in shock. She just couldn't fathom what she was looking at. She didn't even know her parents knew about vampires - but Emily knows she shouldn't be that surprised since John, her father's brother, has always been wrapped in the supernatural world.

It took about three minutes before Emily finally shook herself out of her trance after she realized her parents knew the existence of vampires before she slowly began to walk into the small closet full of weapons. The human girl looked around for a moment before she spotted something familiar. "More Gilbert journals," Emily mumbled, mostly to herself, as she recognized the item that looked exactly like the books that Jeremy had found a few months ago about their relative; Johnathan Gilbert. Emily shook her head in disbelief as she began to flip through the pages as she commented, "I never knew there was more. He must have written his whole life in these things."

The Salvatore vampire finally spoke for the first time since they found the hidden closet that belonged to Miranda and Grayson Gilbert when Emily began to read the journal, "I'll go get the firewood." Stefan then placed a soft kiss on top of Emily's head and squeezed her waist as he mumbled, "I'll give you a moment," before he silently exited the closet and the bedroom.

Emily didn't even hear the Salvatore vampire speak until she heard the front door slam from downstairs as she just couldn't believe what she was looking at. The human girl never thought her parents would have been involved in all this mess. They always seemed like normal people to Emily so she never thought her parents would have so many types of wooden weapons. The brunette girl slowly bent down and grabbed a box from the floor before she let a shaky breath as she stared down at a box of wooden bullets. _What the hell is going on?_ Emily thought as she looked around in confusion at all of the vampire killing weapons.

Meanwhile out onto the front porch of the Gilbert cabin, Stefan dropped a large stack of wood onto the ground with a sigh. The vampire then turned back around and headed to the garage again as he decided to get more wood so they wouldn't have to go back out for the rest of the night. However, when Stefan turned the light on and went to grab the rest of the firewood, he swiftly paused as he felt something was wrong.

The vampire was right to fear that something was happening because as soon as he turned around, the werewolf, Brady, instantly shot him in the chest with, what Stefan realized was, wooden bullets until the Salvatore finally fell to the ground. Brady then stared down at the vampire for a few minutes until he felt the presence of the Lockwood werewolf.

"Keep him down," Brady commanded as he glared down at the vampire before he turned to look at the young wolf. "If he moves," Brady began as he pushed the gun and a wooden stake into the Lockwood's chest before he told Tyler, "kill him."

The older wolf silently walked out of the garage once Tyler gave him a small nod before the Lockwood teenager quickly stood over the groaning Salvatore vampire with the gun pointed at Stefan's chest and the stake pointed like he was holding a flashlight. "Don't move!" Tyler shouted as he was growing nervous by how Stefan was moving around so much.

"Just let me get the bullet out," the Salvatore vampire begged as he slowly stopped moving around on the ground before he explained to the twitching werewolf, "it punctured my heart. I need to get it out." Stefan then looked up at Tyler as he promised, "I'm not gonna fight you."

The Lockwood werewolf slowly walked around the vampire with the gun and stake still pointed at Stefan before he quickly walked back to the door of the garage. Tyler looked into the dark woods for a couple of seconds before he swiftly faced the vampire again. "I don't think so," the young wolf muttered as he remembered the plan to end the curse.

Stefan let out another loud groan as he rolled onto his side to hopefully relieve the pressure on his chest from the wooden bullet. He then glanced up at the twitching werewolf as he interrogated in a pain filled voice, "Tyler, why are you doing this?" Stefan just didn't understand why his girlfriend's best friend was so willing to kill him and follow Brady's orders.

"I can't let you break the curse," the Lockwood werewolf explained as he kept the gun filled with wooden bullet pointed down onto the Salvatore vampire as he knew he couldn't let Stefan get up from the ground. There was no way in hell that Tyler was going to let the vampires break the curse as he just wanted out of this life.

The Salvatore vampire let out a slow breath as he tried to keep himself alive before he looked back up at the Lockwood werewolf. "You know about the curse?" Stefan questioned in a soft tone before he leaned his head down onto the cold pavement of the garage as he could barely hold himself up.

Tyler let out a loud scoff as he stared down at the Salvatore vampire in anger. "You're liars, all of you," the Lockwood werewolf snapped. Tyler knew he should of never believed Stefan when he said he told him everything there was to know when he showed up yesterday to keep him quiet.

"No," Stefan quickly exclaimed as he lifted up his upper body by his arms so he could show Tyler just how serious he is. "I swear to you," the Salvatore vampire promised before he explained to the Lockwood werewolf, "we don't want to break the curse, Tyler. We don't want to do that."

"Oh, yeah?" Tyler wondered, even though he didn't really want an answer. It was just brand new information that he and the wolves didn't know - which would make this mission that much easier. They just needed Emily for a second and then it'll all be over. The Lockwood werewolf then quickly shot Stefan in the leg when he noticed the vampire was getting up while he concluded in a growl, "well, I do." Tyler shook his head as he exclaimed, "I can't be like this forever."

The Salvatore vampire let out another loud groan as there was now two wooden bullets that was causing his body hell. Stefan then looked up as he snarled right back in a protective tone, "I'm trying to keep Emily alive!" The Salvatore vampire knew he shouldn't tell the young wolf the truth about how his curse was really the hybrid curse since it was some ancient secret, so Stefan just continued to let Tyler and his wolf friends think they could actually be free of their werewolf side.

"Emily will be fine!" Tyler exclaimed as he kept the gun pointed directly on the vampire encase he had to use it again. The Lockwood werewolf just couldn't understand why Stefan was fighting this so much. Stefan and the vampires didn't even want to break the curse, anyway.

Stefan swiftly looked up at Tyler in shock along with a tint of sadness. "They didn't tell you that part, did they?" The Salvatore vampire inquired before he let out a humorless chuckle and questioned sarcastically, "who are the liars now?"

Tyler looked down at the vampire in confusion as he didn't understand what Stefan was talking about. Jules had told him that nothing would happen to his best friend. "Tell me what?" The Lockwood werewolf wondered nervously.

The Salvatore vampire slowly and painfully lifted himself onto his knees before he stared at the anxious werewolf with tears clouding his vision. "In order to break the curse that you think you want is by killing Emily."

Back inside of the Gilbert cabin while the garage was overcome by a tense and heartbroken silence, Emily was currently walking slowly through the foyer as she hadn't heard anything from Stefan in about thirty minutes. The human girl had began to feel uncomfortable inside of the room of weapons, so she came to find Stefan as she knew he could help her forget about it all but she just couldn't seem to find Stefan anywhere.

Emily had looked all through the cabin and still couldn't find the Salvatore vampire, so she was now standing in front of the opened front door as she tried to see if Stefan was still getting the firewood since he was nowhere inside. "Stef!" The human girl shouted as she rubbed the sleeves of her father's hoodie that she had thrown back on. "Babe, are you out there?" Emily shouted cautiously as she was slowly growing worried.

The Gilbert girl wrapped her arms around her waist and took a step across the threshold when she still didn't get a response from the Salvatore vampire before she yelled, "okay, this isn't funny, Stefan Salvatore!" Emily then glanced around the woods nervously before she continued as she hoped Stefan would hear her, "I've seen Friday the 13th, so you better come on or I'm locking you out!"

"Nope," Emily mumbled to herself after a minute or so as she felt something was wrong, "I'm not dying today." The human girl then jogged back into the cabin and ran into the kitchen. Emily opened up the first drawer she walked by and swiftly grabbed a large knife before she slowly walked back to the front door and out onto the porch. "Show yourself!" The human girl shouted while she held her knife in front of her as she did not like these type of games along with the fact that she knew Stefan wouldn't play with her like this.

The doppelganger was right to follow her instincts as not even a second after her command escaped her mouth, the familiar body of Brady jumped in front of Emily which caused the human girl to act quickly and stab the werewolf in the stomach. The human girl knew it wasn't going to stop Brady, so she quickly abandoned the knife and ran back into the cabin before she locked the door behind her.

"Okay, okay, okay. I can do this," Emily mumbled to herself as she tried to think of what she was suppose to do. The brunette girl's eyes then quickly widened as she knew just the place; the secret weapon room. Emily figured all those vampire weapons could at least slow down Brady until Stefan showed up.

The Gilbert girl swiftly froze right as she was about to enter her parents' bedroom as she heard the werewolf yell, "I can smell you!" Emily felt her heart start to pound a mile a second - which she knew wasn't helping her case of escaping Brady. The human girl then quickly pulled her father's hoodie off of her body as she knew she needed to trick the werewolf before she ran towards her bedroom in the cabin. Emily tossed the clothing with her scent onto the bed before she swiftly jogged towards her twin sister's bedroom that was across the hall.

Emily pressed her ear against the door of Elena's bedroom once she was inside and covered her mouth as she waited to hear the werewolf in the hallway. The human girl then rushed to the other side of her sister's bedroom when she heard Brady's footsteps stop and gently opened the door to the adjacent bathroom. Once Emily realized it was safe and she didn't see Brady, she ran across the hallway and into her original destination; her parents' bedroom.

Emily softly closed the door behind her once she was in her parents' bedroom before she jogged into the small weapon room. The human girl then swiftly grabbed two stakes and stuck them into the pockets of her black sweatpants before she grabbed two more and hid herself in the corner of the closest when she heard fast footsteps heading towards her.

The Gilbert girl closed her green eyes out of nervousness as she prepared herself to what would happen before she slowly opened them when she heard the squeak of the closet door opening. Emily then charged at the werewolf with her two stakes and stabbed Brady on either side of his stomach before she pushed him down onto the ground so the weapons would enter him further.

Emily was just about to run outside of the bedroom once the wolf was down but quickly stopped when she noticed the kitchen knife that she had originally stabbed Brady with on the ground. _You can never be too careful,_ the human girl thought as she quickly grabbed the knife before she finally ran as fast as she could out the front door. Emily didn't stop there, either, she ran towards the woods as she hoped she could lose Brady.

However, unluckily for the human girl, the angry werewolf was much faster than she was and he was only inches away from grabbing ahold of her hair. But luckily for Emily, the Salvatore vampire picked the right time to show up as he vamp sped in front of the werewolf before he ripped Brady's heart right out of his chest.

"Oh, thank God," Emily mumbled as she watched the dead werewolf fall to the ground before she swiftly dropped the bloody knife and rushed into the Salvatore vampire's awaiting arms. The human girl then wrapped her shaky limbs around Stefan's waist in a tight grip as she was afraid what would happen if she let the vampire leave her sight again.

"It's okay," Stefan instantly whispered into the human doppelganger's ear as he began to rock her body back and forth to offer her some sort of comfort, "it's okay." The Salvatore vampire then pulled away after a minute or so of them embracing each other before he softly grabbed ahold of Emily's face and assured her, "you're safe, I promise."

The couple stayed like that in front of the Gilbert cabin for a couple of minutes before Emily caught something over Stefan's shoulder that shocked her. "Tyler?" Emily mumbled out in confusion as she didn't understand why Tyler would be here in North Carolina.

The Lockwood werewolf glanced over to the Salvatore vampire, who nodded his head, before Tyler focused back onto the girl he sees as a sister and a best friend. "I didn't know what they were gonna do to you," Tyler quickly apologized as he slowly walked towards the human girl and the Salvatore vampire, "I didn't." The young werewolf ran his fingers through his dark hair as he mumbled emotionally, "I just... I don't want to be like this anymore."

The human girl let out a slow sigh as she watched tears build up into the Lockwood teenager's eyes before she released Stefan's waist and slowly walked up to her best friend. "It's okay, Ty," Emily whispered before she pulled the wolf into a tight hug. The Gilbert girl couldn't stay mad at her best friend for long. She understood that Tyler just didn't want to be a wolf anymore - just like Mason. But sadly, Emily knew there was no getting away from it thanks to Rose telling them the truth about the curse.

"I'm so sorry, Emily," the Lockwood teenager mumbled as he squeezed his best friend's waist and laid his head onto her shoulder. "I never wanted for you to get hurt," Tyler apologized, "and I know I can't say sorry enough for what happened in the woods yesterday but I just need you to know that I am honestly sorry for ever hesitating in helping you." Tyler shakily grabbed ahold of Emily's hand and confessed, "you will always be my best friend and I feel so bad for all the pain that Brady caused you and Caroline. I-I just hope you can forgive me." The Lockwood werewolf then chuckled humorlessly before he added, "I know you hate me but I hope that you will still care about me when I'm gone like I'll always care for you."

Emily's brows instantly furrowed in confusion as she looked into the Lockwood werewolf's sad brown eyes. "W-What do you mean?" The human girl mumbled as she didn't understand what Tyler was talking about. "Where are you going?" Emily wondered.

Tyler let out a shakily and nervous sigh as he began to rub the back of his neck with his unoccupied hand. "I-I think I need to leave town until I can understand my werewolf side," the Lockwood teenager explained softly.

"Ty," Emily mumbled heart brokenly as she stared up at her best friend with sadness shining throughout her green eyes. The human girl just couldn't picture Tyler not being in her life. It just didn't seem real.

"I'll give you two a moment," the Salvatore vampire mumbled when a tense silence stood between the two childhood friends as he squeezed the human girl's shoulder before he quietly made his way into the Gilbert cabin.

"You can't be serious," the brunette girl uttered as she stared at her best friend in confusion once she heard the front door of the cabin close shut. Emily couldn't even fathom not being around one of her closest friends. It was like losing one of her siblings.

"Jules said she could help me deal with being a werewolf," Tyler explained as he aimlessly began to play with the cold hand that he was holding. "And I-I just can't be around you and mom when I'm afraid that I'll hurt you guys," the young wolf added as he feared of hurting the only two people he actually cares about.

Emily definitely didn't like the fact that Tyler was going away with Jules. But she knew that the young wolf needed to learn how to control himself just like how vampires need to learn to control their blood lust. It was the same idea and Emily understood that as she had watched her twin sister and blonde best friend go through the tough times of controlling themselves. Finally after a minute of silence, Emily placed her hand onto Tyler's cheek as she whispered as she accepted the fact that her best friend has to leave, "I know."

The Lockwood teenager nodded his head as he was thankful that his best friend was on board with him leaving as he it was hard for him to even convince himself to leave his mother and best friend. Tyler then looked into Emily's sad green eyes as he questioned anxiously, "do you think you could ever forgive me for the part I played yesterday and tonight?"

Emily instantly let out a low chuckle as she shook her head. "I think I forgave you the second it happened," the human girl whispered truthfully before she leaned up onto her tippy toes and laid a soft kiss onto her best friend's forehead. "You're free," Emily added in a gentle whisper, "I hope you can find yourself."

Tyler sighed out in relief before he swiftly pulled Emily into a bone crushing hug as he couldn't help but feel thankful that his best friend had forgave him even though he hadn't truly forgave himself for what happened in the woods and with Brady almost killing her tonight. "Thank you," the Lockwood werewolf whispered once he pulled away and muttered, "I love you."

"You will always be my best friend, Ty," Emily uttered softly, "I'll love you to the ends of this Earth no matter what." The human girl then pulled her best friend into another tight hug before she laid her head onto Tyler's shoulder as she just needed a minute with her best friend to finally say goodbye to someone she had grown up to care like her own brother.

While Emily was embracing her best friend into a loving and protective hug as she didn't know when she would ever see Tyler again, inside of the Gilbert cabin was the youngest Salvatore vampire watching the two close friends from the window as he spoke to his brother about the truth that the supernatural beings in Mystic Falls had found out from Elijah's witch.

"It was straight from the witch's mouth," the blue eyed Salvatore vampire told Stefan as he had his cell phone sitting on the grand piano in the boarding house as he stood right beside the saddened Elena. "He was gonna go through with the whole sacrifice," Damon explained what they found out from Bonnie as he held onto his girlfriend's hand before he commented, "you should probably just keep Emily away a little longer."

Stefan silently nodded his head, even though he knew Damon and Elena couldn't see him, as he kept his gaze locked onto the human girl and the Lockwood werewolf from the window. The younger Salvatore just couldn't believe what his brother told him so he could only warn the vampire couple as his thoughts were clouded with the truth about the sacrifice, "be careful. Try not to get yourself killed."

"Yeah. It's been a day for that," Damon mumbled aimlessly as he instantly remembered what had happened tonight when he was tortured by the werewolves until the original had showed up and saved the day.

"Yeah," Damon mumbled as he instantly began to get flashbacks of what happened tonight with the pack of wolves torturing him for the moonstone before the original showed up and, sadly, saved him, "it's been a day for that."

"Keep my sister safe," Elena quickly commanded once she saw Damon was about to end the phone call as she stood in front of the device with her brows furrowed together in worry now that they all knew what Elijah is planning to do with her twin sister.

"I will," Stefan whispered as he watched the human girl walk up onto the porch of the Gilbert cabin after saying goodbye to her best friend. The Salvatore vampire then silently ended the call with his brother and his ex girlfriend once he saw Emily open the front door as he knew he needed to tell Emily what they found out.

Emily let out a slow sigh as she tried to get rid of all of the sad emotions she was feeling once she walked into the Gilbert cabin after saying goodbye to her best friend. It had just taken a lot out of her as she didn't want to let Tyler go, but she, of course, knew she had to. This was just something Tyler needed to do to get control of his werewolf side.

"Hey," the human girl mumbled with her brows pulled together as she noticed that Stefan was standing in the middle of the living room. "What's going on?" Emily wondered as she stared at the concerned look on the Salvatore vampire's face.

Stefan stared at the human girl with a sad expression mixed with pain and heartbreak for a moment before he lifted his cell phone in the air and uttered, "that was, um... that was Damon and Elena." The vampire then crossed his arms over his chest and stated with zero emotion, "we need to talk."

Emily looked at the Salvatore vampire in confusion as she didn't know what Damon and her twin sister could have told Stefan to make his mood turn this way. "What happened?" The brunette girl cautiously inquired as she couldn't help but become worried about what Stefan needed to talk about.

"They learned that Elijah is planning for you to die in the sacrifice ritual," the Salvatore vampire slowly confessed as he didn't know how the human girl was going to take the news. Stefan knew he should of never believed a word that came out of Elijah like he originally wanted to. The Salvatore vampire just couldn't help but want it to be true, that Elijah would protect Emily from Klaus, so the human girl didn't have to die.

 _Dammit,_ Emily instantly swore as she knew everything was about to blow up in her face. This was exactly what she didn't want to ever happen. Emily had thought she was going to be able to keep everyone safe when Klaus comes into town with the help of Elijah. But the human girl knew her friends and family weren't just gonna stand by and let Elijah continue with his plan - which Emily hated so much. They are just going to end up ruining the plan that she and Elijah had agreed to by them confronting the original, which will probably piss off Elijah and end their deal about protecting everyone Emily loves.

"I'm sorry, Stef," the human girl apologized once she finally found the strength to even speak after finding out everything she tried to keep a secret was now in the open. Emily then slowly took a couple of steps towards the Salvatore vampire as she uttered softly, "this is exactly what I agreed to. I knew Elijah needed the sacrifice to be completed to kill Klaus. So, I said yes because all I care about is making sure that you and everyone else is safe."

The Salvatore vampire's brows instantly furrowed in confusion as he had thought this was going to be a shock to the human girl. "You mean you knew that you weren't gonna survive this?" Stefan interrogated with a tint of hurt evident in his voice.

Emily silently bit down on her bottom lip as she avoided looking into the vampire's sad green eyes for a moment. She knew this was going to be hard, but she didn't know it was going to be like this. Emily hated seeing Stefan this way but Emily knew she just needed to tell him the whole truth before it gets worse. So Emily looked up and nodded her head before she uttered, "the only thing that has ever mattered to me is keeping everyone safe. If I have to die for that to happen, then I will gladly follow along with Elijah's plan."

Stefan looked at the human girl with tears clouding his vision as he couldn't believe that she knew all of this time that she was going to die. "Emily," Stefan mumbled heart brokenly, "how... how could you stand out there earlier with me and talk about all of these memories we will have together when you aren't even going to be alive?"

The human girl let out a small sigh as she cautiously touched Stefan's hand before she uttered with a sad smile, "I'm doing what is right. I will always protect you and everyone else over myself." Emily shook her head before she continued in a serious voice, "Klaus is dangerous and he will not hesitate to kill you and everyone else I love like he did with Katherine's family. I-I just can't let that happen."

The Salvatore vampire swiftly ripped his hand out of the human girl's as he looked at Emily in disbelief after he listened to what she said. "No," Stefan snapped angrily, "you aren't being a hero or saving us. You're just being a martyr."

Emily swiftly wiped a loose tear from her eyes before she silently crossed her arms over her chest to offer herself some sort of comfort. "I will not apologize for my actions," the human girl exclaimed in a strong voice, "I will not apologize for wanting to protect my family and friends. I will gladly do this if it means no else has to die." Emily didn't care if everyone hates her for what she is going to do. All that matters to Emily is that they will still be alive at the end of the day.

Stefan swiftly vamp sped even closer in front of the human girl with tears now streaming down his cheeks as he couldn't control the pain he was feeling any longer. The Salvatore vampire then grabbed ahold of Emily's face and began to shake her a couple of times to get her to understand what he was about to say. "You do not just get to play the sacrificial lamb when you made all these promises about our future and our memories," Stefan wailed as he swiftly shook his head. He then started to rub the side of Emily's face as he exclaimed emotionally, "yo-you can't just die when I-I love you."

"Stef," the human girl mumbled sadly as she couldn't help but begin to cry as she hated seeing the vampire like this. However, though, before Emily could even say anything more, the Salvatore vampire quickly pushed himself away from the brunette girl and rushed out of the front door without another word.

Emily let out a heavy sigh as she watched the angry Salvatore vampire walk away from her. She could understand why he was mad as she would react the same way if Elena or someone she loves was in her position. Emily knew they were never going to understand why she was so willing to die. The only thing she can do is just show them her love and pray that her family and friends don't end up messing with Elijah and ruin the deal that would keep them all safe from the feared hybrid.


	52. The One With The Gilbert Journals

"Ouch... dammit," the cranky and sleepy voice of the human Petrova doppelganger complained as she slowly lifted up her tired body from the uncomfortable position that she was in on the Gilbert cabin's couch. Emily then glanced around her in confusion once she was sitting up before she let out a quiet huff as she realized that she must have fallen asleep here when she was waiting for Stefan. The human girl had tried to stay up and wait for the Salvatore vampire to come back into the cabin so they could talk this out, but Emily guessed that she must have passed out while she had been looking through Johnathan Gilbert's life - hence the old leather bound journal lying across her lap.

Emily let out a small sigh as she was all alone - which she absolutely hated. _I guess Stef is still pissed,_ the Gilbert girl thought as she leaned her back against the soft couch and closed her green eyes in annoyance. The human doppelganger then boredly glanced around the living room and the kitchen once she got rid of the sleepiness she was feeling before she swiftly noticed Stefan standing by the lake from her view from the large window that overlooked the water.

 _This trip is just so much fun,_ Emily sarcastically thought as she stretched out her sore body from the awkward position she had fallen asleep in. The human girl hated that Stefan was mad at her but she knew she couldn't do anything about it since Stefan wouldn't even walk into the same room as her. So, instead of begging for the vampire's attention, who wasn't even making an effort with her, Emily grabbed the journal from her lap and decided to read more into her ancestor's life.

"With the dying embers of the fire at Fell's church," Emily began to read from Johnathan Gilbert's own words, "the scourge of the vampires has passed. And though war raged all around us, our town was safe from the demons of the night... or so we thought."

 _This must have been when they thought they got rid of all of the vampires in the church,_ Emily immediately realized at the mention of the fire at Fell's church or what she knows it as; the tomb. The brunette girl then quickly flipped to the next page as she couldn't help but become engrossed into her ancestor's side of the story from that night; from a human perspective.

"For the monsters we drove to their fiery deaths had begat new monsters," the human girl continued to read before she was swiftly pulled into the story from the nineteenth century of the ending war between the vampires and the founding families.

* * *

 **GILBERT RESIDENCE 1864**

 _Inside of the estate of Johnathan Gilbert was a brewing party as the founding families celebrated the end of all of the vampires that were in their small town of Mystic Falls. There was drinks of strong whiskey for the men and red wine for the women being toasted around the large table with lavish foods being served. It was the perfect evening for their defeat of the night creatures._

 _However, all the cheering, laughing, and talking were all soon interrupted when a loud creaking sound ran throughout the large dining room of the Gilbert residence by the ceiling to floor window that gave the founding families a clear view to the night sky. "Did you hear that?" Honoria Fell whispered nervously after a moment of silence as she was the only one brave enough to utter a single sound._

 _Thomas Fell, Honoria's husband, quickly walked over to the large window and peered out into the dark night. However, the only thing Thomas could see was his wooden carriage and his calm white horse. Thomas didn't like the unknown, so he swiftly walked back to the dining room table and grabbed the largest silver knife he could find before he commanded the group, "stay here."_

 _"No, Thomas!" Mrs. Fell begged as she hurriedly stood up from her chair before she moved her worried eyes to Thomas. The brunette woman feared that her husband would get hurt and she did not want that to happen as there could be something out there; something dangerous._

 _"It is all right, dear," Thomas assured his wife as he stared into her furrowed brown eyes with a small smile. He then glanced at the calm men and the concerned women around the table as he added to assure them as well, "the vampires are all dead."_

 _"Yes, Honoria," the man of the Gilbert estate uttered as he stared at the Fell woman to convince her and everyone else that there was absolutely nothing to worry about. "They burned in the church," Johnathan promised, "we're safe now."_

 _Once Thomas realized that Johnathan had calmed his wife down for the time being, he squeezed his fingers around the handle of the knife before he swiftly left the dining room and exited the Gilbert estate altogether to see what was the cause of the noise from outside._

 _The dining room was then overcome by a thick and nervous silence as the founding families all glanced at one another in worry. However, though, Honoria couldn't take the suspense any longer as she was growing concerned as the seconds ticked by, so she was the one to interrupt the tense silence. "Please, Johnathan," Mrs. Fell begged before she mumbled anxiously, "I'm worried."_

 _Johnathan wasn't one to be scared, but he was beginning to become concerned about his friend as they hadn't heard anything in quite a few minutes. "Very well," the Gilbert man uttered as he finally came to a decision before he slowly stood up from his chair and told the worried woman, "I shall go too."_

 _Johnathan then looked around the table for a moment as he gave the founding families an assuring smile before he silently walked out of the dining room and made his way out onto the porch, where he quickly noticed Thomas looking around with the kitchen knife ready for attack. "I can prove there are no vampires," the Gilbert man called out to his friend as he knew there was no need to worry._

 _Thomas swiftly twirled around at the voice before he instantly relaxed when he saw the calm Gilbert man. He then took a couple of steps towards Johnathan, while he also kept a look out for any type of danger that surrounded the Gilbert estate, as he couldn't help but be curious to how Johnathan could prove that the vampires were really gone._

 _The Gilbert man gave his friend an excited grin as he loved his invention before he pulled out the pocket watch from the front of his grey slacks. Johnathan then flipped the watch open and showed Thomas the secret compass before he held it out into the chilly air. However, when the compass didn't tick like it should when a vampire was around, Johnathan looked back up at Thomas and exclaimed, "see? Nothing to worry about."_

 _Thomas Fell let out a small sigh of relief now that he knew for sure that there wasn't any vampires around and that the noise must have just been the wind. The two men then gave each other a small smile and went to walk back to the party inside of the Gilbert estate, but quickly stopped when they heard the arrow of the compass begin to spin at an unbelievably fast rate._

 _Johnathan quickly looked down at the vampire tracking device in confusion as everything was just fine a second ago. The Gilbert man then began to turn his body all around as he tried to figure out where the rouge vampire was located. However, though, when Johnathan looked back to his friend to tell him to warn the founding families, Johnathan saw Thomas was nowhere to be seen. "Thomas?" The Gilbert man cautiously called out into the chilly night, "Thomas?"_

 _Johnathan quickly walked off the white porch when he didn't get a response from his friend and began to search around the yard for Thomas. But when the Gilbert man heard a familiar swooshing from behind him, he quickly turned around before a loud gasp escaped his mouth when he saw Thomas' body lying on the ground._

 _"Thomas!" The crying Honoria shouted as soon as she rushed out onto the porch and immediately saw her husband's unmoving body lying there. Everyone inside of the Gilbert estate had heard something and she was the only one brave enough to check it out. But now, Honoria was regretting it as the sight she was witnessing scared her beyond belief._

 _"No, stay inside!" Johnathan quickly commanded as he pointed at the Fell woman, who was running towards him and Thomas, "get back inside!" The Gilbert man knew it wasn't save for Honoria, or even him, to be outside when there was a vampire on the loose._

 _However, before Honoria could even think about leaving her obvious hurt husband and follow Johnathan's orders, she was swiftly pushed against the Gilbert estate and felt all the pain in the world enter her body while she felt her warm blood oozing from her cold neck before her brown eyes slowly closed and she took her very last breath._

* * *

 **GILBERT CABIN**

"I knew I was about to die," the human Petrova doppelganger continued to read as she was so invested into her ancestor's side of what happened after the fire. "You can not run from a vampire," Emily uttered in a whisper as she read the words of Johnathan Gilbert, "I saw the vampire who killed me. I recognized him. It was Stefan Salvatore."

"Holy crap," Emily gasped in shock as she read the last line of one of the many Gilbert journals. The human girl couldn't believe that the vampire that killed a member of her family was none other than her extremely attractive boyfriend. "I definitely didn't see that coming," Emily mumbled as her mind kept reading over the last line in disbelief.

Meanwhile out on the dock by the chilly Durham lake, the aforementioned Salvatore vampire was currently skipping small little rocks that he had picked up from when he had walked around the large Gilbert property. Stefan just couldn't face the human girl just yet, so he had traveled around the cabin for hours until he finally found himself back at the spot where he and Emily made their promises of the future. It angered the Salvatore vampire so much that the human girl was giving up on him and everyone else that loves her. Stefan just didn't understand it.

The Salvatore vampire stood there in silence for a couple more minutes as he was lost in his thoughts of the sacrifice and what they were going to do now that they know that Elijah isn't going to protect Emily, before he was soon interrupted by his cell phone ringing in his jacket pocket. Stefan quickly fished his device out and saw it was his brother before he tiredly uttered, "hello."

"Well, I showered. I shaved," the older Salvatore immediately began to tell his brother as he walked around his bedroom in the boarding house. "Had breakfast," Damon continued with now a smirk on his face as he looked down at the sleeping Elena on his bed before he concluded, "I'm very relaxed."

Stefan huffed out a sigh as he instantly remembered the argument that he had with the human girl last night. "That makes one of us," the younger Salvatore mumbled as he turned his body away from the lake and moved his gaze onto Emily, who was reading her ancestor's journal, inside of the Gilbert cabin.

"I did hear one piece of good news, though," Damon told his brother as he stood in front of his full body mirror. The older Salvatore vampire then paused for a moment as he fixed his leather jacket before he finally continued with the good news, "Tyler Lockwood ran away from home last night."

Stefan instantly furrowed his brows as he didn't understand how his brother could already know that when Tyler barely caught a ride with the female werewolf last night when he had left the cabin after saying goodbye to the human girl. "How do you know that?" The green eyed vampire voiced his confusion as Stefan was curious how people in Mystic Falls had already heard the news.

"Well, I heard it from Sheriff Forbes, who heard it from a very distraught Carol Lockwood," the older Salvatore vampire began to explain sarcastically to his brother as he moved away from his mirror and moved over to the sleeping Gilbert. Damon then began to shake his girlfriend awake before he continued to speak to Stefan, "thus, ending our werewolf chapter, bringing us too..."

"... killing Elijah," the younger Salvatore vampire mumbled as he finished Damon's trailing sentence. Stefan ultimately knew this was how everything was going to come to an end. If Elijah couldn't keep Emily safe, then there was no other option but to just get rid of him and handle Klaus on their own.

Once the older Salvatore finally woke Elena from her slumber, Damon immediately smirked after he moved his attention onto the dagger and ash in his drawer that good ole John Gilbert had gave him. "Exactly," the blue eyed supernatural being told his brother as he tossed the weapon into the air as he just couldn't wait to finally use it on the original.

"Well, it's not going to be easy," Stefan commented as he stared down at the lake in front of him. "He's crafty," the younger Salvatore vampire added as he thought about all the tricks that they had already seen from the original.

"Well," Damon exclaimed as he copied the green eyed vampire before he challenged back with a proud smirk settled onto his lips as he uttered, "I've got a crafty little dagger." It was as if Damon wasn't scared or afraid of what the original would do to them as they finally found a way to kill Elijah after realizing a stake wouldn't do the job.

"He's an original," Stefan warned his brother as he knew Damon was already coming up with some type of dangerous plan. "We don't know what all that encompasses," the younger Salvatore vampire added as they didn't need anything to go wrong if they were actually going to get rid of Elijah for once and for all.

"Oh, trust me, Stefan," the blue eyed vampire told his brother as he placed the dagger back into its hiding spot in his bedside drawer along with the ashes. "I'm gonna dot all my t's," Damon told Stefan before he mumbled with an eye roll, "I don't want any surprises."

"Wow, Damon," the younger Salvatore muttered in disbelief at what his brother was telling him. "So, you're actually gonna be careful for once?" Stefan inquired as this was definitely not in Damon's forte. It was more his than his brother's.

"Yes, Stefan," the older Salvatore deadpanned in annoyance before he muttered sarcastically, "I've become you." Damon nodded his head at his girlfriend, who was finally out of his bed, as he silently told her that they needed to get going before he focused back onto his brother as he mumbled, "how tragic for the both of us." The blue eyed vampire then headed to the door of his bedroom as he told Stefan, "got to run. I've got a murder to plan. Busy day," before he swiftly ended the call.

Stefan couldn't help but roll his green eyes at his brother, who was too excited to actually kill an original as he slowly placed his cell phone into the front pocket of his jeans. The Salvatore vampire then sobered up as he let out a sigh once he turned his gaze onto the human girl inside of the cabin. Stefan knew he couldn't keep avoiding the human girl any longer, so he took deep breath before he slowly walked towards the cabin for the first time since their fight after he had found out the truth.

Meanwhile inside of the Gilbert cabin, the brunette girl was so engrossed into her ancestor's stories that she didn't even hear the Salvatore vampire enter until Emily heard the loud sound of the door being closed. Emily swiftly became on guard at the noise and reached for the stake that she had placed beside the couch before she instantly relaxed when she saw it was only Stefan.

Emily silently placed the wooden weapon back onto the floor before she straightened up her body on the couch and moved her gaze onto the quiet Salvatore vampire. The human girl didn't even know how she was suppose to approach Stefan when he had walked out on her last night. But Emily knew she had to be the first one to speak, so she silently placed the Gilbert journal onto her lap before she cautiously asked, "are you still pissed?" Even though Emily knew the answer already, she just needed to at least start a conversation with Stefan so she could help the vampire understand why she was doing this.

The Salvatore vampire slowly pulled off his brown leather jacket and hung it onto the hanger by the front door before a small scoff escaped his mouth at the human girl's question. Stefan knew he needed to try to not be angry at Emily and work this all out, but he just couldn't help but still be hurt by Emily's secret about her dying in the sacrifice. Finally, though, after a minute or so, Stefan got control of his anger before he mumbled out, "yes, I'm still mad."

"Well, every couple has disagreements," Emily muttered with a careless shrug of her shoulders as she tried to lighten the tense mood. The human girl hated this. She just wanted them to kiss and make up but Emily knew it wasn't going to be that easy by the serious look that Stefan was currently giving her.

Stefan shook his head in disbelief before he exclaimed loudly, "Emily, you've agreed to sacrifice yourself to Klaus." The Salvatore vampire then crossed his arms over his chest and took a small breather before he stated in a more calmer voice, "to say that we had a disagreement is the understatement of the century."

"You would know," Emily muttered as she gave Stefan a sarcastic smile before she held up her ancestor's journal and shook it to show the Salvatore vampire what she meant since Stefan was involved in some of the key parts that she had read so far that happened over a century ago.

The Salvatore vampire couldn't help but let a small grin reach his lips and let out a soft chuckle as he stared down at the spunky human girl. It didn't matter that he was still mad, Emily just had that effect on him. _It's probably the reason I haven't faced her until now,_ Stefan thought as he knew the human girl just had the ability to make all the bad things wash away.

Stefan silently move around the Gilbert cabin once he noticed Emily was focusing onto the journal in her lap before he took a seat down onto the couch beside the human girl. Once he was seated, the Salvatore vampire pulled Emily's legs over his lap to show that he was slowly losing his anger. Stefan then stared down at the silent human girl for a moment before he wondered as he looked at the journal, "so, what does Johnathan Gilbert have to say?"

Emily gave Stefan a small smile as she was glad that he was actually speaking normally with her. She then glanced down at the journal in her hands before she mumbled with a chuckle, "a lot." The human girl closed her ancestor's journal before she ran her fingers over the rough edges as she furthered her answer, "he wrote his whole life in these things." Emily handed Stefan the journal before she continued, "he kept so many secrets. He even kept stuff from the founding families." The human girl then gave Stefan a pointed look as she remembered what she had read earlier before she muttered, "stuff that you have never mentioned."

The Salvatore vampire silently grabbed the Gilbert journal from the human girl in confusion before he slowly began to look at the different pages. _Oh...that,_ Stefan thought as he read what he did to the Gilbert man after the Fell church was burned down on that day back in 1864. The green eyed vampire then quickly closed the journal as he never really liked reliving his past life before he explained to the human girl, "we were, uh... we were angry at the founding families for what they did to Katherine. We wanted revenge." Stefan placed the journal between him and Emily before he shook his head and continued, "I didn't know about Johnathan Gilbert's ring yet. I didn't know that he would...that he would survive."

Emily quietly nodded her head as she listened to the Salvatore vampire's recollection of what happened during the nineteenth century. It made sense that Stefan didn't know about the ring since Johnathan's journals continued after that, Emily realized, along with the fact that her ancestor kept speaking about the younger Salvatore after his short death.

The human girl glanced back up at Stefan after she absorbed the information before she mumbled, "he definitely didn't like you." Emily shook her head as it was hard for her to read about how her ancestor talked badly about Stefan. "He talked about you like you were the scum of the Earth, like a monster," the brunette girl explained, "it was like he was describing Lucifer."

"Well, that's what I was, Emily," the Salvatore vampire mumbled as he glanced down at his fingers that were resting against the human girl's leg. Stefan then looked back at Emily after a moment of silence settled between them and stared deeply into her green eyes. "I want you to know the truth," the Salvatore vampire told the human girl as he grabbed ahold of her hand and squeezed it, "but I want you to hear it from me."

Stefan brought Emily's hand up to his lips and laid a soft kiss on her warm skin before he rested their hands onto the couch. The Salvatore vampire then took a deep breath as he readied himself about what he was about to tell the human girl. "In the weeks after I became a vampire," Stefan began as he rubbed his fingers across Emily's hand, "I relished in it. I took it to the darkest place I could," before Stefan was instantly pulled into one of his least favorite memories as a vampire.

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE 1864**

 _In the dark living room of the old Salvatore estate was a small 'party' as soft music from the black grand piano was being played as if it was a romantic setting. But, in reality, it was what nightmares are made of. The newly turned Stefan Salvatore was currently resting against his dead father's white couch with one of the founding families' wives next to him as he drank every single drop of her delicious blood._

 _Once the woman had died in his arms, Stefan pushed her to the side without a care in the world before his hungry gaze immediately targeted the two woman that were dancing beside the grand piano and also on the woman who was playing the musical instrument. "Who wants to die next?" Stefan questioned as he slowly stood up from the bloody couch._

 _"Me, I'm next!" The young brunette woman in the thin dark blue dress exclaimed as she quickly walked over to the hungry vampire with happiness shining throughout her eyes like she was excited to be murdered - thanks to the compulsion Stefan had done earlier that night._

 _"No, me!" The other woman with the blonde curly hair and the white and pink dress exclaimed before she pushed the brunette woman away from the hungry vampire. "You promised me," the blonde woman pouted._

 _The Salvatore vampire chuckled at his two eager meals as he began to caress their warm skin and smelled in their heavenly scent. However, before Stefan could choose which one he wanted, he spotted the woman by the piano. "What about you?" Stefan called out as he walked up to the musical piece. "You know, if you don't pick up the tempo," the brunette vampire began softly before he playfully snarled as he grabbed the woman's face, "you're going to lose your head. Snap. Snap."_

 _The piano player was too wrapped into the vampire's compulsion, so she didn't see it as a threat. She only let out a giggle before her fingers pushed down onto the musical keys at a faster rate - which instantly pleased Stefan. The aforementioned Salvatore then swiftly vamp sped over to the brunette woman and began to dance with her before he hungrily shoved his fangs into her neck._

 _While Stefan was getting his fix off of his drug of blood, the oldest Salvatore; Damon, finally made his way into the room once he had arrived back at his home from his own midnight snack. The blue eyed vampire glanced around for a moment and noticed the dead woman before he turned his gaze onto the feeding Stefan. "Company, brother?" Damon called out as he alerted his fellow vampire to his arrival._

 _The younger Salvatore let out a growl when he was forced to stop feeding by his brother's voice. Stefan then released the happy and bloody woman as he gave Damon a bright grin. "I brought enough to share," Stefan exclaimed before he pushed the used brunette woman into his brother's arms._

 _"Are you mad bringing them here when the entire town is hunting us?" Damon shouted as he steadied the young woman that his brother had tossed to him while also keeping her at arms reach as she was trying to rub her fresh blood onto him. Damon definitely didn't need that when he was still trying to control his urges._

 _Stefan rolled his eyes at Damon before he slowly walked towards his brother as he told him, "Damon, if you're worried about the founding families, please don't." The Salvatore covered in blood gave his brother a smirk as he added, "they're all dead or about to be." Stefan then turned back to the blonde woman he was about to drink from as he made his point as the woman was apart of one of the founding families. The blonde aforementioned woman smiled excitedly at the bloody Salvatore vampire as she couldn't wait to die, which made Stefan happy as he swiftly vamp sped towards her and crunched his fangs into the human woman's neck._

 _Meanwhile, the older and wiser Salvatore grabbed the brunette woman's face while his brother was busy and couldn't stop him. Damon then connected his blue eyes with the human woman's green ones before he quickly compelled her with his newly found supernatural abilities, "leave this place. Never think of it again."_

 _Once Damon saw the brunette woman walk to the entrance of the room, he swiftly pushed his brother off of the blonde woman and exclaimed, "same for you." The older Salvatore then grabbed the blonde's face like he did with the last one and compelled her, "leave this place. Never think of it again."_

 _The younger and hungry Salvatore growled when all of his meals began to walk out of their father's estate. "Damon, don't be like this," Stefan whined as he was just beginning to have fun. He only had the chance to kill one of the founding families' wives. Stefan then took a step closer to his brother as he exclaimed stubbornly, "I'm just having some fun."_

 _"Staying alive is more fun, Stefan!" The older Salvatore immediately exclaimed back. Damon then glanced around the room at all of the blood and mess that was surrounding them before he faced his brother again and told him, "we have to be more careful than this. More clever." The blued vampire paused for a moment as it pained him to talk about her before he whispered, "like Katherine was."_

 _Stefan chuckled humorlessly when his brother mentioned 'her.' If Damon was trying to convince him to stop being reckless, that was certainly the last thing he should of brought up. Katherine was nowhere to be seen. She was dead. She left them all alone when they needed her. "Look what that got her," Stefan growled as he still held something for the woman that got killed in the fire a few weeks ago when they tried to save her._

 _Damon's blue eyes instantly was soaked with unshed tears at the way his brother was speaking about the woman that they both love. The older Salvatore shook his head and mumbled, "I'm done here." Damon looked directly at his brother as he told him, "without you. I'm leaving town," before he shoulder checked Stefan as he walked passed him. Damon just couldn't handle his brother any longer. He was just causing too much destruction, and it would lead to their death._

 _The younger Salvatore didn't like the idea of not having his brother by his side, so Stefan swiftly vamp sped in front of Damon and tightly grabbed ahold of his shoulders. "You hate me," Stefan stated erratically, "I know. I know." The bloody vampire looked into his brother's eyes as he mumbled on at a fast rate, "an eternity of misery and on and on. I know, but you don't have to leave town." Stefan then quickly shook his head as he promised to convince his brother to stay in Mystic Falls, "Damon, I'll do better. I promise."_

 _"No," Damon strongly exclaimed as he was not going to fall for his brother's games any longer. "You will get us killed," the blue eyed vampire exclaimed as he pushed Stefan's hands off of him. Damon then looked at his brother in disgust as he mumbled, "I'd rather leave you to do that to yourself," before he swiftly left the upset Stefan behind as he walked out of the Salvatore boarding house for the last time._

* * *

 **GILBERT CABIN**

"I wasn't myself then," Stefan uttered as he stared across at the human girl after he had described what he was like once he turned into a vampire. "I was full of guilt," the green eyed Salvatore voiced his emotions, "what I did to my father, to my brother. I had to turn it off. It was the only way I could survive."

Emily silently nodded her head as she tried to absorb the type of person that Stefan used to be - which was completely different from who he is now. The human girl then shook her head after a moment of silence before she mumbled in disbelief, "Johnathan was right. You were like Lucifer."

Stefan chuckled humorlessly as he briefly closed his green eyes before he looked directly at the human girl. "I was worse," the Salvatore vampire mumbled truthfully. Stefan wanted Emily to know everything so he knew he couldn't stop now - like he wanted. He just had to keep on going no matter how hard it is for him to tell the girl he loves about the things he is most ashamed of.

The Gilbert cabin's living room was silent for a couple of minutes as Stefan tried to gain the courage to continue his story as he aimlessly played with the human girl's fingers which instantly kept him calm. The Salvatore vampire then took another deep breath after another minute passed before he finally spoke more about what he was like back in the day, "for weeks I kept spiraling. I was completely driven by the desire for blood. Hunt, prey, kill. That was all I knew."

Emily furrowed her brows once Stefan finished talking as she thought someone should of realized that people were dropping like flies since it was the nineteenth century. "Were you compelling people to not notice you?" The human girl wondered as it had to be hard for an emotionless vampire to cover their messes when they don't have a care in the world.

"Hmm," Stefan mumbled as he shook his head before he uttered, "no quite." The Salvatore vampire softly ran his fingers across the human girl thigh as he explained how he was never caught, "there was a war going on. The thing about wartime, endless, anonymous blood supply," before Stefan was swiftly pulled into his memories.

* * *

 **WOODS 1864**

 _In the middle of the small town of Mystic Falls was the thick woods that held the most terrifying parts of the Civil War. However, though, it was an absolute paradise for any hungry vampire that was looking for a snack or two as there was bleeding soldiers settled in all of the nursing tents with all different kinds of injuries from the fierce war._

 _The emotionless Stefan Salvatore looked like any other person around the woods; someone that was helping the ill men that was fighting for them. However, in reality, the hungry vampire was currently drinking the last of the soldier's frightened blood as the brave man's soul slowly left his body._

 _Once the soldier was on the floor; dry of blood, the hungry vampire swiftly looked up from his crouched position for his next victim. Stefan then immediately noticed a woman across the way with a dark hood feeding soup to an injured man. The Salvatore vampire watched the woman for a moment but when he noticed that she was heading towards the woods, Stefan realized that this woman was definitely his next meal._

 _The Salvatore vampire kept his head down that was still vamped out with blood dripping from every crevice of his face while he also stayed at least seven steps away from the woman so she wouldn't notice him following her. However, though, when Stefan realized the woman wasn't walking anymore, he quickly vamp sped behind a thick tree. The Salvatore vampire then sped around the woman to frighten her when she began to glance around before he couldn't control his blood lust any longer as he swiftly jumped through the air to attack her._

 _There was just one thing that Stefan didn't think of. He didn't think that this innocent and helping woman could in fact be a vampire. And that was exactly what happened as the woman swiftly grabbed ahold of Stefan's neck before he could land on her. She then slammed the young vampire down onto the hard ground with her own vamped out face._

 _The blonde vampire's face slowly turned back to her human form once she realized it wasn't a soldier that was trying to take advantage of her. No, it was just another vampire. The woman then looked at the young supernatural being in annoyance before she snarled humorously at the vampire who thought she was human, "what kind of an idiot are you?"_

* * *

 **GILBERT CABIN**

"Alexia Branson," the Salvatore vampire mumbled out the name of the person that had caught him trying to feed off of her - who he didn't even realize was a vampire during the Civil War. Stefan then glanced over at the human girl and noticed her confused expression before he added to help her understand who he was talking about, "well, that's what she was known by back then."

Emily's green eyes instantly widened as she began to piece everything together. "Y-You mean Lexi?" The brunette girl questioned the Salvatore vampire. Once Emily saw Stefan silently nod his head, she couldn't help but let a small comment of humor escape her mouth as she continued to ask Stefan with a small smirk shining on her lips, "you mean my best friend? Your replacement?"

The Salvatore vampire shook his head at the human girl with a soft chuckle. It automatically made Stefan think back to his birthday at the Grill when two of his favorite people in the world instantly connected with each other. It was one of Stefan's favorite memories when he had just watched Lexi and Emily talk like best friends. Well... until later that night when everything went horribly wrong.

Stefan swiftly cleared his throat when he began to think about that dreadful moment of losing his closest friend. The Salvatore vampire then gave Emily a small smile once he felt calm before he began to explain how he met Lexi, "she heard Mystic Falls was a good place for vampires, but she had no idea that they'd all been massacred." Stefan squeezed the human girl's hand as he was slowly pulled into another memory while he uttered, "she ended up needing a place to crash, so I brought her home with me."

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE 1864**

 _It was around five in the morning when Stefan Salvatore had made his way through the thick woods of all of the injured soldiers and the healing volunteers, doctors, and nurses before he finally walked through the front door of his deceased father's estate with the cautious Alexia Branson following closely behind._

 _"I'd say it isn't necessary to take me in," Alexia began as she stepped over the threshold of the large boarding house. The blonde vampire then gave the younger supernatural being a pointed look as she deadpanned, "but you did try to eat me," before she mumbled as she knew it wasn't safe for her to be outside, "and well, with dawn coming, beggars can't be choosers."_

 _However, though, when Alexia slowly walked into the entrance way of the living room, she immediately had a different answer after what she saw. The Branson vampire looked around the large opened space and noticed at least four dead humans strolled across the room with dry blood gathered down their necks and dresses. Alexia shook her head as she looked at all of the carnage before she mumbled, "or should they be?"_

 _"I, um," the Salvatore vampire hurriedly began to mumble as he rubbed his bloody fingers through his sticky and messy brown hair once he realized what the blonde was looking at; the dead bodies that scattered the living room. "Uh, I meant to dispose of those," Stefan finally explained awkwardly as he knew there was no way for him to lie when the evidence was laid out in front of them._

 _"My God," Alexia mumbled as she took a closer look at the dead bodies and noticed that there was no self control or compassion by the vampire that had done this - which was the vampire to her left. The blonde supernatural being turned her gaze up to the vampire beside her as she uttered with realization, "you're a ripper."_

 _Stefan looked down at the short blonde vampire that he had barely met in confusion as he didn't understand what she was talking about. Was that something that Katherine never told him about, Stefan thought. "What is that?" The Salvatore vampire voiced his misunderstanding of the term as he knew he was never going to be able to guess what it is._

 _"There are good parts of being a vampire and there are bad parts," Alexia explained to the obviously new vampire. The blonde turned her eyes back onto the scene of destruction of all of the dead bodies in the Salvatore estate and mumbled, "you're the bad parts." Alexia then let out a sigh as she knew what she needed to do. She couldn't help but be a sucker for the lost souls, so she looked back up at the emotionless vampire as she uttered confidently, "well... we're going to have to change that."_

* * *

 **GILBERT CABIN**

The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but let out a shaky breath after she heard the story of how Stefan and Lexi officially met. It just made Emily miss the vampire, that she had barely known for one day, even more. Lexi was just so different from the people the human girl had experienced. Emily had known the blonde vampire was a good one but she didn't know that she was the type to help an emotionless vampire, like Stefan, just out of the goodness of her heart.

Emily swiftly glanced over to the Salvatore vampire when she felt Stefan's grip tighten against her hand before she saw that he wasn't staring at anything in particular. "Hey," the human girl softy whispered as she used her free hand to push back Stefan's brown hair. Once Emily saw her favorite pair of green eyes with a tint of sadness looking at her, the human girl gently asked, "you doing okay?"

Stefan silently nodded his head as he looked down at the concerned Gilbert girl. "Yeah," the Salvatore vampire mumbled as he released Emily's hand and began to trail his point finger up and down her warm arm. "It's just talking about her brings up things that I'd rather forget," Stefan explained in another small mumble.

"I know," Emily uttered as she squeezed Stefan's other arm that wasn't moving up her limb with her unoccupied hand as she knew exactly what Stefan was talking about. It was beginning to play in her mind as well; the night that the oldest Salvatore killed Lexi just so the council would get off his back. Emily hated that night. It was the night Emily had made a promise to Lexi about them all going to a Bon Jovi concert. It was the night that she had made a new best friend. But sadly, that was all taken away.

The human girl quickly shook her feelings away as she knew the Salvatore vampire was feeling the pain so much more than her. She only knew Lexi for less than a day while Stefan knew her just about his whole vampire life. So instead of staying silent and lost in her thoughts, Emily grabbed ahold of Stefan's hands and slowly pulled his body over hers.

"Just relax," the human girl whispered to the confused vampire. Emily then slid her body further up onto the couch so Stefan's head was lying on her chest before she slowly began to rub the vampire's back to offer him some much needed comfort. Even though Stefan didn't openly ask to be coddled, Emily knew he needed it after talking about his deceased best friend.

"Thank you," the Salvatore vampire whispered after a moment of calm and tranquility silence had settled between them while he had just listened to the human girl's steady heart beat. Stefan then lifted his head up from Emily's chest and stared into her green eyes and uttered softly, "I love you," before he brought his lips down to Emily's for a short but sweet kiss.

Emily gave the Salvatore vampire a small smile before she stated, "it's my pleasure." The human girl then leaned her head onto the arm of the couch before she wrapped her arms around Stefan's back and tangled her legs with the vampire's. "I love you too," Emily whispered after a few minutes had passed by with them embracing each other before her green eyes slowly fell closed as sleep took ahold of Emily with the love of her life in her arms.


	53. The One With The Dagger

The human Petrova doppelganger and the Salvatore vampire duo had laid and napped on the comfortable couch in the Gilbert cabin for about five and a half hours before Emily found herself sitting out on the dock with, of course, Johnathan Gilbert's journals surrounding her. The brunette girl had decided to let Stefan continue to sleep when she had slipped from underneath his body as Emily knew he had a lot on his mind. _Stefan deserves as much rest as he can get after what I put him through these last twenty-four hours,_ the human girl thought as she watched the sun slowly disappear for the day while her fingers held onto the opened Gilbert journal.

Once Emily's neck began to hurt from staring up at the orange pinkish sky, the human girl looked back down at one of her ancestor's journals while the others sat inside of a box beside her. Emily had gone through three full books of Johnathan Gilbert's life since she had found them. The one she was currently reading, Emily realized, was way before the Fell's church even burned down.

The journal had started with Johnathan Gilbert turning eighteen and his father telling him about the vampires. It talked about his life while he was growing older over the years which showed how he began to hate vampires - thanks to the close relationship that he had with Giuseppe Salvatore.

Emily immediately rolled her green eyes when the rest of the journal that she was reading was all about Johnathan's love for Pearl. _I definitely don't miss that woman,_ the Gilbert girl thought with distaste as she remembered the vampire, who had been stuck in the tomb for over a century, before Emily's blood was used to bring her back to life.

A shiver instantly ran down Emily's spine as she recalled that day which was definitely not one of her favorites as being bitten by a vampire that she didn't even like left a bad taste in her mouth. The human girl then swiftly shook her head as she tossed the journal back into the box as she wanted to wash the memories away before she grabbed another journal.

 _This one is more interesting,_ Emily thought as she began to flip through the pages of a journal that she hadn't read before. This one talked about a lot of the different devices that Johnathan Gilbert had made and seen which had to deal with controlling or torturing vampires like the Gilbert compass. _That doesn't look fun,_ Emily thought as she stared at a drawing of a nuzzle looking thing before she quickly turned the page.

Emily immediately furrowed her brows as she looked at the next couple of pages which were just rants that barely made sense. It was like Johnathan Gilbert was fighting with himself, Emily realized as she noticed there was a lot of writing marked out and a lot of letters written over each other like he was angry.

"Hey," the soft and deep voice of the Salvatore vampire called out to the human girl just as she was turning the page on Johnathan Gilbert's ranting. Stefan gave Emily a small smile as he took a seat beside her on the edge of the dock before he leaned his head onto the short girl's while he breathed in her sweet scent. "Why did you let me sleep so long?" The Salvatore vampire mumbled tiredly after he laid a kiss onto Emily's bare shoulder once he had slid the blanket away.

Emily couldn't help but giggle at the tickling sensation on her skin before she pushed the warm blanket back over her shivering shoulder while she looked up at the Salvatore vampire with her usual smile. "You needed to rest," the human girl mumbled after she leaned up and placed a gentle kiss onto Stefan's lips before she turned her attention back onto her ancestor's journal.

"Hmm," Stefan hummed against Emily's bare collarbone before he glanced down to her lap and noticed the familiar book that she had been reading since yesterday. "What does Johnathan Gilbert have to say now?" The Salvatore vampire wondered as he clingingly wrapped his arms around the human girl's waist.

Emily flipped through a couple of pages as she tried to find a part where Johnathan wasn't ranting to himself. "He was definitely crazy," the human girl mumbled as she flipped through at least fifteen pages of her ancestor arguing with himself. "Ooh, this is interesting," Emily exclaimed once she got to Johnathan's normal and calm writing and noticed the title of the folded page that separated the different topics. "He has some information about the originals," Emily told the curious Salvatore.

Stefan's green eyes widened in surprise as he mumbled in disbelief, "you're kidding." The Salvatore vampire found it shocking that Johnathan Gilbert knew about the originals as that would mean his father also knew about them since the Gilbert man was always like his father's protege.

"Nope," Emily uttered as she slowly began to flip through the pages that her ancestor dedicated to the originals. "It looks like he didn't know much," the human girl mumbled as she noticed there was a lot of questions written down like Johnathan never found the answers he wanted. However, though, when Emily turned the page, she noticed a large drawing of a weapon. The Gilbert girl looked at the page in confusion before she wondered out loud, "what is that?"

Emily glanced over to the Salvatore vampire when she didn't get a response and noticed that a serious expression was frozen onto Stefan's face. It immediately made the human girl even more confused as she thought, _did he know what it is?_ But when Stefan wouldn't answer her, Emily decided to get her own answers as she began to read about the weapon, "the wood from one tree and one tree alone, an ancient white oak would bring death to an original vampire. When the tree burned, all hope was lost."

The human girl furrowed her brows as she realized Johnathan had came into contact with an original if he knew about them. But not only that, her ancestor had figured out a way to actually kill an original with a weapon. It shocked Emily so much because Rose had always described the originals like they are this indestructible force.

Emily quickly shook her head after a moment as it was all making her even more confused. Instead, the human girl just continued to read what her ancestor wrote, "but the ash from the tree was saved and witches forged a dagger to which the ash could be bonded. This alchemic bond provides the necessary poison."

"Emily..." The Salvatore vampire cautiously called out to the human girl as he slowly stood up from his spot on the dock. Stefan was concerned how Emily was going to react when he tells her the truth as the brunette girl has this close relationship with the original.

"This is crazy," Emily mumbled as she didn't even hear the Salvatore vampire stand up or speak to her. The human girl just kept her green eyes glued to the words of her ancestor as she couldn't believe there could be a weapon to do such a thing. Emily didn't know what it was, probably the doppelganger connection, but it pained her at the idea of this dagger killing Elijah. It was like it was physically hurting her for some reason - which Emily ignored. Instead, she glanced up at the now standing Stefan as she wondered curiously, "do you think this thing actually exists or was it just another one of Johnathan's crazy ramblings?"

Stefan let out a small sigh as he crossed his arms over his thin black jacket while he stared down at the human girl. "I know it does," the Salvatore vampire finally confessed as he knew he had to tell Emily the truth about what is going on in Mystic Falls, "John gave it to Damon and Elena."

The human girl's green eyes instantly widened in shock as her own sister knew about this weapon that would kill the original - who was trying to keep them all safe. "You got to be joking me," Emily mumbled to herself in anger before she swiftly stood up from the dock with the Gilbert journal squeezed into her fist. Emily just couldn't believe this. All she ever wanted was to keep everyone alive and safe and this is what they do?

The Gilbert girl couldn't even look at Stefan right now as she was blinded by anger, so she swiftly stormed her way down the long dock as she continued to read about the dagger that they apparently have. However, though, Emily quickly came to a stop when something caught her attention in the journal. "Wait," the human girl mumbled as she swiftly turned around and faced Stefan before she asked, "are you sure John gave them this dagger?"

Stefan vamp sped in front of the human girl and took a closer look at the weapon that Johnathan Gilbert had drew before he silently nodded his head. It looked exactly like the one Damon had showed him while Emily had her girls' night with her twin sister and best friends.

"No, no, no," Emily hurriedly mumbled as she looked up at Stefan with her green eyes widened. "T-They can't do that!" The Gilbert girl cried out before she quickly began to read out loud what she found, "it must be brandished by humans alone, for it will bring death to all demons who wield it."

The Salvatore vampire quickly grabbed the journal from the human girl's hand so he could read it for himself. However, when Stefan saw that Emily wasn't just saying that so they wouldn't kill Elijah, he swiftly pulled his cell phone from the front pocket of his jeans as he told Emily, "John's trying to get Damon killed."

"This can't be happening," Emily mumbled as she also grabbed her cell phone that was inside of her mother's sweatpants and quickly dialed her twin sister's number. John gave the weapon to Damon to kill him, but there was a chance Elena could also try to use it, Emily realized which made her extremely worried. "Elena! Answer your damn phone!" The human girl snapped when she only got her sister's voicemail.

The Gilbert girl growled as she ran her fingers through her brown hair when her twin sister didn't pick up and apparently neither did Damon by the looks of the nervous Stefan. "I can't believe you guys are trying to kill him!" Emily snapped once she placed her cell phone back into her pocket. It wasn't just because of her stupid doppelganger connection either. Yeah, Emily hated the idea of Elijah dying as she feels connected to him because of Darina, but also because she went through all this trouble of making a deal with the original to make sure her friends and family are safe from Klaus. But here they were, messing it all up!

"Emily, we need to talk about this," Stefan hurriedly uttered as he vamp sped in front of the angry human girl, who was stomping her way back into the Gilbert cabin. The Salvatore vampire placed his hands onto Emily's shoulders to stop her from moving before he told her, "we are just trying to protect you."

"How?" Emily snapped as she took a step away from the Salvatore vampire, "by everyone lying to me? By killing the one person that can keep you safe from also dying?" The Gilbert girl chuckled humorlessly before she mumbled, "you just don't get it. All this is to protect you and everyone I love! Elijah promised and you guys are just ruining it!"

"Elijah can't be trusted, Emily!" The Salvatore vampire yelled back as he hated how the human girl would always find a way to defend or talk good about the original, "I know you feel like he is God's gift to Earth, but he's not!"

"Well, I trust him," Emily mumbled as she couldn't help the way she feels towards the original. It was like it is embedded into her mind that Elijah would never hurt her or lie to her. "I made a deal with him; not you or anyone else," Emily uttered in a calmer voice, "you just need to accept that. It's my life and I decided that I would rather go out this way than let everyone I love die with me."

"Yes, exactly!" Stefan exclaimed angrily as he couldn't control his emotions towards the human girl, who was willing to die like this. "It's your life and I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure that you live it!" The Salvatore vampire added emotionally as he was not going to stop fighting for her.

"Is this what you wanted?" Emily mumbled as she slowly shook her head. "Did you want me to feel guilty for protecting the people I love?" The Gilbert girl interrogated as she swiftly wiped a loose tear from her green eyes. "Is that why you told me about your struggles?" Emily continued to ask before she patted her chest as she yelled out, "what do you want from me, Stefan?"

The Salvatore vampire took a deep breath as he tried to get control of himself now that the human girl was crying. Stefan then let out a heavy sigh as he began to take a step closer to Emily before he uttered in a soft tone, "I was telling you about a time when I thought everything was lost. When I had given up because that is exactly what you're doing right now."

Emily immediately let out a heavy groan before she shouted as she didn't know how many more times she has to repeat herself, "I'm not giving up!" The human girl shook her head and exclaimed, "just because I'm not being selfish doesn't mean I'm not fighting!" Emily then poked Stefan's hard chest as she cried out, "everyday I fight! I fight for my family that I have left, I fight for my friends, I fight for you and even Damon!" The Gilbert girl closed her eyes briefly before she whispered, "I won't be selfish and let everyone die because I'm the human doppelganger."

Stefan looked at the human girl with sadness in his eyes before he grabbed ahold of her face and shook her until Emily was staring up at him. "You shouldn't have to carry the world on your shoulders," the Salvatore vampire whispered before he exclaimed with a serious expression, "I'm not letting you do this. You are not allowed to give up." Stefan then stared into Emily's teary green eyes for a moment before he whispered as he was pulled into another memory of his past, "Lexi didn't let me give up, so neither am I."

* * *

 **WOODS 1864**

 _Stefan Salvatore found himself in the same place that he usually would be in when he wanted a quick meal; the woods that are covered with all the injured soldiers with opened wounds. But this time, the young vampire wasn't allowed to take a snack or two like he wanted. This was instead a teaching moment by the blonde vampire, who thought she could help Stefan with his ripper self._

 _"All these men are dead or dying," Alexia Branson uttered in a soft voice as she walked Stefan through the different tents with all the fresh and exposed blood. The blonde vampire glanced up at the twitching Salvatore as she asked him, "what does that make you feel?"_

 _"Nothing," Stefan mumbled as he crossed his arms over his black coat while he tried to control the hunger of wanting to kill everyone in sight. "I feel nothing," the Salvatore vampire told Alexia while he anxiously glanced around him as he was itching for all the blood that he could smell._

 _"Because you shut out the part of you that was human," Alexia explained as she tapped the young ripper on his arm so he would focus on her voice instead of all the dying humans. "The part that lets you feel," the blonde vampire continued as she told Stefan what happened when he became an emotionless vampire._

 _"Is that not the point?" Stefan questioned in annoyance as he didn't see the reason for all of this teaching Alexia was doing. He didn't care about any of it. He was a vampire, so why not let him do what he is best at - by killing humans and feeding off of them._

 _Alexia nodded her head once before she quickly uttered so the ripper wouldn't get any ideas, "well, there is a better way." The blonde vampire gave Stefan a small smile before she told him, "you simply have to want it."_

 _The Salvatore vampire stayed silent for a moment as he tried to not breath in the heavenly scent of the fresh blood. Stefan then glanced back over to Alexia once they had began to walk through the clearly in the woods as he curiously wondered, "is it better?"_

 _"Not at first," Alexia honestly told the young ripper. The blonde vampire then shook her head before she explained how this all was going to go down, "you can't choose what you feel. You have to let it all back in. The pain and the look in their eyes when you took their life. The cries of their loved ones."_

 _Stefan looked at the blonde vampire like she was completely insane as he didn't want to feel any of that. That feeling of pain and sadness was the reason he turned it off to begin with. He was a vampire, so none of that was necessary anymore. The Salvatore vampire then turned his body fully towards Alexia once she stopped walking before he voiced his confusion, "why would I want to do that?"_

 _"Because once you can hurt, you can love," Alexia exclaimed strongly as she tried to get the blood hungry ripper to understand what she is saying. "Love, Stefan," the blonde vampire uttered with a bright smile shining across her pink lips before she continued, "that's the point." Alexia then glanced around them when she heard voices before she whispered, "everything is intensified when you're a vampire. When we hurt, we really hurt." She paused as she let the information sink into Stefan before she trailed off with another happy smile, "but when we love..."_

* * *

 **GILBERT CABIN**

"Lexi showed me that there was another way," the Salvatore vampire spoke softly as he rubbed the side of the silent human girl's face after he had continued the story that he began yesterday about when Lexi had helped him out his emotionless state. "And from that day forward," Stefan explained, "I started fighting for it." The brunette vampire then gave Emily a pointed look as he uttered the last part of his sentence, "for my own survival."

The Salvatore vampire gave Emily a sad smile as he let his hands release her face before they slowly slid down to the human girl's shoulders until he reached her unoccupied hand. Stefan then squeezed Emily's hand in his before he told her, "I know you think you can't be selfish to keep yourself alive. But you can."

Stefan leaned down and placed a soft kiss onto the human girl's forehead before he stared back into her green eyes. "That's all I want you to do," the Salvatore vampire uttered, "I just want you to fight for it. I want you to fight for yourself because I can promise you this; there will not be a second when I won't fight for you."

Once the Salvatore vampire silently walked back into the Gilbert cabin, the human girl instantly released a shaky breath. Emily just didn't know what to say to Stefan. It didn't matter what she said, it was always going to come back to her protecting everyone she loves and them fighting for her. They were never going to come to an agreement. She was willing to sacrifice herself for them while they weren't going to let that happen.

Emily shook her head with a sigh as she didn't know what she was suppose to do. So instead of continuing to overthink it all, the human girl turned around and made her way back to the edge of the wooden dock before she sat in front of the dark water. _At least you won't fight with me,_ Emily thought as she stared at the lake before she rolled her green eyes when she realized she was mentally talking to water.

"I'm officially turning into Johnathan Gilbert," the human girl mumbled as she felt like she was going crazy. "Might as well keep it up," Emily mumbled to herself, once more, as she opened up the journal that she had been holding. _Ranting, ranting, ranting,_ the brunette girl listed off as she flipped through the pages that her ancestor had about trying to get rid of the originals.

"Holy crap," Emily whispered after a moment of reading some actually useful information from her crazy relative. The Gilbert girl then quickly stood up from the dock as she knew she had to tell Stefan about what she found out.

However, though, Emily stopped walking as she had decided to read the end of the paragraph before a small smirk lifted up onto her face. _Thank you, Johnathan,_ the human girl thought as she realized Elijah wouldn't stay dead. That really calmed her anger with knowing that her family and friends are trying to kill the original. _Stupid doppelganger connection,_ Emily thought as she made her way into the Gilbert cabin to find Stefan as she hated the way she always feels about Elijah.

It just wasn't like her to feel something like that after meeting someone one time. Emily swore after she was kidnapped by Rose and Trevor, she instantly felt connected to the original when he had spoke to her. It annoyed Emily so badly as she didn't understand and Elijah never gives her an answer to the stupid connection when she asks. He just says that they'll talk about it another time.

"Hey," Stefan whispered as he interrupted the human girl's inner turmoil about her doppelganger connection - which Emily didn't even notice that she was already inside of the cabin. The Salvatore vampire then walked up to the human girl and grabbed her unoccupied hand that wasn't holding the Gilbert journal before he uttered softly, "Elijah's dead. Alaric did it."

Emily's green eyes immediately widened as she remembered why she even came into the cabin in the first place. "We might have a problem," the human girl mumbled out as she stared up at Stefan. The doppelganger then brought the journal up to face and began to read, "as long as the dagger stays in place, the original, for all intents and purposes, is dead." Emily shook her head as she looked up and muttered, "I don't know if Ric left it in or not but I thought you should know."

The Salvatore vampire didn't even dare questioning the Gilbert journal after the human girl had read Johnathan's words. Stefan instead swiftly pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, once again, and hurriedly dialed his brother's number in worry as he knew they did, in fact, pull the dagger out of the original.

"Damon," the younger Salvatore quickly uttered as he began to pace around the living room of the Gilbert cabin, "you and Elena need to get here now." Stefan shot the abnormally silent human girl a quick glance before he told his brother, "it didn't work. The dagger has to stay inside of the original." The vampire then silently nodded his head as he listened to Damon telling him that he and Elena were on their way with the dagger before he swiftly hung up.

Once he placed his cell phone back into his pocket, Stefan instantly vamp sped in front of Emily before he promised, "they'll be here soon with the weapon." The Salvatore vampire then placed a soft kiss onto the human girl's forehead before he told her, "Elijah is probably already on his way over, but everything is going to be okay."

Emily shook her head and muttered, "it's not." The human girl then looked up at Stefan as she explained, "he's going to be royally pissed that you guys tried to kill him." Emily bit down on her bottom lip for a moment as she thought of a plan before she cautiously told Stefan, "I know what I have to do, though."

There was only one thing Emily could do to keep everyone safe like she had originally planned. But the human girl knew Stefan wasn't going to be happy about it. Well, at least not if her sister and Damon don't arrive in time. Emily just prayed that they would show up at the right time for this to go well.

The Salvatore vampire looked down at the human girl with his brows furrowed in confusion before he began to ask as he didn't understand, "what do yo-"

However, before Stefan could finish asking Emily about what she was going to do, they were soon interrupted when the front door was thrown open by the original and four small pebbles. The Gilbert girl then swiftly grabbed ahold of Stefan's face before he could speak and commanded, "you have to promise me that you will not step in. I have to do this. You gotta trust me."

"Emily..." The Salvatore vampire trailed off as he had no clue what the human girl was about to do. However, Stefan did knew one thing for certain. He knew, no matter what, he was not going to allow the original vampire to harm the love of his life.

"He can't come in the cabin, remember," Emily quickly told the Salvatore vampire as she knew the original was going to start to get impatient. The Gilbert girl then gave Stefan an assuring smile as she nodded her head and stated, "I'll be okay." _I hope,_ Emily mentally thought a second later as she prayed her plan was going to work. Emily didn't want to dagger Elijah, but she knew that it just needed to be done - for now, anyway.

"You know," the annoyed and angry original began as he tapped his point finger against the side of the wooden cabin, "I might not be able to enter this house... but I'm a very patient man." Elijah then gave the couple a sarcastic smile as he added, "I'll wait you out."

Emily gave the Salvatore vampire a quick kiss while she also patted her sweatpants as she made sure that she still had the stake from when Brady had attacked her while Stefan was distracted by her sweet action. The human girl knew if Stefan found out that she had a weapon on her and was going to use it then he would definitely try to protect her from the original on his own instead of following with her secret plan.

Once Emily was sure that Stefan wouldn't do anything reckless, she took a deep breath before she slowly walked towards the entrance of the cabin and faced the original. "I promise you, Elijah, I had no idea they were going to do that to you," the Gilbert girl quickly exclaimed as she looked at the ratted and bloody clothes that hung on the revenging original.

"I believe you, sweetheart," Elijah told the human girl as he gave Emily a soft smile before he turned a glare towards the younger Salvatore vampire. "But you agreed to the terms," the original began as he lifted up his shoulder with a shrug before he concluded, "and your friends broke that tonight."

"I know," Emily murmured in annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest. It still pissed her off that her friends and family messed up her deal without even talking to her about it. The Gilbert girl then gave Elijah a small smile and begged, "can you please give them a second chance? They were just trying to do the right thing."

Elijah chuckled humorlessly before he mumbled, "I'm sure they were." The original then shook his head and told Emily, "I'm truly sorry that we couldn't make our deal happen. But that was it. You couldn't stay out of danger and your friends couldn't keep you safe, so now you'll have to stay with me until Klaus arrives in Mystic Falls."

Emily nodded her head as if she was agreeing with the original before she mumbled, "about that..." The human girl walked to the very edge of the door while ignoring the worried tension coming off of the Salvatore vampire behind her before she told Elijah, "if you don't keep our deal then I'm just gonna have to do something stupid." Emily then reached into the pocket of her mother's sweatpants before she showed the original the large and pointy stake. "It would be such a shame if the doppelganger dies before the sacrifice even started," the brunette girl muttered with a tsk.

The original vampire couldn't help but twitch nervously when he saw the weapon in the human girl's hand as he knew exactly what she was thinking about doing. It scared him because it reminded Elijah of the time when he had watched Klaus rip out Darina Petrova's heart. However, though, Elijah knew he couldn't let that show on his face. So instead of pleading with the human girl like he did with Klaus back then, Elijah simply looked at Emily with an amused smile before he told her with a pointed look, "Stefan won't let you die."

The Gilbert girl shrugged her shoulders as she couldn't disagree with that. "You're right," Emily muttered as she glanced between the nervous Salvatore behind her and the wooden stake in her hands before she looked back up at Elijah and stated, "he'll just give me his blood and heal me." The human girl then let a small smirk reach her lips before she murmured, "and I might just take a slip and fall and become a vampire like my sister."

Emily stood there in silence for a moment as she let that information soak into the original before she wondered with a tilt of her head, "so, is that deal still on the table?" The Gilbert girl trailed the stake up her bare arm and let a small slit of blood flow before she told Elijah, "I need my family and friends to be safe from Klaus and you. If you agree to keep our deal then I'll gladly throw this stake away and we can continue to lure Klaus to Mystic Falls."

The original stared across at the human girl as he breathed in her heavenly scent and her fresh blood before he quickly controlled himself. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," Elijah told Emily as he shook his head. He just didn't believe that the Salvatore was going to allow the human girl to do this. _Stefan cares too much about Emily to let her turn into a monster_ , the original thought. "I'm going to have to call your bluff," Elijah nervously told the human girl. It frightened Elijah that Emily would try to turn herself as there was a plan already set in motion for the human girl when the time comes - thank to Maria Radkova, but Elijah knew he couldn't show his cards just yet.

"Very well," Emily mumbled with a shaky breath as she was growing extremely anxious. She knew her whole plan could fail if her sister and Damon didn't dagger Elijah in time. She just had to pray that this will work.

The Gilbert girl silently twirled the stake through her fingers for a moment as she tried to gain the courage to do this before she pointed the stake directly at her stomach. "I'm sorry, Stef," the human girl whispered as she never told the Salvatore vampire her plan along with the fact that he was about to watch her get hurt without being able to help. Emily then looked into Elijah's brown eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry we couldn't agree," before she swiftly pushed the wooden weapon into her stomach as far as she could until she dropped to her knees in agony.

"Dammit," Emily hissed as tears immediately began to fill her green eyes. _I really wished I had grabbed a knife instead,_ the human girl thought as she felt like there was a pole sticking out of her stomach by how thick the stake is. The Gilbert girl then painfully leaned her body onto her knees as she tried to ignore all of her blood and the yelling from Stefan as he tried to convince the human girl to let him help her. Instead, Emily slowly pulled the stake out of her stomach as she knew it would make her die faster and hopefully get Elijah to change his mind while she prayed Elena would hurry her ass up with the stupid dagger.

"No!" The original cried out as he rushed towards the invisible barrier and began to pound his fists against it while he watched the human girl begin to lose too much blood. It was like Elijah was watching his true love die all over again. "Please, Emily!" The original begged, "I agree! We have a deal! Please let me heal you!"

The Gilbert girl didn't even hesitate before she slowly pulled herself up from the blood covered ground and threw herself into Elijah's arms. Emily trusted the original with her life and she truly believed he was telling the truth. So, the only thing Emily really cared about at the moment was healing as she was in so much pain.

However, though, just at the original began to bite into his wrist to heal the human girl, all of Elijah's movements instantly came to a stop as a gasp escaped the original's mouth when he felt something enter his back. Thankfully for Emily, that certain item was the dagger being shoved into Elijah's skin by the history teacher; Alaric Saltzman.

There was then a thick silence on the Gilbert cabin's front door and porch after the three vampires and the vampire hunter realized that they had finally defeated the original for a few minutes before it was all interrupted by the ever so comical human girl. "What took you so long?" Emily groaned out as she felt the pain continue to take over her whole body.

The Gilbert vampire rolled her brown eyes at her twin sister, who would of course make a joke right now. Elena then swiftly vamp sped in front of Emily before she bit down onto her wrist. "Just drink," she commanded as Elena held her arm in front of the weak human girl's mouth.

 _Don't gotta ask me twice,_ Emily thought as she quickly latched her lips around her twin sister's wrist. Once the human girl felt the hole in her stomach begin to heal, she slowly released Elena's arm before she tiredly leaned her body against her sister's as exhaustion was beginning to take over her.

The human girl was just so out of it that she didn't even realize that she was being passed off to another vampire until she finally reopened her green eyes and saw her favorite pair in front of her as the younger Salvatore vampire was cradling her face. "Are you okay?" Stefan worriedly asked he wiped Elena's blood from Emily's mouth, "do you need more blood?"

"I'm fine," the brunette girl promised as she placed her hand over the Salvatore vampire's that was resting on her face with a small smile. Emily then leaned up and placed a gentle kiss onto Stefan's lips before she whispered, "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"I'm just glad that you're safe," the green eyed Salvatore vampire confessed softly before he brought the human girl into his chest and held Emily as tightly as he could without hurting her. Stefan had been upset when he figured out the Gilbert girl's plan when he had seen the stake, but all Stefan could do now was to be happy that they didn't have to worry about Elijah anymore.

"Little tip," Damon exclaimed as he and Alaric finally showed himself to his brother and girlfriend's sister after they had checked on the body of the original for a couple of minutes to make Elijah was actually dead. The older Salvatore vampire then tossed his arm over Elena's shoulder as they stood in front of Stefan and Emily before he continued with a wide smirk, "don't pull the dagger out."

The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but roll her green eyes at her sister's boyfriend. "I wonder how you figured that one out," Emily mumbled sarcastically as she had been the one to find that out along with all the other things her biological father didn't bother mentioning.

"No one likes a smartass, Gilbert," the older Salvatore vampire muttered as he shot the human girl a glare that didn't really hold anything behind it. He and Emily never really gets along, but Damon was glad that Emily was still around; not that he would tell her that. "Come on," the blue eyed Salvatore uttered after a moment of silence as he tapped his finger on Elena's shoulder, "we have a big bad original to take home."

"Yeah," the younger Salvatore vampire murmured into the human girl's ear before he added, "we should get going." Stefan bumped his hip into Emily as he commented with a small chuckle, "we have school in the morning."

"Ugh," Emily groaned inside of her boyfriend's cozy arms. "Don't remind me," the human girl complained as she definitely wasn't looking forward to Monday morning. It just sounds stupid to be going to school with the life they live. But Emily knew she needed to go as she still plans to have a life out of Mystic Falls.

"Let's go," Emily huffed out with a sigh before the chuckling Salvatore began to pull her out of the Gilbert cabin along with Damon, Elena, and Alaric who were talking about how they were going to take the dead original to Mystic Falls. The human girl's green eyes immediately went down to Elijah when the vampire couple and the vampire hunter decided to vamp run him to the boarding house.

It made Emily automatically feel extremely guilty at what she had done. She hated that she went through with ending Elijah's life temporarily. The doppelganger connection has made it hard for the human girl, but she knew it just had to be done - at least for now. It was like what Elijah had told her. They have to wait for the right time to drag Klaus out of hiding and now Emily had to wait for the right time to wake Elijah from his temporarily death.

 _I'm sorry, Elijah,_ the brunette girl thought as she slowly passed the dead original while the younger Salvatore began to pull her towards his red Porsche after he had locked the door of the Gilbert cabin behind them. Emily just had to remember that this isn't permanent. She just hoped when she did release the dagger from Elijah, that he would still protect her family and friends when Klaus comes to Mystic Falls.

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

It took a little less than two hours of the human Petrova doppelganger silently riding in comfortable silence with the protective and concerned younger Salvatore vampire before Emily found herself standing in the doorway of the familiar cellar beside her twin sister. The two Gilbert siblings were currently watching as the two Salvatore brothers placed the original's body on the ground in the middle of their personal vampire jail.

Once Stefan rubbed the dirt and blood off of his palms from the original, the younger Salvatore swiftly walked over to the twin sisters and immediately wrapped his arms around the human girl's waist. Stefan then laid a soft kiss onto the top of Emily's head before he questioned, once again, "are you okay?"

Emily turned her head to the side and gave the worried vampire a small smile as she nodded her head. "I promise," the human girl whispered as she felt like that is all she has been saying since they left North Carolina. However, though, Emily understood why. She did stab herself with a stake without telling anyone anything about her crazy plan.

So instead of getting annoyed with all the questions, Emily turned around and leaned up on her tippy toes to give Stefan a sweet kiss. The human girl then turned her attention onto the dead original once she was sure that the Salvatore vampire believed her and looked at Elijah with a saddened gaze as she couldn't help but feel bad about what she did.

"Come on," the older Salvatore mumbled to himself as he began to search the dead body of the original. Damon swiftly pulled out the milky stone that he had been looking for after a moment before he rhetorically questioned, "what do we have here?" The blue eyed vampire then showed the two vampires and the human girl what he had as he uttered with a smirk, "a little moonstone bar of soap," before he swiftly stuck it into the front pocket of his jeans as Damon was glad to have the rock in his possession again.

"So, that's it," the Gilbert vampire murmured as she leaned her head against Damon's shoulder once he had slammed the door shut on the original. Elena glanced at each face around the basement before she continued, "I mean, as long as keep the dagger in there, then he stays dead." The Gilbert supernatural being didn't really know much about the dagger except what Katherine and John had told her and Damon plus along with the messages that they had gotten from Stefan when he and Emily would find something important from the Gilbert cabin.

The older Salvatore nodded his head as he ran his fingers across the Gilbert vampire's bare shoulder that was showing from her tank top while he stared through the small window at the unmoving original. "Pretty much," Damon mumbled as that was all they really knew about the dagger.

 _For now,_ Emily thought as she knew that she had to pick the right moment to pull the dagger out of Elijah. The human girl guessed that she shouldn't do that until they know for sure that Klaus is getting close or is actually in Mystic Falls. That way, the Salvatore vampires and her twin sister can't actually stop him when they will need Elijah's help against the hybrid.

"Well, if we are done here," the Gilbert vampire began after a moment of silence had settled between the three supernatural beings - plus the human doppelganger before she stared across at her twin sister and stated, "I'd like some alone time with my sister." Elena felt like she hadn't seen Emily in so long, so she just wanted to hang out like they use to.

The human girl went to follow after her twin sister, but quickly stopped as she needed to set the record straight. "Wait," Emily exclaimed as she stood between the three vampires. She then stared at each supernatural being with a serious gaze before she began, "I get it. You guys want me to fight and not give up. I get it. But you need to get this through your heads, if it comes down to it, I will always protect the ones I love first. So, I'll do this your way and I'll fight for my life but I was gladly sacrifice myself if any of your lives are in danger." Emily shrugged her shoulders and muttered, "there is no changing my mind about that. But this partnership thing we got about actually defeating Klaus, I want to know everything. No more secrets or lies."

The basement of the Salvatore boarding house immediately went silent for a couple of minutes as the three vampires all glanced at each other. They all seemed to agree with one another as they nodded at each other before Damon faced the human girl and mumbled, "that seems fair."

Once Emily got one agreement out of the three vampires, she turned her gaze over to her twin sister with a hopeful smile as she prayed Elena wouldn't go into protective mode like she usually does these days.

"Fine," Elena mumbled as she stared across her twin sister. The Gilbert vampire didn't like the idea that Emily was still thinking about turning herself over to Klaus. However, though, it was a big step up. At least now, they knew she was going to fight to keep herself alive like they wanted.

"There won't be anymore secrets," the younger Salvatore promised once he watched the human girl give Elena a thankful nod. Stefan then walked the couple of steps towards Emily before he gently grabbed the side of her face and stared deeply into her green eyes. "I don't like that you still are thinking about sacrificing yourself," the Salvatore confessed before he stated strongly, "but that just makes me that much more determined to keep you safe."

The human Petrova doppelganger instantly released a thankful sigh as she's pleased that everyone's on board. "Thank you," Emily whispered before she leaned onto her tippy toes and pulled Stefan into a sweet but passionate kiss. The brunette girl was glad that they were all finally agreeing on something. Emily just hoped that they knew what they were doing because she wasn't lying, she wouldn't hesitate to hand herself over if she has to.

"Alright, alright," the Gilbert vampire exclaimed as she interrupted the sweet moment between her twin sister and her boyfriend's brother. Elena then grabbed Emily's arm from Stefan's reach and muttered stubbornly, "I want my time with my sister. You had enough."

Emily couldn't help but chuckle as her other half with an eye roll. "I'll see you soon," the human girl quickly promised the pouting Stefan before she turned around so she could walk normally while Elena continued to pull her through the basement until they finally reached the living room.

"You sit there," Elena exclaimed as she pushed her twin sister down onto the leather couch before she swiftly vamp sped upstairs and grabbed Damon's laptop. The Gilbert vampire then tossed herself down onto the couch beside her twin sister after she placed the laptop onto the small table in front of them and pressed play on one of their favorite movies; Scream.

"Don't you think we've had enough scares for one night?" Emily teasingly questioned her twin sister once she saw Drew Barrymore appear onto the small device as the blonde teenager began to make popcorn while answering the phone call from ghostface.

Elena rolled her brown eyes as she linked her arm with her twin sister's before she leaned her head onto Emily's warm shoulder. "Shush," the Gilbert vampire commanded playfully before she commented, "anyways, you know we don't get scared by this movie anymore."

"True," Emily commented as she remembered they haven't been scared of Scream since they were ten. The iconic horror film was like their comfort movie. They had seen it so many times, that it just becomes their happy moment of watching the movie together while saying the lines to each other.

The two Gilbert siblings then sat in silence for a few minutes as they listened to ghostface interrogate Casey Becker on who was the killer of Friday the thirteenth, before the Gilbert vampire turned her gaze onto her twin sister, who was happily mouthing the words. "Hey," Elena softly uttered as she couldn't help but want to check on her sister after not seeing her in over forty-eight hours, "you doing okay?"

Emily glanced between her twin sister and the laptop screen as she tried to pay attention to the movie before she noticed the concerned look on Elena's face. The human girl then turned her attention fully on her sister when Casey Becker began to run through her house before Emily nodded her head with a soft smile and murmured, "yeah. I'm all good." Emily knew Elena was just worried, like Stefan was, about what happened tonight and what she had to do. Emily understood completely as she would be in the same position if Elena was in her spot.

Elena stared at her twin sister in silence for a few minutes to make sure Emily wasn't just lying to make her feel better before the Gilbert vampire let out a slow sigh and mumbled, "good." Elena had been so worried about her twin sister since Damon told her the plan to kill Elijah at dinner. _Actually, that isn't correct,_ Elena thought as she realized she had started worrying and missing Emily the second she told her that she and Stefan were going away from a few days. They just have this close relationship and when they aren't in the place together, it just makes them worry for one another. It's just how it always has been since they were little. So, Elena couldn't be anymore happier that her twin sister was back in Mystic Falls in the safety of her arms with no original or hybrid to worry about. It was just like old times.

Emily shook her head in amusement as she could tell there was thoughts still running through her twin sister's head as the concerned look was still there. "I'm really fine, I promise," the human girl told the young vampire before she muttered as she leaned her warm body against her sister's colder one while she focused back onto the movie, "now shush. Casey's parents are about to find her hung up like a Christmas tree."

The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but feel in content as Elena mumbled, "I hate this part," while they watched their comfort movie. It was the perfect way to end a hectic day, in Emily's opinion. Yeah, there was still some problems to deal with like when to undagger Elijah and how they were going to fight Klaus, but the human girl knew that they just had to take it one day at a time - like they always do.


	54. The One With The Return

"Babe!" The loud voice of the younger Salvatore vampire called out as he jogged around his bedroom. Stefan had been trying to wake the sleeping human girl for the past twenty minutes. He did give up after the first five minutes as he had decided he would get dressed along with grab some of Emily's clothes from the Gilbert house. But now that he is back and ready, Stefan knew he really needs to wake up the human girl this time. "We're going to be late for school," the Salvatore vampire told Emily before he began to pull his grey blanket from her head.

The sleepy human girl huffed out a sigh and pushed her messy brown hair out of the way before she glared up at the grinning Salvatore vampire. "I just want to sleep," Emily moaned as she rubbed her tired green eyes before she swiftly closed them as the sun was giving her a headache. "You go to school and I'll stay right here," the human girl mumbled stubbornly as she quickly pulled the blanket back over herself.

The Salvatore vampire shook his head with a chuckle before he took a seat at the edge of his king sized bed. "Come on," Stefan uttered softly as he tried to convince the human girl to get up, "you know, if you want to be a doctor someday then you gotta go to school."

"I was stabbed with a stake, I deserve to skip school today," the mumbled voice of the human doppelganger sounded through the thick blanket. Emily just wanted to sleep. She felt like she had barely been getting any sleep lately after all they go through, so six in the morning was definitely not pleasing to the human girl right now.

Stefan couldn't help but roll his green eyes at the Gilbert girl's excuse. He then forcefully pulled the blanket from Emily's body for the last time as he threw them on the ground. "You did that to yourself," the Salvatore vampire mumbled before he added in amusement, "besides, Elena healed you."

"Well," Emily began before she swiftly closed her mouth as she couldn't come up with an excuse. "Ugh," the human girl groaned as she really didn't want to get out of the vampire's comfortable bed. However, Emily quickly looked back up at Stefan after about a minute or so with a small smirk as she had another idea. The doppelganger then swiftly wrapped her arms around Stefan's neck and began to place soft kisses along the vampire's jugular before she mumbled against his cold skin, "how about we just stay in bed all day and do a lot of this?"

The Salvatore vampire instantly released a content sigh at the feeling of the human girl's soft lips against his skin before he murmured, "I'd love nothing more than to do this forever..." However, though, before Stefan could finish trying to convince Emily to get up, he felt her lips move up his neck and behind his ear to his sweet spot - which immediately pulled a moan from Stefan's lips. "Please, baby," the Salvatore vampire hurriedly begged as he knew he was slowly falling into the human girl's trap, "we really need to get to school."

"Are you sure?" Emily teased as she knew that she had Stefan right where she wanted him. "We can miss one day," the human girl murmured as she slowly moved her mouth up Stefan's neck and tauntingly moved up to where the vampire wanted her the most; his lips. But Emily decided to tease him first, so she would have full control and they wouldn't end up going to school.

Stefan tried to fight it as much as he could, but there was no fighting the emotions that he always feels when he's with the human girl. So instead of trying to get Emily out of bed for school again, Stefan only shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "screw it. One day can't hurt," before he softly tossed his body over the human girl's and finally placed his lips onto hers.

"You're so easily corrupted," the brunette girl joked with a loud giggle as Stefan began to move his lips down her neck like she had done to him while Emily also felt the Salvatore vampire's cold fingers roam her body.

"I am when I have such a beautiful girlfriend," Stefan confessed once he pulled away and stared into the human girl's bright green eyes with a soft smile. The Salvatore vampire stroked the side of Emily's face for a moment and whispered, "I love you," before he swiftly brought the human girl's legs around his waist with his vamp speed and leaned down for a hungry and passionate kiss.

"Mmm," the Gilbert girl moaned as she felt the Salvatore vampire's cold fingers push her tank top up to her collarbone before she felt his hands roam around her chest. "Aren't you glad we skipped school now?" Emily teased as she locked her legs around Stefan's waist again once he was shirtless before she began to trail her fingers across the vampire's bare back.

The green eyed Salvatore only let out a small chuckle against the human girl's skin instead of responding before he swiftly continued his attack onto Emily's chest until he finally reached the doppelganger's lips. The couple then hungrily and passionately kissed while they both roamed each other's bodies.

However, though, before anything more could happen between the human and vampire duo like they wanted, they were soon interrupted as the sound of Emily's cell phone began to ring on Stefan's dresser, _"I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world. Life in plastic, it's fantastic..."_ The couple instantly groaned in unison at the noise before Emily let out a small sigh as she pushed the Salvatore vampire to the side.

The human girl then quickly jumped out of the cozy bed and jogged towards her cell phone as she already knew who was calling by the comical ringtone. "Hey, Care," Emily greeted her best friend as soon as she pressed the accept button on her device while she also turned around and gave the pouting Salvatore vampire an amused grin.

"Where are you?" The Forbes vampire instantly interrogated as she passed by their usual greeting before she quickly told the human girl, "I canceled cheer practice because Matt is looking for me." Caroline then let out a nervous breath before she begged, "please tell me you're here at school. I need my best friend."

Emily released a silent sigh as she knew that she really needs to go to school now since Caroline is having a crisis. So being the good friend she is, the human girl made her way over to Stefan's desk and began to change into the clothes that are hers which consisted of a pair of dark jeans and a red long sleeve shirt along with her leather jacket and booties. "I'm on my way," Emily promised to her best friend once she was all dressed and was beginning to place her messy hair into a single braid. "I'll be there in fifteen, but give me a call if Matt finds you before I do," the human girl informed the blonde vampire before she quickly ended the call.

The green eyed Salvatore let out a loud huff as he had listened onto the conversation with Caroline along with the fact that he watched Emily get dressed instead of coming back to bed as he knew they were going to school. "I'm guessing staying home is out of the question," Stefan mumbled once he watched Emily end the call as he leaned his body onto his left elbow.

"Correct, Mr. Salvatore," the brunette girl uttered as she grabbed her black purse that she had brought with her last night. "Come on," Emily exclaimed as she stared at Stefan, who was still lying on his bed with no shirt on. The human girl then gave Stefan a smirk before she repeated the words that he had used earlier, "we're going to be late for school."

Stefan immediately groaned as he really didn't want to hear that as he just wanted to stay in bed all day like Emily had suggested. "Fine," the Salvatore vampire finally mumbled when he saw the human girl wasn't budging before he vamp sped around his bedroom to grab his book bag and put his shirt back on. Stefan then silently vamp sped behind the human girl with a smirk before he whispered into her ear, "let's go," which instantly caused Emily to jump in fright.

"Don't do that!" Emily exclaimed as she placed her hand over her heart. She didn't even hear the Salvatore vampire get out of bed as she had been busy reading a text from Caroline that said Matt had found her in the hallway and that she would explain tonight. The human girl then rolled her green eyes as she faced the chuckling Salvatore once she placed her cell phone into her back pocket before she mumbled, "let's go, you big bully."

The Salvatore vampire couldn't help but laugh at his girlfriend's embarrassed expression while he quickly followed her down the hallway of the boarding house. "Aw, don't pout," Stefan teased as he threw his arm over her shoulder and squeezed her upper limb. "You know I was just playing with you," the Salvatore vampire uttered before he placed a gentle kiss on top of Emily's brown hair.

The human girl rolled her green eyes in annoyance before a small smile instantly lifted up onto her lips. Emily could never stay mad for long at Stefan - even though she was just messing around and wasn't actually mad. "You could always make it up to me with coffee," the brunette girl told Stefan with a cheeky grin. _I gotta get coffee someway,_ Emily thought as she had to have her caffeine if she was going to sit through school today.

Stefan chuckled at the human girl but nonetheless, he nodded his head. "I'm sure we can work something out," the brunette vampire told his girlfriend as he slipped his hand into Emily's warmer one. The couple then silently walked down the staircase in content before the scene in front of them instantly threw their happiness all away.

"What the hell, Damon!" The human girl swiftly shouted as she stood at the edge of the living room in shock as she watched as her boyfriend's brother held her twin sister against the wall with his hands wrapped around her neck. But when Emily saw Damon was glaring at Elena and looked like he wasn't going to let go, the human girl quickly rushed over to the older Salvatore to get the vampire off of her sister. Emily may only be a human, but she was still going to protect her family no matter who she's up against.

However, though, before Emily could reach the angry Salvatore vampire and her panicky twin sister, who was trying to fight Damon off of her but couldn't since Damon was so much stronger and older than she is, they were all interrupted when a familiar voice sounded through the living room. "Did you start the fun without me?" The smirking Katherine Pierce wondered as she leaned her body on the side of the wall while she watched the destruction that she had caused by messing with her doppelganger and her ex plaything.

The Gilbert vampire instantly growled when she saw Katherine carelessly lying around like she owned the place before she swiftly vamp sped in front of her doppelganger and pushed her against the wall. "What are you doing here?" Elena interrogated angrily as she squeezed the Petrova vampire's neck.

Katherine rolled her brown eyes at her doppelganger, who thought she was even a sliver of competition before she swiftly pushed Elena down onto the ground. "Don't act like you are a bad bitch, Elena, it doesn't suit you," the Petrova vampire ordered while she boredly looked down at her freshly done nails.

Damon glared at the older vampire before he swiftly helped his girlfriend from the ground and held onto her so Elena wouldn't try to attack Katherine again. "When we killed Elijah, it broke the compulsion and freed her from the tomb," Damon finally explained to the confused vampires and the human girl before he added as he pointed his head towards Katherine, "the bitch showed up last night when everyone was asleep."

Stefan furrowed his brows in confusion as he wrapped his arm around the human girl's waist. "How is that even possible?" The green eyed Salvatore wondered as he glanced over at Katherine in distaste. Stefan had thought they were all done with the original, who is close to Emily, and his ex girlfriend, but here she was; back again to disrupt their lives like she always does.

"He's an original," Katherine muttered carelessly as she certainly didn't plan on explaining how she got out of the tomb. The Petrova vampire then glanced at the four people in the living room before she added with a smirk as she gave them a small clue, "they have all sorta of special skills."

"Well, I don't want you here," the Gilbert vampire exclaimed as she glared across at her doppelganger. Elena then glanced over to her silent twin sister before looking up at her boyfriend and begging, "get her out of here." The Gilbert supernatural being didn't want Katherine anywhere near her twin sister. Katherine only causes problems, and they definitely didn't need that right now when they are trying to keep Emily from dying in the sacrifice.

"You need me, Elena," the Petrova vampire told her doppelganger with an annoyed eye roll before she moved her brown gaze over to her favorite Gilbert. Katherine then stared at Emily with a soft expression for a moment before she told the whole room, "you all need me here whether you like it or not."

The younger Salvatore stared at the doppelganger with a fierce glare before he swiftly moved to stand protectively in front of Emily once he noticed who Katherine was looking at. "Like hell," Stefan snapped as he was not going to allow Katherine to play anymore games like she always does - especially when it has to do with the life of the human girl.

Emily pushed her way in front of the Salvatore vampire once the living room grew silent before she curiously looked at Katherine with a twitch of her head. "Why would you want to help?" The brunette girl wondered as she wanted to hear her doppelganger's sister out before she murmured as Emily remembered the talk that she had with Katherine in the tomb, "you did say you were going to turn me to Klaus for a deal, so why would you all sudden switch sides?"

Katherine carelessly shrugged her shoulders before she easily commented as she knew she couldn't exactly tell Emily the truth about how she didn't in fact want to hand her over, "I know which side I'd rather be on; the one that lives." The Petrova vampire then crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at each vampire in the room before she continued to convince them that they needed her, "we all want the same thing. We want Klaus dead and Emily alive. I'm your best option to make sure that actually happens."

The living room of the boarding house instantly went deadly silent, once again, as they all thought about their choices of defeating Klaus and Katherine's offer. However, though, before the human girl could respond back to Katherine as she knew the Petrova vampire would be their best option, Elena swiftly opened her mouth and stated with a glare, "we don't need your help and we don't want it."

Katherine straightened up her body and took a couple of steps towards her doppelganger with an identical glare before she exclaimed, "and that's incredibly stupid of you." It annoyed Katherine so much as she really was trying to help Emily unlike what the young vampires think. The Petrova vampire then glanced over to the Salvatore brothers as she interrogated, even though she already knew the answer, "do you know where Klaus is? When he's coming or what he even looks like?"

The older Salvatore vampire instantly rolled his blue eyes at Katherine before he snapped, "if you know something, say it or get the hell out." They didn't have time for these mind games from Katherine, so Damon was not just going to let the older doppelganger continue any further as they need to focus if they are going to keep the human girl alive.

"Fine," Katherine uttered with a careless shrug of her shoulders. She let out an emotionless chuckle so her feelings of wanting to help her sister's doppelganger wouldn't show before she commented, "I guess I'll just go to the Grill and have some lunch." Katherine then turned her gaze onto Elena with a smirk as she began to walk towards the front door before she added, "maybe aunt Jenna's free for a bite."

That certainly wasn't the type of thing Emily wanted to hear as her curious green eyes instantly turned into a glare as she watched the Petrova vampire walk into the foyer. "Katherine, I may be the only one that likes you around here," Emily called out before she exclaimed, "but if you touch my aunt, I won't hesitate to kill you myself."

Katherine swiftly turned around and looked at the glaring human girl with a bright and proud grin. "Ooh, feisty Emily," the Petrova vampire commented with amusement shining throughout her brown eyes. "I like it," Katherine uttered as she nodded her head before she told the human girl and the trio of vampires as she exited the boarding house, "let me know when you change your mind!"

 _Well, there goes our minute of normalcy,_ Emily thought as she watched Katherine strut out of the front door before the human girl moved her eyes over to her twin sister and the Salvatore brothers, who all looked extremely pissed. The Gilbert girl knew everyone thought that they could relax now that Elijah was out of the picture, but apparently they aren't that lucky.

Even though Emily didn't really mind Katherine hanging around, she knew that she couldn't exactly trust that Katherine is going to instantly become a saint and completely join their side as Katherine is always looking out for herself. It just means that they can't let their guard down for even a second with the Petrova vampire around until they figure out what is Katherine's motive.

* * *

 **MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL**

It took a little over twenty minutes to reach school, instead of fifteen like Emily had promised the Forbes vampire this morning, as she, Elena, and Stefan had took a quick stop at Mystic Grill to grab a large coffee like the human girl and the younger Salvatore agreed on after they had all got over the shock of Katherine being out of the tomb. Now, though, the two vampires and the human doppelganger were currently exiting out of Stefan's red Porsche.

The Gilbert girl huffed out a loud sigh once she stood to the side of her boyfriend's car while she waited for her twin sister to finish her bottle of blood as she stared up at the familiar building or her own personal hell. This was certainly the last place on Earth that Emily wanted to be - especially with the news of her doppelganger's sister on the loose without a clear purpose of Katherine staying in Mystic Falls.

"Why is she still here?" The Gilbert vampire instantly snapped once she was standing beside her twin sister and Stefan as Elena couldn't get over the fact that Katherine is back and free. Elena glanced to the adjoining couple to her right while they began to walk towards their school before she muttered in annoyance, "I wish she would just leave already."

Emily shrugged her shoulders before she commented, "I guess she wants Klaus as dead as we all do." The human girl then moved her green eyes over to her twin sister when she heard Elena let out a huff before Emily added to help ease her sister's anxiety, "maybe she realized that we're the winning side and she doesn't want to make a deal with Klaus anymore."

"Or maybe she's trying to get you to put all of your trust into her," Elena countered as she stared over at her twin sister with her brows furrowed deeply. The Gilbert vampire had noticed as soon as Katherine came into their lives that her doppelganger was overly friendly with Emily and Elena didn't want her twin sister to fall for her games like everyone else does. "Katherine isn't just going to change her mind when it has to do with her freedom. She's too selfish for that, so I don't believe her for a second that she wants to help us," the Gilbert vampire ranted before she stated with a shake of her head, "I want her gone."

Emily let out a silent sigh at her twin sister, who wasn't Katherine's biggest fan. The human girl really didn't have a problem with Katherine helping them - unless, of course, Katherine threatens or hurts her family and friends. Emily had just always felt like Katherine didn't really want to turn her over, anyways. It just seemed like Katherine was holding something back in Emily's opinion - which was the main reason why she wanted to see how Katherine planned on helping them.

"Maybe she had a change of heart," the human girl murmured as she gave Katherine the benefit of the doubt. Emily just couldn't help but want Katherine to be on their side. _Doppelganger connection again,_ the brunette girl thought as she knew she shouldn't want to trust Katherine like she does when the older doppelganger is always trying to ruin their lives.

"I agree with Elena," the younger Salvatore exclaimed while he ran his fingers across the human girl's upper arm as he didn't like the idea of Katherine so close to Emily either. Stefan glanced down at the girl in his arms before he added, "but you're right. Katherine could change her mind since she is staying in town." The older vampire then shrugged his shoulders before he wondered as he glanced at the twin sisters, "shouldn't we at least try to figure out why?"

The Gilbert vampire rolled her brown eyes in annoyance before she questioned, "how?" Elena knew from the short time that she has known Katherine is that she never gives anyone a straight answer and all she does is play games. So, how is this time any different? "All she does is lie," Elena mumbled as she just wants her doppelganger gone already.

"Maybe she just wants to help," Emily exclaimed while she gave her twin sister a pointed look as she couldn't help but want to see the good in Katherine. "I mean, we might as well see what she knows," the human girl added to convince Elena to give her doppelganger a chance, "she knows more about Klaus than we do. We don't even know what we're looking for since Elijah's not around anymore." Emily then shook her head before she continued in a soft voice as she glanced between her sister and boyfriend, "I know you guys don't like it, but Katherine is our only option if we plan on stopping Klaus and surviving this."

The parking lot of Mystic Falls High School immediately went silent, besides the noisy teenagers around them, after Emily's small speech before the Gilbert vampire loudly groaned out, "ugh." Elena then shot her twin sister a meaningless glare as she mumbled, "why do you always have to be right?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders with a bright smirk before she told her twin sister, "it's a talent." The human girl then turned her attention onto the grinning Salvatore as she swiftly jogged in front of Stefan, so she could stop him from walking before she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Now, you," Emily exclaimed once they were not moving with the same smirk glued to her face before she stated, "tonight, we should continue where we left off this morning."

The Gilbert vampire instantly let out another loud groan before she complained, "I really don't want to be a third wheel right now, guys." Elena then swiftly grabbed her twin sister's arm and linked their limbs together so she didn't have to watch the lovey dovey couple before she exclaimed, "anyways, you can't. Bonnie and Caroline are coming over tonight."

Emily rolled her green eyes at her twin sister's complaining before she reminded Elena, "you used to do the same when you and Stef were together, so shush." The human girl then let out a huff as she had totally forgotten about the plan for tonight. "I have the worse memory," Emily murmured to herself as she literally got a text from Caroline before she left Stefan's bedroom that said they'd talk later tonight.

"I'm so sorry," Emily apologized with a pout once she looked back over to the Salvatore vampire while her twin sister began to pull her towards the front steps of their school. The human girl tried to stop Elena's fast walking as she dug her heels into the ground until Stefan was standing beside her. Emily then linked their fingers together before she promised, "but tomorrow, it'll just be the two of us in bed all day long."

Stefan silently nodded his head with a small smile as he squeezed Emily's hand before he leaned over and gave the human girl a short but sweet kiss as he agreed with that plan. The two vampires and the brunette girl then continued to walk into the noisy building before Stefan wondered, "so, what's the occasion for girls' night?"

"Bonnie's freaked because she lost her powers," Elena explained about what she and Emily had learned last night while they were watching Scream as Bonnie had video chatted them along with the Forbes vampire before she added to explain what was going on with their blonde friend, "and Caroline's having Matt drama again."

Emily bumped her hip with her twin sister's with a large and proud smirk before she commented as she knew it would annoy the younger vampire, "maybe Katherine can join us." Even though that was completely unrealistic seeing as everyone hates the Petrova vampire, it was funny to imagine what that night would look like in Emily's opinion.

"Don't even joke about that," the Gilbert vampire mumbled before she bumped her hip right back into her twin sister's. _That would be my absolute nightmare_ , Elena thought as she rolled her brown eyes at the giggling couple. However, though, the Gilbert vampire couldn't help but join into the laughter after a moment as it was hard to imagine Katherine joining them in their girls' night filled with teenage drama.

The laughter that was coming from the twin sisters and the younger Salvatore immediately came to stop, though, when they all saw the resident vampire hunter and history teacher walk up to them with a serious expression. Alaric looked at the Gilbert siblings nervously for a moment once he was standing in front of them while he wrung his hands together before he asked, "can I talk to you guys in private for a moment?"

The Gilbert twins glanced at each other in confusion before worry quickly took over their minds as Alaric wasn't someone to be nervous so they knew it was something bad. "Yeah, of course," Elena told Alaric as she was the first one to speak up after a minute of intense silence. The Gilbert vampire then quickly followed after Alaric to his classroom as she was curious and anxious to what Alaric has to say.

Once Emily watched her twin sister and history teacher walk down the hallway, she quickly turned and faced the Salvatore vampire to say a quick goodbye as she wanted to know what was going on with the resident vampire hunter. "I'll catch up with you later," the human girl promised as she wrapped her arms around Stefan's neck before she brought him into a sweet farewell kiss.

The Salvatore vampire nodded his head in agreement as he softly ran his cold fingers across the human girl's right cheek while he stared into his favorite pair of eyes. "I gotta go talk to Bonnie, anyways, about the Martins," Stefan explained before he promised, "but I'll see you in class." The vampire then brought the human girl into another kiss before he whispered, "I love you."

Emily gave Stefan a bright smile as she couldn't get over the way that the Salvatore vampire always makes her feel. It's like she's in a fairy tale. The human girl then squeezed Stefan's hand and uttered back, "love you too," before she quickly turned around and jogged towards Alaric's classroom as she remembered that her history teacher needed to tell her and Elena something important.

"Hey," Emily stated as she walked inside of the classroom and saw her twin sister and the vampire hunter already talking. "So, what's going on?" The human girl curiously wondered as she walked up the row of desks and sat on top of the first one that is adjacent to Alaric's large teacher desk.

"John," the Gilbert vampire simply told her sister with an annoyed eye roll. That was basically the gist of things from what Alaric had been telling her for the past couple of minutes. That John was, of course, messing everything up and stirring up trouble like he always does when he's in town.

The human girl immediately let out a heavy groan because obviously they didn't have enough already going on. They not only have to worry about whatever Katherine is doing but there is also the ever so lovely John Gilbert to cause more problems in their lives. "What did he do now?" Emily finally inquired after she got over her hatred for her biological father as she stared across at her history teacher.

Alaric ran his right hand down his face out of exhaustion before he explained to the human girl about what he had just told Elena a few minutes ago while he began to pace in front of his desk, "John started planting all of these bad seeds about Isobel last night and now Jenna knows I'm lying about something."

 _Ah, crap,_ Emily thought as that was definitely bad. The last thing everyone needs right now is for Jenna to find out the truth about how Alaric's supposedly dead wife is actually extremely alive and has met her daughters. Emily knew that it would destroy Jenna if she was to ever find out that she and Elena have been in contact with Isobel.

"I know you didn't like the idea of killing John before," Emily began as she looked over at her twin sister before she stated, "but we should really rethink that idea." The human girl just couldn't help but roll her green eyes again as she was so irradiated that John was seriously trying to ruin her aunt's happy and healthy relationship.

Elena held up her hands as she shook her head to show that she wasn't against that idea anymore. "John's going to end up dead on the kitchen floor if he's not careful," the Gilbert vampire snapped as she didn't like that their biological father was trying to cause drama with Jenna.

"I agree we should definitely revisit that idea," Alaric mumbled as he leaned against his desk while he, once again, began to run his hand down his face in exhaustion. "But," the vampire hunter added with a sigh as he raised up his hand, "easier said than done since I gave him his ring back." Alaric then quickly continued speaking about the whole Isobel problem before the sisters could yell at him for giving John the Gilbert ring back, "look, Jenna keeps asking about Isobel. You know, was she murdered? Why haven't they found the body?" Alaric huffed out another exhausted sigh before he asked tiredly, "how much longer can she stay in the dark?"

Elena looked at the vampire hunter with her brows deeply furrowed as she realized why Alaric wanted to talk to her and Emily. "You think we should tell her the truth?" The Gilbert vampire inquired as she wanted to make sure her assumptions were right.

"I'm saying I can't be with her and not tell her," Alaric explained as he, once again, began to pace in front of his desk as just the thought of lying to Jenna caused him so much pain. The history teacher shook his head as he looked over at his girlfriend's nieces as he continued to discuss why he thought Jenna should know the truth, "it's not fair to her, and it's not the kind of relationship I want."

Emily felt extremely conflicted at Alaric's explanation of wanting to tell Jenna the truth. It would mean that Jenna would have to know about the supernatural since that would be the only way to explain how Isobel is alive. "I understand why you want to do this," the human girl finally uttered as she tried to console the stressed out vampire hunter before she added, "I mean, every second Jenna doesn't know about what we deal with, it's just putting her in even more danger."

The Gilbert vampire let out a small sigh as she shook her head. "I just thought that we'd at least hold off until after we've dealt with Klaus," Elena added to what her twin sister had said. It's not that Elena never planned on telling Jenna about the supernatural as she deserves to know since her niece is a vampire, but Elena just didn't want Jenna to get hurt. "Even then, how are we suppose tell her what we know?" Elena questioned as she began to think of how they were going to explain everything to the strawberry blonde, "how is Jenna even going to react to that?"

The history classroom immediately grew silent for a moment before Alaric looked up at the twin sisters in sorrow as Emily and Elena both looked just as stressed out as he was. "Look, I'm sorry to put this on you guys," the vampire hunter apologized as he crossed his arms over his chest. "But I feel it's your decision to make," Alaric stated as he glanced between the twins, "and whatever you decide to do, I'll respect it. I want to be honest with her." Alaric then shook his head with sadness in his eyes as he mumbled, "but until then, Jenna and I are done."

Emily instantly moved her green eyes over to her twin sister after Alaric's confession as she didn't know what they were suppose to do. Yeah, Emily wanted to tell Jenna the truth about Isobel and all the monsters in their lives as it wasn't safe for her to be in the dark. But their lives were just too dangerous right now especially with the looming factor of the sacrifice and Klaus. There was just so many things that could happen if they were to tell the strawberry blonde like Jenna could think of them differently or a big baddie could try to use Jenna as leverage.

There was also the unknown variables that they didn't even know about that could happen if Jenna was to know about the world of the supernatural - which was the root of the Gilbert twin's fears as they didn't know if their aunt would be cut out for this life when they struggle every single day. However, though, Emily knew one thing for certain and that was that she is going to protect her aunt, her best friend, and the woman who has always cared for her, no matter what gets thrown her way.


	55. The One With The Girls' Night

It was about five thirty in the evening when the Gilbert twins finally found themselves surrounded by their two best friends; Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes, for their girls' night. They had originally agreed to meet in the school parking lot at the end of the day to leave together, but Emily and Elena had found out during class that Bonnie and Stefan were going to meet up with the Martin's during the last period of school, so they all decided to just meet up at the Gilbert house.

Even though the only small disruption into their girls' night was the Bennett witch meeting with Jonas, it still took a little bit longer than it should have before the teenage girls finally got together. It took so long because the warlock wouldn't come to an agreement with Bonnie and Stefan as Jonas didn't want to help defeat Klaus without Elijah. There was also the issue of Caroline Forbes as she didn't know what she wanted to bring for girls' night, so the human girl had to go to the Forbes house for about thirty minutes to help Caroline pack some of her things for tonight.

But now that they had everything situated, the four best friends all stood in the kitchen of the Gilbert house with happy smiles adoring their faces as soft pop music played in the background while Elena pulled out the pre-made snacks that they had in the cabinet which consisted of a big bag of potato chips and two packages of Chips Ahoy cookies.

The Forbes vampire instantly groaned when she saw the brown eyed Gilbert place the food into bowls before bringing them to the kitchen island. "I cannot eat anymore junk food," Caroline exclaimed as she shook her head. That was all Caroline has been eating since she had gotten home from school today as Caroline has been feeling heartbroken over her brief talk with Matt this morning, so she definitely couldn't handle anymore junk food right now. "We need real food," Caroline stated before she glanced at the three girls and asked, "so, Chinese food or pizza?"

Emily playfully rolled her green eyes at her blonde best friend as if that was even an actual question right now. "You're joking, right?" The human girl inquired with a raised eyebrow before she exclaimed with a smirk, "you know there is no competition to the delicious Peking Gourmet Inn."

The Gilbert vampire instantly shook her head at her twin sister as she leaned her body against the kitchen island. "I swear, that is all you and Jenna live on," Elena muttered in amusement. It felt like every time they would get takeout, in Elena's opinion, her twin sister and aunt would always pick the famous Chinese restaurant across town. Elena honestly didn't see the hype of the place as it tastes like every other Chinese food that she has ever tried.

Emily swiftly placed her hand over her heart in exaggeration as she stared across at her twin sister in shock. "Do not disrespect my love," the human girl exclaimed in false anger - which immediately caused the group of supernatural beings to break out into laughter. It was beginning to feel like old times for the four best friends. It felt like they were back in eighth grade for their weekly sleepover when there was no life-threatening issue taking over their lives.

It took a full solid three minutes of laughter ringing throughout the Gilbert kitchen before the group of friends finally calmed down and gave each other bright smiles in contentment of being together again like normal teenagers. The blonde vampire then uttered, once she wiped the happy tears away from her blue eyes, "I'll order the food."

However, though, when Caroline grabbed her grey tablet from the kitchen island and turned it on, she instantly froze when saw the background picture on the home screen. It was the reason for her current sadness and heartbreak; the one and only Matthew Donovan.

"Hey," the soft voice of the Bennett witch called out as she interrupted Caroline's inner pity party before she gently took the tablet from Caroline's hands. "I'll do it," Bonnie assured the blonde vampire before she squeezed Caroline's lower arm to show that she was here for Caroline while she deals with her feelings over her Matt problem.

Emily couldn't help but look at her blonde best friend with her green eyes filled with sorrow as Caroline had explained what happened with Matt this morning when they drove together to the Gilbert house. Emily could only imagine what Caroline was feeling right now. So being the protective and caring person she is, Emily walked around the kitchen island and pulled her blonde best friend into a side hug as they silently watched Elena grab two steel bottles of blood from her hiding spot and two sodas from the refrigerator.

"So, do you believe that Jonas is being sincere?" The Gilbert vampire asked Bonnie once she placed the two cans of soda in front of her twin sister and the Bennett witch before she placed the other bottle of blood in front of the Forbes vampire while she kept her own source of food.

"I don't know what to believe," Bonnie huffed out as she typed in the name of the Chinese restaurant into Caroline's tablet so they could order their food. The Bennett witch then released a small sigh a second later before she glanced up at her three silent friends and added about what she and Stefan had found out today during their meeting with the warlock, "I think he's at a loss. He's not sure who to trust."

The kitchen in the Gilbert house immediately grew silent after that as each and every girl knew a little something about not knowing who to trust - more specifically; the two Gilbert sisters. However, though, Elena only didn't know if she could trust Katherine about actually helping them while Emily's thing was that she was trying to trust the people, her family and friends, who have recently lied to her which caused the temporarily death of the original; Elijah. It was all still a work in progress, though, as they all try to figure out a way to defeat the hybrid.

"Well," the Forbes vampire awkwardly drawled out as she tried to get rid of the tense silence and go back to their previous happy and carefree mood. Caroline then grinned at the three girls once their attention was on her before she questioned, "what are we going to about this movie situation?" The blonde supernatural being glanced at each face around the kitchen before she swiftly perked up as she had the perfect idea, "what about The Notebook?"

The Gilbert vampire, Bennett witch, and the human doppelganger all immediately groaned in unison at the movie suggestion as that is always Caroline's choice every time they are together. "Care, I love you, but I cannot sit through that movie again," Emily exclaimed as she was the first one to speak to the confused Forbes vampire. The green eyed girl shook her head as she was not going to budge before she added to her argument, "we literally watched that movie four days ago."

Caroline gaped in shock as she moved her blue eyes around the kitchen island and saw that none of them wanted to watch The Notebook. _Rude,_ Caroline thought as she didn't understand what was wrong with her classical movie choice. "Well," the Forbes vampire then swiftly exclaimed once she got over her shock and countered right back to her best friend, "I will not watch one of your horror movies, either." Caroline crossed her arms over her chest as she mumbled, "they give me the heebie jeebies."

The three other girls in the kitchen all immediately busted out in laughter at the blonde's excuse for not wanting to watch a scary movie. It was the worse excuse in the world seeing as Caroline was one of the creatures that are sometimes involved in the horror genre. "How on Earth can you be scared when we are va-" The Gilbert vampire began as she was the first one to gain her breathing, thanks to her supernatural abilities, while Emily and Bonnie couldn't stop laughing.

However, though, before Elena could finish her sentence, the human girl quickly shouted to stop her sister from talking once she noticed who was walking into the kitchen, "Jenna!" The brunette girl knew this was definitely not the right time for Jenna to find out the truth, so thankfully Elena got the message and gave Jenna a nervous smile.

The strawberry blonde cautiously glanced at each teenager in the kitchen in confusion and suspicion while she slowly pealed off her jacket as she knew they were up to something by their so-called innocent smiles. "Uh, what's going on in here?" Jenna curiously inquired.

The Gilbert vampire looked at her aunt with a tint of sadness in her brown eyes as she immediately remembered what Alaric had told her and Emily about not being able to be with Jenna anymore. It made Elena feel bad for Jenna as she knew how much her aunt likes the history teacher. However, Elena swiftly shook her head after a couple of seconds as she got rid of the memory of this morning as she knew Jenna hates pity before she silently walked up to her aunt and stated simply, "we're just having girls' night."

Jenna took a silent deep breath as she slowly nodded her head before she murmured, "oh." The strawberry blonde was glad that neither of her nieces had already found out about what happened with Ric. She just wanted some normal time without having to think about her messy relationship, so Jenna was pleased that Emily and Elena were in the dark about her problems with the history teacher.

The human girl walked around the kitchen island when the room grew silent, once again, before she stood in front of her aunt. Unlike her twin sister, Emily didn't have a problem showing Jenna compassion as she knew the strawberry blonde needed to talk out her feelings. That was the only way Emily knew how to feel better again, so she did just that as Emily gave Jenna a soft smile before she gently asked, "you doing okay, Jennie?"

The strawberry blonde woman let out a heavy sigh as her fear was right; her nieces did know. "I'm guessing you guys spoke to Ric," Jenna mumbled as she glanced between Emily and Elena while she anxiously rung her hands together. The strawberry blonde knew she shouldn't be surprised that Alaric told her nieces as he has a close relationship with everyone in the Gilbert family. But Jenna just wished that he didn't as she didn't want anyone worrying about her, especially the teenagers she is suppose to be worrying about - not the other way around.

"He feels terrible," Elena jumped in as she moved to stand beside her twin sister in front of their aunt as she gave Jenna a small smile. The Gilbert vampire knew that Alaric didn't really want to end things with Jenna. It just had to deal with the fact that the strawberry blonde is in the dark for most of everything in their lives. Elena knew it was partly hers and Emily's fault that their aunt is upset since it is their decision to tell Jenna the truth, so Elena just wanted to make Jenna feel better right now.

The strawberry blonde suspiciously glanced between her two nieces and at the two girls behind them as she couldn't help but feel like this was about her since they know about her problems with Ric instead of the teenagers's usual get-together. "Is this some kind of attempt to cheer me up?" Jenna inquired as she was starting to feel like she is being coddled by her nieces.

Emily exaggeratedly rolled her green eyes at her aunt before she carelessly waved her hand to show Jenna that they weren't actually trying to cheer her up - which, of course, was a lie as Emily hated to see Jenna like this. "Why would we want to do that?" The human girl wondered with false confusion before she exclaimed as she glanced at her twin sister and best friends with a small shrug, "we're just hanging out like old times."

Elena quickly nodded her head as she gave Jenna the brightest smile that she could offer to convince the strawberry blonde that they weren't up to no good. "Yeah, it's just us girls," the Gilbert vampire added to what her twin sister had said before she suggested nonchalantly, "and you know, we'll be here if you happen to want to talk, or..."

However when Elena got to the end of her statement, she trailed off as she didn't know what to say without making it seem like she was feeling pity for Jenna. But thankfully for the Gilbert vampire, Caroline swiftly jumped in a second later as she exclaimed with an eye roll to ease the older woman's anxiety about her problems with the history teacher, "because I am a winner when it comes to successful relationships."

Jenna gave the blonde teenager a small but thankful smile as she was already feeling better now that she knew she wasn't alone in this. It wasn't like Jenna could go to her nieces about this when Emily and Elena are in happy relationships - despite Jenna not liking Elena's boyfriend, so the strawberry blonde was glad she has someone that is dealing with relationship issues. "You, too?" Jenna inquired as she stared over at the blue eyed girl.

Caroline nodded her head before she let out a humorless chuckle as the memories from this morning with Matt began to replay in her head, once again, like it has been doing all day long. "You have no idea," the Forbes vampire murmured as she stared over at her best friend's aunt with another small smile.

"Okay then," Jenna sighed out as she decided to cave in and join the four teenagers for their girls' night now that she knew she wasn't going to be the only one in her pity party of relationship failures. The strawberry blonde then squeezed her nieces's shoulders as she walked around them to get to the refrigerator as Jenna is glad to have them in her corner to make her feel better.

"It's this whole Isobel thing," the older woman began to rant as she pulled the door to the refrigerator open and grabbed the wine bottle that she had stashed away last night after John's horrible visit. Jenna silently shook her head once she closed the refrigerator before she faced the four teenagers and murmured disappointingly, "he's hiding something from me."

Emily's green eyes immediately found her twin sister's brown ones, which were already looking at her, at Jenna's words as Emily felt a load of guilt pile onto her chest. The human girl knew that she and Elena just needed to say the word and Jenna would know everything. But Emily just didn't feel like it is safe right now for Jenna to know about the supernatural and Isobel, so the only thing they could do at the moment is push down the guilt and remember that they are protecting Jenna. It was really the only thing keeping Emily from spilling her guts to her aunt as she just wants Jenna to be happy - which happens to be with hers and Elena's biological mother's husband.

"Uh, to play devil's advocate," the blonde vampire slowly began as she interrupted the tense silence after she noticed the saddened expressions on the twin sisters's faces before she stated, "maybe there is a great reason why he's not telling you." Caroline knew from what Emily had told her earlier tonight about what is going on with the strawberry blonde woman along with the fact that Caroline knew from her own experience with her mother that it wasn't a good idea for Jenna to find out the truth, so Caroline just tried to downplay the seriousness of Alaric's secrets. "Maybe he is just trying to protect you," Caroline added with a small shrug as she hoped that would ease Jenna's mind.

Jenna swiftly shook her head while she stared over at the blonde teenager with her brows furrowed as she completely disagreed with that theory. "That's not his call to make," the strawberry blonde exclaimed as she had this exact argument with Ric before she added in a low murmur, "I mean, I deserve the truth. Everyone does."

The Forbes vampire instantly moved her blue eyes down to her hands on the kitchen island as she was overcome by emotions from Jenna's statement. It made Caroline think back to why she wasn't currently with Matt right now as she is doing the same thing as Alaric is doing with Jenna. Caroline then let out a small sigh after a minute or so had passed before she looked back up at the strawberry blonde as she remembered that they were focusing on Jenna. "Sometimes it's harder than that," the Forbes vampire finally spoke again in a small mumble as she was getting wrapped in her own relationship drama again.

Jenna let out a small chuckle before she exclaimed as she didn't believe that for a second, "not if it's somebody you care about, it isn't." The older woman had always been taught that trust is the number one priority for a relationship to succeed ever since she was little, so Jenna just couldn't find it in herself to believe that Alaric is lying to her for some important reason.

The kitchen in the Gilbert house immediately grew tense with silence, once again, as everyone didn't know what to say. The teenagers all knew the meaning of Caroline's argument as it had to deal with vampires and the humans that are in the dark, but they couldn't exactly tell Jenna that. Instead, they all just sat there quietly as they tried to think of what they could say to the upset and confused strawberry blonde.

Finally, after about three long and awkward minutes had passed by, the Forbes vampire suddenly jumped up from her slumped over position against the kitchen island before she questioned no one in particular, "you know what we need?" Caroline then gave everyone in the room a bright smile as she remembered the event before she squealed, "dancing! There is a band at the Grill."

The Bennett witch gave Caroline a small smile as she nodded her head. "I'm in," Bonnie uttered as she agreed with her friend's plan. _We all need to get our minds off of everything anyways_ ,Bonnie thought as she knew the Gilbert sisters were stressed out and Caroline was dealing with her Matt problems along with the fact that Bonnie is still upset about not getting her powers back from Jonas.

The younger Gilbert twin and her aunt also nodded their heads in agreement once the excited Forbes vampire moved her blue eyes over to them before the Sommers woman and the Gilbert vampire uttered in unison, "in."

The three teenagers and the older woman then turned their gaze onto the girl that hadn't agreed yet which happened to be Emily Gilbert. The aforementioned human girl immediately rolled her green eyes when she saw that they were all waiting for her answer. "Of course I'm in too," Emily exclaimed which swiftly caused the Forbes vampire to squeal and three others to break out into laughter.

The human doppelganger couldn't help but join in with a chuckle as she watched her blonde best friend, who was talking quickly about how much fun they are going to have while Caroline began to push everyone out of the kitchen to leave for Mystic Grill. Yeah, they have a lot of worries right now with the sacrifice, Isobel, warlocks, and humans but Emily was glad that they were all taking a small break to relax and enjoy themselves. It was just what they all needed.

* * *

 **MYSTIC GRILL**

 _Now the tables have turned,_

 _Just a simple twist of fate._

 _Don't it make you feel small, in light of the world?_

"Damn," Emily instantly mumbled to herself once she, Elena, Jenna, Bonnie, and Caroline walked into the noisy Mystic Grill and heard the surprisingly good alternative rock band and saw the large crowd of mixed ages dancing all throughout the restaurant. Emily was pleasantly amazed at the turnout of the event that she had aimlessly heard about in the hallways at school today. _This is the perfect place to have some fun,_ the human girl thought as her twin sister swiftly grabbed her hand and twirled her around before they began to dance to the upbeat song.

However, not everyone was having a good time as the legal guardian of the dancing twins saw the one person that she was trying to forget about for the night walk into the Grill; Alaric Saltzman. The strawberry blonde let out a heavy groan as she realized she could never run away from her problems. "I need a drink," Jenna told the group of teenagers as she knew what would help before she quickly turned around and made a beeline towards the bar.

Emily instantly stopped dancing with a frown when she saw Jenna walk away with slumped shoulders as she wanted Jenna to have a good time tonight. She didn't want her aunt to be alone, so Emily released Elena's hands and went to follow after Jenna. But before Emily could even take one step towards the bar, the Gilbert vampire quickly grabbed ahold of her arm. "I don't think so," Elena exclaimed before she assured her twin sister, "Jenna's a big girl. She can handle herself." The Gilbert vampire then held out her hand with a small smile before she ordered, "now come dance and relax for once."

A deep frown was still glued onto Emily's face for another minute or so as she glanced between her grinning sister and upset aunt before Emily finally released a loud sigh. "I'm the one that is suppose to be always right," the human girl mumbled stubbornly with a pout before she slipped her hand into Elena's which caused her to be immediately pulled into the crowd of dancing people.

Emily knew Elena was right, though. She can't protect everyone from everything. So instead of being there for her aunt while she spoke to Ric, Emily danced in the crowd of people with her twin sister as they got lost into the music and acted like normal teenagers for once.

The Gilbert sisters danced their hearts out for about four minutes before they both came to a stop with heavy breaths once the long song came to an end. Emily then stared across at Elena with a soft smile as she couldn't remember the last time that they had just danced for the hell of it. _Probably before our parents died,_ Emily thought as they definitely haven't had this much fun in a long time.

"Come on," the Gilbert vampire exclaimed with a chuckle after a moment of content silence had settled between them before she locked her arm with Emily's and pulled her towards their best friends; Caroline and Bonnie, where they immediately noticed a familiar face walking towards their small group.

"Hey, Matt!" The Forbes vampire greeted the human teenager with a happy grin as she couldn't help but get excited with finally seeing the blonde that she has been thinking about nonstop all day long - despite the current circumstances that they are under right now with Matt not exactly talking to her.

But sadly for Caroline, she didn't get the response that she hoped and wanted as Matt, once again, completely ignored her presence like he did this morning. The blonde human teenager only gave Caroline a side glance before he continued to walk through the packed out Mystic Grill and went to greet a blonde girl that they go to school with.

"Things just got real awkward," the Bennett witch mumbled after a moment of intense silence had settled between the four quiet teenagers in the loud Mystic Grill as they all watched as the Donovan teenager ignored the Forbes vampire.

Once Emily was shook out of the disbelief of Matt's behavior, the human Petrova doppelganger swiftly released her arm from her twin's and walked over to her saddened best friend. "Hey," Emily softly uttered as she placed her hand onto the blonde vampire's upper arm before she whispered, "it'll be okay."

Caroline finally moved her eyes off of Matt when she heard the human girl's voice before she stared into the calm green eyes of her best friend. "Will it?" The Forbes vampire desperately questioned out of exhaustion. Caroline felt like she couldn't do anything right when it comes to Matt. She just didn't know how she was suppose to make everything go back to the way they used to be when they were happy together.

"Well," Bonnie exclaimed as she bumped her hip into the blonde vampire's to get her attention before she gave Caroline a pointed look and stated to hopefully help her best friend understand what she needed to do, "he did say the ball's in your court."

A deep frown immediately rose onto Caroline's face as she stare at the Bennett witch before she swiftly mumbled while she shook her head, "yeah, but I can't do anything about it." The Forbes vampire felt like every time that she tries to make it work with Matt, he just always walks away from her or he just completely ignores her like he just did.

Bonnie rose an amused eyebrow at the Forbes vampire before she interrogated, "why not?" The Bennett witch didn't even bother waiting for another excuse from her best friend as she was tired of Caroline chickening out before she quickly added, "all you do is talk about how much you care about him."

Caroline moved her saddened blue eyes away from the smiling Matt, once again, before she looked over to Bonnie and exclaimed tiredly, "yeah, but I am still keeping so many secrets." It was like every time Caroline even thought about trying to get Matt to understand that she wants him, it just causes more piled up lies and secrets that she can't exactly tell him about without telling him about the supernatural world.

The group of four best friends all went silent after the blonde vampire's statement as the three other girls knew that Caroline is right. "Alaric is in the same boat with Jenna," the Gilbert vampire exclaimed after a moment had passed before she told Caroline, "and maybe that's our mistake. We're trying to protect the people that we love by keeping them out of it, but in the end, we're hurting them anyway."

Emily nodded her head in agreement with her twin sister. It was the hard truth about what they are doing with the people they love; for the Gilberts and Alaric it's Jenna and for Caroline it's Matt. "I know you feel scared right now, Care," the human girl began as she rubbed her best friend's shoulder, "but that boy loves you more than anything in this world. You just need to show him that you are invested into the relationship." Emily then gave Caroline a bright smile as she squeezed the vampire's arm before she exclaimed truthfully as she knows what it is like to feel so in love with someone, "the only way for Matt to know that you're here for the long haul is to put your heart on the line and show him how you feel."

The Forbes vampire stared into her best friend's confident green eyes for a couple of seconds as she absorbed the advice of the human girl before Caroline finally nodded her head while she hurriedly began to pull off her grey jacket as she knew exactly what she needed to do to get Matt's attention.

"Uh, what are you doing?" The Gilbert vampire inquired in confusion before she glanced between Bonnie and Emily to see if they knew what was going on. However, Elena didn't get the answer she wanted from her fellow vampire as Caroline only tossed her jacket at her without a single word. "Where are you going?" The brown eyed vampire confusingly questioned, once again, as she watched Caroline walk away before she glanced at the two girls beside her and asked them, "what is she doing?"

Emily grinned proudly as she watched her best friend walk towards the band on the front stage. The human girl then briefly turned her body to look at Elena and shot her twin sister a large smirk before she explained to the clueless vampire about what Caroline was about to do, "she's going to get her man."

"Hey, everybody," the Forbes vampire nervously uttered into the microphone once she took a step onto the stage. "Let's hear it for the band!" Caroline shouted before everyone began to cheer as she tried to gain the courage to speak from her heart in front of the whole town of Mystic Falls.

"This isn't going to end well," the newly arrived strawberry blonde woman mumbled once she stepped into line beside her oldest niece while she watched as the young teenager, who was having relationship problems like she is, jump onto the stage with some sort of plan.

Emily squeezed her aunt's arm like she did with her blonde best friend with a small smile before she wondered softly, "how are you doing?" The human Petrova doppelganger knew Jenna couldn't be doing good since she left Alaric at the bar and is now back hanging around teenagers.

The tipsy strawberry blonde woman only shrugged her shoulders as she didn't feel like talking about Alaric anymore before she swiftly handed her oldest niece a shot of tequila. "Drink with me," Jenna ordered before she bumped her shot glass with Emily's as she didn't give her niece an option.

Emily silently nodded her head as she knew that Jenna just needed to drink and ignore her feelings for a while. It was just something that she needed to do right now to help her heal. Emily would never turn down alcohol, anyways, so the human girl mumbled, "to girls' night," before she swiftly downed the tequila with her aunt.

"So there's this guy," the Forbes vampire nervously began as she placed both of her hands around the microphone before she tried to find Matt in the audience, "and, uh, he told me to tell him how I feel about him." Caroline let out a small chuckle as she mumbled, "like it's so easy." The blonde vampire then took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she continued which made her even more anxious as she spoke in a fast and erratic voice, "um, you know, just cause I talk a lot doesn't mean I always know what I'm actually talking about. Ah, like now, I'm feeling loopy and I don't really know how to express myself."

However, before the Forbes vampire could even get the courage to tell Matt how she feels, the lead singer of the band walked up to her to take the microphone away from her. "I can sing," Caroline quickly uttered so the man wouldn't ruin her chances to express her feelings. The blonde vampire then hurriedly nodded her head as she anxiously uttered, "yeah! Yeah. You know what, I'm going to sing."

Back in the audience, the Gilbert vampire looked over to her aunt, sister, and best friend in shock once she heard what Caroline was about to do. "Sing?" Elena gaped in disbelief as she had never even heard the blonde vampire sing in her entire life.

Emily shot her family and the Bennett witch a bright grin before she told them, "just wait and watch the magic happen." The human girl was the only one in their group that knew about Caroline's heavenly voice. It's Caroline's secret talent that she thought wasn't that good - which Emily completely disagreed with. "Go Caroline!" The brunette girl shouted through the silent audience once she turned back around and noticed the anxious expression on Caroline's face to help give the blonde vampire the confidence that she needed.

Caroline gave her best friend a small smile as she nodded her head before she closed her blue eyes and began to sing the familiar song by The Bangles as she prayed Matt would finally understand how she truly feels about him with the lyrics of the song, "close your eyes, give me your hand, darling. Do you feel my heart beating?"

"She's good!" Jenna yelled over the sound of the blonde teenager's soft but sweet voice as she glanced over towards her oldest niece with a pleased smile. The strawberry blonde woman couldn't help but be completely surprised by the young girl's singing voice. It was definitely different from anything she has ever heard before.

Emily bumped her hip into her aunt's with a smirk before she told Jenna and the two girls beside her with a proud smile adoring her face, "I told you so." The human girl was so proud of Caroline right now that she felt like a mom. "That's my best friend!" Emily couldn't help but shout as she cheered for the blonde vampire. The human girl then grabbed her aunt's hand and twirled her around as she wanted Jenna to feel better about her current problem with Ric while Elena and Bonnie also did the same thing as they began to dance as well.

However while she and Jenna moved to the soft music, Emily noticed a familiar pair of blue eyes looking in their direction when the strawberry blonde twirled her around. The human girl then instantly nodded her head towards the stage and mouthed to the blonde teenager, "go." Emily knew Matt just needed a little nudge and she was not just going to let Caroline put her heart on the line with zero reward - even though she already knew Matt felt the exact same way.

The Donovan teenager gave the brunette girl a small but thankful smile as he knew without a single doubt that Caroline was serious about them since Emily was encouraging him to speak to the girl of his dreams. Matt then took a deep breath to calm his nerves before he swiftly walked towards the stage with complete determination to express his feelings to Caroline.

The Forbes vampire instantly froze in her spot once she finished singing, opened her blue eyes, and saw the human teenager rushing towards her. "Matt...I..." Caroline began to try to explain how she feels but before she could even say anything else, the Donovan teenager surprised her as he swiftly placed his warm lips onto her cold ones for a passionate kiss.

"Woo!" The human girl instantly cheered with her aunt once they had stopped dancing and saw Caroline and Matt embrace each other. Emily was happy that her friends were finally together and that they finally expressed how they really feel for one another. _They both deserve to be happy_ , Emily thought. Caroline especially does with all the stuff that she deals with while being a vampire and trying to keep her vampire-hating mother and the clueless Donovan safe from the dangers of the supernatural world. That is all Emily has ever wanted for her family and friends; for them to just be happy. So the human Petrova doppelganger was glad that at least something good was coming out of their girls' night.


	56. The One When Katherine Helps

It had been about three hours since the happy couple of Matthew Donovan and Caroline Forbes had confessed their feelings for one another in front of the whole town and Mystic Grill was still pumping with positive and fun energy as the alternative rock band continued to play their upbeat music. It felt like the first time in forever, in Emily's opinion, that everyone was having fun and actually enjoying themselves as she and Jenna were having a good time - thanks to Jose Cuervo, along with Bonnie and Elena, who has been dancing and laughing all night.

Currently, though, the human Petrova doppelganger and the Bennett witch were taking a small break from their fun as they were heading towards the restrooms. Emily had to go because of all of the alcohol she had consumed with her aunt while Bonnie was going because she's searching for the Gilbert vampire, who had disappeared about twenty minutes ago.

However, before the two teenage girls could even enter the hallway to the restrooms, the missing Gilbert vampire quickly warned them from her spot against the wall, "I wouldn't go in there." Once her twin sister and best friend turned to the sound of her voice and walked towards her, Elena began to explain before she awkwardly trailed off, "Caroline and Matt are..."

"In the bathroom!?" The Bennett witch swiftly exclaimed in shock once she placed the pieces together and realized what Elena was trying to tell her and Emily as the Gilbert vampire was pointing her head towards the direction of the women's restrooms.

Elena chuckled as she nodded her head before she stated with a simple shrug of her shoulders, "if they're happy, I'm happy." The Gilbert vampire did wish they would have put a sign on the door or something, though, so she wouldn't have to see them making out. Caroline and Matt are her friends, but it was just too weird for Elena to have to see all that.

The three teenagers couldn't help but burst out into laughter a second later at the fact that Caroline and Matt got caught being all lovey dovey with each other just hours after finally confessing their feelings to one another. _We are definitely going to tease Caroline about it later_ , Emily thought.

The vampire, the witch, and the human girl then began to walk back towards the party once they had calmed down as they knew there was no way of getting into the restrooms anytime soon. However, before the Gilbert sisters could reach their aunt Jenna at the bar, the Bennett witch instantly stopped their movements when Bonnie uttered nervously, "um, hey, speaking of happy." The Bennett witch gave Emily and Elena an anxious smile once the sisters faced her before she hurriedly asked so she wouldn't chicken out, "would it freak you guys out if I started dating your brother?"

Elena glanced between her best friend and twin sister in confusion before she stared only at Bonnie with her brows deeply furrowed. "You're into our brother?" The Gilbert vampire interrogated in disbelief. Elena didn't even know that Jeremy and Bonnie were friends to begin with, so it shocked the Gilbert vampire that they are into each other like that.

Emily crossed her arms over her red long sleeve shirt and leather jacket as she stared her serious green eyes directly at the Bennett witch. "And you didn't think to mention this earlier when we were all dancing?" The human girl questioned with an emotionless voice as she decided to freak Bonnie out for a little bit. _It is our duty as the older sisters,_ Emily thought as she unnoticeably bumped her hip into Elena's to secretly tell her to play along.

"I know. I'm sorry," Bonnie quickly apologized as she looked over at the human girl before she anxiously uttered, "it's weird, um, but he's been so good and strong." The Bennett witch couldn't help the smile that began to pull onto her lips as she spoke about Jeremy and the fact that she was finally telling her friends the truth as she added, "he makes me happy." Bonnie then took a nervous deep breath when she saw the sisters weren't saying anything before she mumbled, "and I really can't tell what you guys are thinking right now."

The Gilbert vampire glanced at her twin sister for a moment as they silently conversed before she turned and faced Bonnie with a small smile and uttered, "I'm thinking that our brother has had more pain in his life than a hundred people's worth of pain." Elena then shot Emily another look, which caused them to both nod their heads before the Gilbert vampire finally gave Bonnie her blessings, "and he deserves to be with someone as amazing as you."

Emily briefly placed her hand onto Bonnie's shoulder as she gave her best friend a bright smile to help calm her nerves. "Lena's right," the human girl told the Bennett witch once she took her place back beside her sister before she explained, "all I have ever wanted for Jer is to be happy, so if you are the reason for why he's happy then I'm completely on board."

Bonnie looked between the two sisters for a moment as she tried to figure out if they were being sincere before she asked with a hint of excitement in her voice, "really?" The Bennett witch was feeling a ray of emotions right now but most of all, she was happy that the sisters, her best friends, weren't mad that she wanted to be with their brother - which she was most afraid of.

The Gilbert vampire immediately nodded her head and uttered with a happy grin, "really," while the human girl also stated, "of course," at the exact same time like they always do. The three best friends then stared at one another before they swiftly broke out into a chuckle and pulled each other into one big hug. However, though, their embrace didn't last as long as they would have liked as someone's cell phone began to loudly vibrate.

Emily quickly pulled away from their tight embrace once she recognized the heartbeat vibrating ringtone before she mumbled, "that's mine." The human girl then pulled out her cell phone from her leather jacket pocket and saw that Stefan was calling her. "Finally," Emily mumbled before she told her twin sister and best friend, "it's Stef. I'll be right back."

The Gilbert girl pushed the accept button on her cell phone and brought it up to her right ear once she began to walk towards the side door of the Grill as she knew she wouldn't be able to hear anything with the sound of the loud music playing. "Hey, babe," Emily greeted her boyfriend once she stepped out into the quiet night before she wondered with a chuckle, "where are you? You're missing all of the fun."

The younger Salvatore was way past their normal pleasantries as he swiftly told the human girl what he had found out when the warlock showed up a few minutes ago, "Luka is dead and Jonas is on his way to find you. He wants to get even." Stefan then anxiously ran his hand through his already messy brown hair and took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down before he ordered, "we have a plan, but I need you to grab Elena and meet me behind the Grill."

The human girl mumbled an emotionless, "okay," before she could only hear the dial tone on the end of the line as the vampire hung up. Emily felt like she was frozen as she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. It shocked Emily about what has been going on while she had been having fun with her family and best friends. However, Emily knew she shouldn't be that surprised since Jonas is working with Elijah - who is now dead, so of course he would come after her.

Finally after a few minutes of standing there all alone, Emily gained the strength that she needed to focus before she swiftly jogged her way back into Mystic Grill. The human girl knew she needed to be on the lookout for the angry warlock, so once Emily got into the main part of the Grill, she carefully looked around while she also kept her body hidden behind a thick pillar.

 _Crap,_ the Gilbert girl instantly cursed once she looked near the bar and saw that Bonnie was speaking with the warlock that is currently after her. _This is not good,_ Emily thought once she hid her whole body behind the pillar while she took a deep breath to calm her nerves from the possibility of getting caught by the warlock.

It took the human girl about a minute or two of her standing there in silence before she finally felt calm enough to keep on going with her task. Emily knew she couldn't just chicken out as that wasn't something she does. She faces things no matter how dangerous it is, so the brunette girl took another deep breath before she slowly moved her green eyes around the pillar and began her search, once more, for her twin sister through the sea of people in Mystic Grill.

"Hey..." The puzzled voice of Elena Gilbert called out as she slowly walked up behind her twin sister in confusion as it looked like Emily was either concealing herself from someone or was playing hide and seek by the way her body was positioned. "What are you doing?" The Gilbert vampire amusingly wondered with a small chuckle.

Emily flinched at the intruding voice from behind her before the human girl instantly let out a sigh when she saw it was the person that she is looking for. "Thank God," the green eyed girl mumbled and stated, "we have a problem," before she swiftly grabbed Elena's hand and began to pull her towards the back door of Mystic Grill as quickly as she could as she prayed Jonas wouldn't notice them.

Elena glanced over to her twin sister in confusion once they came to a stop in the middle of the alley behind the Grill and went to question her. But before the Gilbert vampire could utter a single word, a growl immediately escaped her mouth when she saw Emily take a couple of steps until she walked into Stefan's awaiting arms. However, that wasn't what angered Elena. No, it was the person standing between the Salvatore brothers; Katherine Pierce. "What the hell is she doing here?" Elena snapped as she pointed her finger in disgust at her doppelganger.

"Hey, hey, hey," the older Salvatore vampire quickly uttered as he stepped in front of his angry girlfriend and blocked her from seeing Katherine. "You need to relax," Damon told Elena as he stared directly into her fierce brown eyes while he softly placed his hands on either side of the young vampire's face to hopefully keep Elena subdued from doing anything irrational.

"She's here to help," Stefan explained to the Gilbert vampire once the dark alley grew quiet with a tense silence while he held the human girl tightly in his arms. The younger Salvatore then placed a long kiss on top of Emily's head as he had been so worried about her, especially with not being able to see her for most of the day, before he further explained to the confused and angry Gilbert vampire, "Jonas is here and he's after Emily."

Elena's brown eyes immediately widened in shock before she swiftly glanced at each face around the alley from Stefan, to Emily, to Damon, and finally Katherine. Once the Gilbert vampire realized that they weren't joking around or pranking her, Elena quickly asked in concern, "what are we supposed to do?" The Gilbert vampire was extremely worried instead of angry now that she knew the warlock is after her twin sister. She didn't even care about the reason as Elena just wanted to know how she is suppose to protect Emily.

Stefan moved his green eyes over to the silent Katherine before he explained the plan to the Gilbert twins, "Katherine is going to take Elena's place and she and Emily are going to confront Jonas while the three of us gets everyone to safety." The younger Salvatore wasn't really a fan of the plan since he didn't trust Katherine, but he knew they didn't have time to think of anything else.

However, it did take some convincing, though, before Stefan and Damon finally agreed with the plan after Katherine had explained that Emily would be more safer with her since she is so much more older and stronger than they are, so she would be able to protect Emily better while also dealing with a powerful warlock.

"Are you crazy!?" The Gilbert vampire gaped in shock as she stared across at Stefan in disbelief. There was no way Elena was just going to let Katherine be the person in charge of protecting her twin sister against Jonas. _If anyone is going to protect Emily, then it is going to be me,_ Elena thought as she glared at her sister's boyfriend.

The silent Petrova vampire rolled her brown eyes at her annoying doppelganger as she couldn't hold back any longer before she took a step closer to the group and exclaimed irritatedly like she had explained to the Salvatore brothers why she is the better option to getting Emily to safety, "I'm stronger and faster than all of you combined. I can withstand a weak little warlock." Katherine then pointed her head towards her sister's doppelganger before she continued as she tried to get Elena to understand, "you don't trust me, fine. But the one thing you should trust is that I will keep Emily safe no matter what."

Katherine may not be their biggest fan, but she is always going to protect Darina's doppelganger like she promised. It is the least she could do for her twin sister and follow through with the plan that Maria and Darina had set into place for the human doppelganger centuries ago. That is the main reason for Katherine's irritation with the vampires in Mystic Falls as they didn't believe that she really wants to help like Elena is currently doing. But Katherine wasn't just going to let these weak, young vampires ruin the one good thing that she can do for her deceased twin sister.

The Gilbert vampire stared across at Katherine for a moment as she tried to figure out if Katherine is telling the truth. However, Elena knew how good of a liar Katherine is, so instead she turned her brown gaze over to her silent twin sister. Emily has always been her voice of reason through everything, so Elena wanted to see what her twin had to say about all this. "Do you agree with this plan? Do you trust Katherine?" The Gilbert vampire wondered as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Emily bit down on her bottom lip as she looked at her twin sister. The human girl knew what Elena wanted her to say as she doesn't trust Katherine, but Emily knew the older vampire was right. It was the only way that everyone would be able to get to safety, so Emily knew it was their only option. "We're sticking with the plan," the human doppelganger finally muttered with a nod of her head. Emily only cared about protecting everyone, so if she has to face a warlock with Katherine then she will gladly do so.

Elena immediately released a heavy sigh when her twin sister agreed with Katherine's plan. The Gilbert vampire hated that Emily was so willing to trust Katherine with her life like that, but Elena knew that they need to act fast before Jonas does something bad or gets angrier. So instead of arguing like she wanted as she only trusts herself with Emily's safety, Elena mumbled in defeat, "okay."

The Petrova vampire instantly clapped her hands together with a large smirk now that everyone was on board with her plan. Katherine then moved to stand in the middle of the group like the queen she is as she began to tell her disheartened doppelganger as she glanced down at the jeans and grey sweater on her body, "since I'm already wearing your ugly clothes," before she glanced over to the annoyed Elena's neck and concluded with a twitch of her head, "I'm just gonna need that necklace that you are wearing."

Elena couldn't help but instantly place her fingers protectively over the silver necklace resting on her chest with a deep frown. The Gilbert vampire didn't want to give Katherine the piece of jewelry as it holds a picture of her parents and siblings. Elena had been wearing the necklace ever since she had transitioned into a vampire as it's the only thing that keeps her anchored to her true self and keeps her human.

However, though, as Elena stood there in silence with the silver necklace clutched in her hand while she stared over at her twin sister in Stefan's arms, the Gilbert vampire couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh once she realized that Katherine is right. This will be the only way that they are really going to be able to fool Jonas in thinking that Katherine is her, so Elena slowly reached to pull off the one thing that keeps her anchored to her family as she only cares about making sure Emily will be safe.

"Thank you," Katherine uttered condescendingly once Elena had finally gave her the necklace or when she had just snatched the necklace from her doppelganger as she had grown tired of waiting. The Petrova vampire then strutted over to her favorite Gilbert after she placed the silver piece of jewelry around her neck before she exclaimed with a smirk, "now you have a fun sister."

A loud growl immediately rang throughout the dark alleyway behind Mystic Grill as soon as Katherine placed her hand onto Emily's arm which came from the youngest vampire; Elena Gilbert. She just couldn't control her emotions as Elena felt a wave of jealousy crash into her. Elena hated how easily Katherine can just take her spot as Emily's sister.

So being the protective and emotional vampire she is over her twin sister, Elena harshly slammed her shoulder into Katherine's and growled, "if my sister gets hurt, you're dead," before she pulled Emily into a tight hug. The Gilbert vampire held her twin in her arms for a minute or two before she finally pulled away and stared into Emily's eyes with concern in her own. "Be careful," Elena worriedly whispered while she ignored Katherine's taunting and smirking from beside her as she solely focused on the fact that Emily was about to face an angry warlock without her.

The human Petrova doppelganger gave her twin sister a small smile before she pulled Elena into another hug as she silently tried to assure the vampire that everything would be okay. Emily held Elena in her arms for a moment in the middle of the alleyway before she whispered into the vampire's ear, "you're my only sister."

The human girl knew how Elena could get, especially when it comes to Katherine, so Emily just wanted to make sure Elena didn't get too worked up before they go through with the plan. Once Emily felt Elena's shoulders relax, which told her that the vampire was calming down, she slowly pulled away before she looked into Elena's brown eyes and uttered as they didn't know what could happen tonight, "you be careful too."

The Gilbert vampire silently nodded her head as she stared into Emily's green eyes as Elena knew nothing would completely calm her nerves down about allowing Katherine to be in charge of keeping her twin sister safe - despite what Emily thought. Elena didn't trust anyone with her twin sister, so there was no chance she was ever going to be okay with this. But the Gilbert vampire knew Emily was worried about her, so Elena only gave her twin a small smile before she was unfortunately pulled away from Emily by her boyfriend. It _'s probably for the best,_ Elena thought as she knew it would be hard for her to let her twin sister go without some help.

Once Elena was pulled away from the human doppelganger and forced a couple of steps down the dark alleyway by Damon, the younger Salvatore swiftly twisted Emily around so he would be able to look into his favorite pair of eyes. Stefan then softly brought his cold hands to the brunette girl's warm cheeks for a moment before he leaned down and pulled Emily into a passionate and loving kiss.

The green eyed vampire had been worried about the human girl ever since he had found out about Jonas's plan, so he definitely didn't want to leave Emily's side, like Elena, but Stefan knew it would be the only way to get Emily to safety. Therefore, instead of trying to convince Emily to come with him, like he usually would in a situation like this, Stefan just put all of his emotions into their kiss before he pulled away and uttered softly, "stay safe." Stefan then squeezed the human girl's shoulders and commanded in a deadly serious voice, "if things get too bad with Jonas, I want you to run. I don't care about Katherine, just make sure you get out of there."

Emily gave Stefan a small but comforting smile before she joked with a smirk while she aimlessly played with the vampire's right hand, "you know I have the tenacity to find danger, so that might be a problem." The Gilbert girl knew she was about to walk into something dangerous, but she couldn't help but make a joke. It just makes her feel a little bit more calmer if she can make someone smile - which she did as she saw the corner of Stefan's lips turn into a half smile. Emily then grew serious after a moment of silence as she remembered who is still in the Grill as she ordered, "make sure you guys get Jenna out of here," before the human girl pulled the Salvatore vampire into one last kiss and uttered softly, "I love you. Be careful."

The Salvatore vampire nodded his head as he rubbed the side of the human girl's face and whispered, "I love you too," before he laid a soft kiss onto Emily's forehead. Stefan stayed like that for a couple of minutes as he didn't want to let go. But unfortunately for the couple, they were soon interrupted by the sound of the oldest doppelganger loudly clearing her throat.

Stefan squeezed the human girl's hand once he pulled away from their embrace as he offered Emily some last second assurance before the Salvatore vampire turned around and faced Katherine with a glare. "If anything happens to her, you're dead," Stefan threatened the older vampire like Elena had before he swiftly turned around and joined Elena and Damon to get everyone out of Mystic Grill and to safety.

"Yeah, yeah," Katherine shouted towards the three vampires with an eye roll before she mumbled as she remembered all of the threats that she had gotten from Stefan and Damon before they left the boarding house, "I've heard it all before." Katherine's mood then immediately changed, despite her careless attitude with the vampires, once she was all alone with the human doppelganger.

"You don't have to worry about a thing," Katherine assured the human girl with a small nod of her head as she looked at Emily with soft eyes. "I know you probably don't like me," the Petrova vampire mumbled before she stated, "but I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Katherine then placed her hand over her unbeating heart and uttered truthfully, "I see you like my own sister, so if Jonas tries anything, I got you, okay?"

The Petrova vampire has always felt connected to the human girl ever since she had laid eyes on her sister's doppelganger. So, there was no way Katherine was going to allow a weak warlock to hurt Emily along with the fact that Katherine wants to make sure Darina and Maria's plan goes off without a hitch and that means protecting Emily and making sure that she stays alive.

Emily confusingly stared into Katherine's brown eyes for a moment as she could never figure Katherine out. It felt like every time she knew what Katherine was planning, the vampire would surprise her. However, Emily didn't have time to question Katherine about her motive as they have an angry warlock to face, so the human girl just mumbled out, "I trust you."

Emily felt like Katherine would do good by her anyways, because of the stupid doppelganger connection that Darina had cursed her with. It was the same with Elijah as the human girl felt like she could trust them because of how Darina cared for them. Well, that was how Emily was thinking the doppelganger connection worked, but Emily knew it probably goes deeper than that.

The Petrova vampire gave the human girl a large smirk once Emily was fully on board with her plan before she murmured, "good." Katherine then held out her hand and exclaimed with an even larger smirk, "let's go, dear sister," before she linked her fingers with Emily's like Elena would and began to pull her sister's doppelganger into Mystic Grill to face the Martin warlock.

The human girl and the vampire walked as quickly as they could through the backdoor of the restaurant before they finally reached the center of the Grill and immediately saw the destruction Jonas had caused like the bar being set on fire and furniture destroyed while the human residents ran for the exits with the help of the three vampires; Stefan, Damon, and Elena.

The two doppelgangers stood to the side for a couple of minutes as they silently watched the disaster of the Grill before Katherine gave Emily a small nod and squeezed her hand which gave the human girl the confidence she needed to finally confront the warlock. The green eyed girl took a deep breath to calm herself before she took a step towards the destruction and called out to get the warlock's attention, "Jonas!"

The Gilbert girl knew that she needed to get the warlock to focus on her so everyone could escape, so Emily decided to focus on the compassionate side of the warlock. "I'm so sorry about what happened tonight to your son," Emily apologized with sorrow in her green eyes as she didn't even know that Luka was a threat to them. But instead of focusing on that, Emily decided to keep the warlock's attention solely on her as she exclaimed, "I can't fix that, but I can help you get your daughter back if you just help us defeat Klaus."

The Martin warlock swiftly shook her his head while he angrily pointed his finger at the human doppelganger. "Only Elijah can do that!" Jonas shouted.

Emily softly placed her hand over her heart as she took a step closer towards Jonas before she uttered gently, "I thought that too. But if we work together, we can stop Klaus and save your daughter." The Gilbert girl would, in fact, want to have Elijah to help them but she knew that wasn't really an option right now, so Emily kept her feelings and opinions to herself as she knew it would just anger the warlock even more since her friends are the reason why the original isn't around right now.

The human Petrova doppelganger thought her words were comforting and would be able to keep the warlock calm, but they actually had the opposite effect as Jonas swiftly lifted his hands towards the wooden banister beside Emily and caught it on fire out of anger like he did with the bar. The revenging warlock then turned his fierce dark brown eyes back onto the human doppelganger and who he thought was Elena before he went to step forward to get rid of the reason why his son is dead.

However, before Jonas could complete his attack on the Gilbert duo, the Forbes vampire instantly popped up from her hiding spot and jumped on top of the warlock with a loud and protective snarl. Caroline then turned around and faced her best friend and the vampire that turned her once she had the warlock down on the ground before she commanded with her vamped out face, "go!"

The human Petrova doppelganger nodded her head and went to follow after Caroline's command but before Emily could turn around, she noticed that the warlock was starting to get the upper hand. Emily just couldn't leave her best friend alone, so Emily ignored Caroline's order and began to look around her to hopefully help the blonde vampire get away from the warlock.

However, the ever so protective and caring human girl didn't get the chance to come up with a plan to help her best friend as Katherine quickly latched her hand onto Emily's wrist and commanded, "come on!" The Petrova vampire then began to pull the stubborn human girl out of the restaurant as she hurriedly promised, "Caroline can handle herself!"

Katherine's words were just what Emily needed to hear as she stopped dragging her feet and ran to keep up with Katherine's long legs while they rushed through the crowd of people. Emily hated leaving her best friend behind but Emily knew that she needed to remember that Caroline is a vampire and she is only a human, so there is times where she has to let someone else take charge.

"Emily!" The loud voice of the younger Salvatore shouted which interrupted the human girl's inner turmoil of leaving her best friend behind. Stefan jogged in front of the two doppelgangers in concern before he grabbed ahold of Emily's face. "Hey, are you okay?" The Salvatore worriedly asked as his green eyes began to scan the human girl's body for any signs of trauma.

"She's fine," Katherine snapped as her annoyance was back at the fact that no one believes that she would protect Emily. The Petrova vampire then turned her concerned brown eyes between Emily and the Grill as she just had this bad feeling in her stomach. "Jonas is still here, I'll take her home," Katherine told the Salvatore vampire as something just felt off to her. Katherine didn't know what it was but she knew it had something to do with the warlock and she wasn't going to chance Emily's safety.

Stefan looked at Katherine in confusion as he didn't understand the vampire's motive of wanting to help Emily so much. But the fact that Jonas could try to attack Emily was Stefan's bigger concern, so Stefan nodded his head before he turned his gaze onto the human girl. "We'll meet you there soon," the Salvatore vampire promised before he pulled Emily into a passionate and caring kiss.

The human girl squeezed Stefan's hand once their embrace ended and whispered, "be careful," before she was instantly pulled away by the Petrova vampire. Emily was extremely worried for Caroline and for Elena and for the Salvatore brothers, but she knew there was no way they were going to let her stay and help, so Emily just jogged as fast as she could towards her black Honda. The Gilbert girl just prayed as Katherine began to drive away from her loved ones that they would all be coming back to her instead of feeling the wrath of the Martin warlock.

* * *

 **GILBERT HOUSE**

It took a little less than eight minutes instead of the usual fifteen minutes before Emily arrived back home thanks to Katherine's crazy fast-and-the-furious driving. The human girl took a deep breath once her black Honda was finally stopped. Emily knows she drives fast, but Katherine drives at a whole nother level.

The Petrova vampire immediately rolled her brown eyes after she turned off the car and had noticed the tired and relieved expression on the human girl's face. "Oh, come on," Katherine muttered before she exclaimed with a smirk, "my driving isn't that bad."

The black Honda then grew silent after a moment, so Katherine pulled the keys out of the ignition and handed them to the human girl with a quiet mumble, "here," before Katherine vamp sped around until she was in front of Emily's door. The Petrova vampire still had this bad feeling in her chest and she wanted to make sure Emily was actually safe, so Katherine helped the human girl out of the car before she quietly walked Emily to the front door of the Gilbert house while she also made sure the angry warlock wasn't planning any sneak attacks that would ruin Darina and Maria's plan for the human doppelganger.

Once the human girl and the vampire silently made their way onto the porch of the Gilbert house, Emily dug through her leather jacket pocket for the keys that Katherine had gave her before she unlocked the front door. The human girl then immediately let out a heavy sigh once she was inside the safety of her home. Emily hadn't realized just how tired she was after the long day at school, dancing all night, and of course the whole warlock problem. So the only thing Emily wanted to do right now is get out of these dirty clothes and go to sleep for a couple of days.

However, the human girl's slumber would have to wait because as soon as Emily walked towards the living room to place her jacket on the couch, two pairs of footsteps came rushing towards her before a warm pair of arms were swiftly wrapped around Emily's waist. "Thank God you're okay," the familiar voice of Bonnie Bennett whispered into her best friend's ear.

Once the two friends pulled away from each other, Emily only had the chance to give Bonnie an assuring smile before she was swiftly pulled into her brother's arms as well. "I'm glad you're okay," Jeremy told his older sister before he pulled away. But unlike Bonnie, Jeremy didn't give Emily a smile as he noticed who was standing behind her. "What is she doing here?" The younger Gilbert snapped as he glared over at the vampire who's always terrorizing their family and friends.

The Petrova vampire instantly moved to stand beside her favorite Gilbert once she was finally noticed as she couldn't help but want to cause trouble like she always does. Katherine then gave the human teenager and the Bennett witch a wide smirk before she crossed her arms over her chest and exclaimed, "i'm saving your asses."

The living room of the Gilbert house was immediately overcome by a thick and tense silence after Katherine's statement which instantly caused the human doppelganger to roll her green eyes after she noticed Jeremy's glaring and Katherine's smirking. Emily was definitely in no mood to deal with their arguing, so the human girl let out a tired and heavy sigh before she told the two supernatural beings and her brother, "I'm going to go get out of these clothes." The Gilbert girl scrunched up her nose when she caught a whiff of her red long sleeved shirt before she added, "they smell like fire."

However, before Emily could make her way towards the staircase to finally get out of her clothes that were ruined by the warlock and his angry tendencies of setting everything on fire, the Petrova vampire swiftly latched her fingers around Emily's wrist. The Gilbert girl looked back over to Jeremy and Bonnie in confusion, who were also puzzled, once she realized she couldn't move before she connected her eyes to the person that was holding her with a raised eyebrow as Emily didn't understand why Katherine was still being so protective.

The Petrova vampire didn't say anything right away like the human girl thought she would. Instead, Katherine silently placed her point finger over her lips while she glanced between the two Gilbert siblings and the Bennett witch before she pointed towards the staircase.

Katherine had heard footsteps from upstairs as soon as the doppelganger moved, and Katherine knew it could only be one person since Elena and the Salvatore brothers were still at the Grill. The Petrova vampire knew she needed to still live up to her Elena facade, so Katherine gave the three teenagers a pointed look before she exclaimed loudly as she placed her hand onto Emily's shoulder, "I'll come with you, sister."

The human girl was extremely puzzled as she didn't understand what was going on. Emily didn't know if it was because she is exhausted or she is actually going crazy, but the Gilbert girl just couldn't figure out what Katherine was thinking right now. So instead of trying to figure it out, Emily straight up told Katherine as she didn't have time for all these games when all she wanted to do was to sleep, "you know, you don't have to keep -"

However, before Emily could tell Katherine that she didn't have to keep pretending to be her sister, the Petrova vampire swiftly placed her hand over the human girl's mouth. Once Emily finally stopped fighting her, Katherine then pulled away and mouthed, 'Jonas,' to let the human girl know what was going on.

The Petrova vampire linked her fingers with Emily's once the human girl nodded her head in understanding before she loudly stated so the warlock still believes that she is Elena, "I think I left my jacket in your room." Katherine then gave the two teenagers behind them another look before turning back to Emily with a small nod and whispered, "trust me," before she slowly began to pull the human girl up the stairs to face the warlock.

The two Petrova doppelgangers silently walked up the wooden staircase of the Gilbert house as quietly as they could so they wouldn't spook the angry warlock. But once they reached the long hallway that connects all the rooms, Katherine held her hand up and used her advanced hearing. The Petrova vampire listened for a couple of seconds before she smirked as she realized where Jonas is located.

Katherine squeezed the human girl's hand to get Emily's attention, so she could silently tell the human girl the plan before she pointed towards the bathroom, where she can hear the heavy breathing of the warlock. The Petrova vampire then released Emily's hand after the Gilbert girl nodded in agreement before she began to make her way towards the human girl's bedroom. Katherine knew the bedroom connects to the bathroom, so if Jonas was planning to attack, she could quickly take him out before he does any damage to her sister's doppelganger.

Once the human girl watched Katherine walk into her bedroom, Emily took a shaky deep breath as she knew she was about to walk into a trap. However, Emily knew she couldn't back out now or Jonas might try to hurt her family, so the brunette girl took a silent deep breath as she tried to focus her mind.

The Gilbert girl figured it would be best to act like everything is normal and that there wasn't a warlock currently waiting to kill her, so Emily decided to act how she usually would in this situation which would be annoyed and irritated by the fact that Jonas ruined her outfit by throwing a fit with fiery flames.

And that is exactly what Emily did as she let out a loud irritated growl before she slammed the door open to the bathroom. "Stupid fire," Emily mumbled as she played along with her plan before she moved herself in front of the large mirror above the sink before she began to strip out of her smelly leather jacket.

The human doppelganger's plan worked perfectly as after she placed her jacket onto the counter top and looked back into the mirror, Jonas appeared right over her shoulder before he began to try to strangle her. Emily knew this was the chance Katherine needed, so Emily quickly yelled before the warlock could kill her, "now!"

Katherine swiftly vamp sped into the bathroom at the sound of Emily's panicky voice before she noticed the situation. The Petrova vampire then quickly grabbed the neck of the warlock before she pulled him off of the human girl and threw him at the adjacent wall. Katherine let out a loud growl as her protective self came out before her inner monster took over as her face transformed which caused her to speed towards the warlock and attack his throat with her long fangs.

Emily backed up against the sink as she couldn't help but watch as Katherine took care of the warlock. It was like she couldn't take her eyes off of her doppelganger's sister no matter how bloody it got. Thankfully, Emily didn't have to be scarred for much longer as the Bennett witch came rushing into the bathroom a second later.

Once Katherine couldn't feel the warlock breathing, the Petrova vampire stood up from the ground, where she noticed the witch beside the human girl. "You're welcome," Katherine uttered with a large smirk as she watched the shocked expression on the Bennett witch's face. The Petrova vampire then moved her now soft brown eyes over to Emily as she wanted to make sure the human girl didn't get harmed.

Despite her careless attitude with everything she does, Katherine was glad that the warlock was handled. The Petrova vampire didn't need some warlock, who was trying to kill her sister's doppelganger around to mess up Darina and Maria's plan just because he's trying to get his witch daughter back. Katherine only cared that everything goes perfectly and Emily continues to be alive, so she doesn't mind killing anyone who gets in her way.

The Bennett witch shot the Petrova vampire a fierce glare at her disregard of life before she quickly jogged towards the Martin warlock. "You didn't have to kill him," Bonnie told Katherine as she stared down at the dead warlock with anger and sadness. The Bennett witch hated when people died, but she was also disappointed as Jonas was the one that took her powers.

Katherine rolled her brown eyes at the goody-two-shoes witch before she wiped the blood of the warlock from her face with Elena's sweater and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes, we did," the Petrova vampire argued with the Bennett witch before her eyes trailed towards the human girl as thoughts of her twin sister began to takeover her mind.

Katherine felt like it is her duty to keep Emily protected no matter what as she didn't get that opportunity with Darina. She didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to her twin sister, so Katherine was going to make sure that she keeps the Gilbert girl alive and that she gets to make Darina proud by completing her and Maria's plan before the sacrifice. Katherine had failed her sister over the years, so it is the least she could do.

The Bennett witch huffed out a sigh as she stared over at the vampire and her best friend. Bonnie knew Katherine was right, even though she would never admit it, as Jonas would have really killed Emily since he was so headstrong on avenging his son. The young witch just couldn't help but feel bad for the warlock, so Bonnie moved down to her knees in front of Jonas as she wanted to pay her respects. However, when Bonnie brought her hand to the warlock's face to close his eyes, the Martin warlock sprung to life and instantly grabbed ahold of her face.

"Bonnie!" The human doppelganger instantly shouted as soon as she heard her best friend scream out of pain and noticed that Jonas was alive. Emily then went to go help the Bennett witch, but before she could even take a step, Katherine had already beaten her to it as the Petrova vampire snapped the warlock's neck.

The shared bathroom in the Gilbert house was immediately overcome by a thick silence as the three girls; Bonnie, Emily, and Katherine all glanced at one another before they all stared down at the officially dead warlock with heavy breaths. It was just so shocking as none of them saw it coming - not even the centuries old vampire.

Finally, after a couple of silent seconds had passed by, Emily was the first one to jump out of her state of disbelief as she quickly walked over to Bonnie, who looked like she was about to break down. "Are you okay?" Emily quickly asked as she searched through Bonnie's brown eyes for an answer, "what happened?"

However, the Bennett witch didn't give the human girl an answer as tears instantly began to spill from her brown eyes once she was in the comfort of her best friend. So instead of trying to speak, Bonnie threw herself into Emily's arms and cried for all of the pain and grief that she was feeling in just a short amount of time.

"What's going on?" The out of breath Jeremy asked once he rushed into the bathroom and saw the destruction of the dead warlock, the bloody Katherine, and his sister comforting the crying Bonnie. The youngest Gilbert had heard Bonnie screaming from downstairs and grew worried, so he wanted to check up on her and his sister as he was scared Katherine had done something.

Emily glanced over Bonnie's shoulder as she held her best friend closely and noticed her concerned brother. The human girl knew that Jeremy would probably be able to relax the Bennett witch now that there are together, so Emily told her brother, "I need you to help keep her calm."

The youngest Gilbert quickly nodded his head in agreement before he slowly helped the Bennett witch out of his sister's arms and into his. Jeremy then gave Emily a small nod to tell her that he will take care of her before he slowly began to pull the sobbing Bonnie towards his bedroom.

The human Petrova doppelganger immediately released a heavy sigh once she watched her brother walk the crying Bonnie out of the bathroom. Emily hated that her best friend was in so much pain because of the warlock that had tried to kill her. Emily just hoped Jeremy would be able to calm Bonnie down and figure out what happened to her.

Emily moved her green eyes over to Katherine once she was finally out of her thoughts and noticed that the Petrova vampire was already looking at her. The human girl then went to open her mouth as she felt the need to thank Katherine for tonight but before Emily could even utter a single word, she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing.

Emily didn't even think twice once she heard the sound of the arrival of someone in the Gilbert house before she jogged her way out of the bathroom and down the stairs as she knew exactly who was here. The human girl then instantly released a thankful sigh when she saw her twin sister and the Salvatore brothers injury-free as she had been worried that Jonas had done something to them at the Grill.

The younger Salvatore vamp sped up to the human girl before she even got the chance to reach the bottom of the stairs once he heard the familiar sound of her heartbeat before he swiftly pulled her into a tight hug. Stefan had been nervous to let Katherine be the protector over Emily ever since she disappeared from his sight, so Stefan was glad to finally have her in his arms again. Once Stefan finally pulled away from their embrace after a couple of silent and calm minutes had passed, he placed his hands on either side of Emily's face before he worriedly asked, "are you okay?"

However, before Emily had the chance to assure Stefan that she was okay, the Petrova vampire rolled her brown eyes at the younger Salvatore as she passed him and Emily while she walked down the stairs before she exclaimed, "she's safe like I said she would." Katherine then glanced towards the stairs with a smirk before she added with a careless shrug, "but you do have a dead warlock in the bathroom."

The Gilbert vampire instantly vamp sped to her twin sister and pushed Stefan to the side as soon as she heard Katherine mention that the warlock had been here. Elena had thought Jonas had just left when they couldn't find him inside the Grill. It frightened Elena that the warlock had been here with Emily, so she did the only thing she could do to assure herself that her twin sister was safe as she pulled Emily into a tight hug.

"You're okay," Elena whispered into her twin sister's ear as she continued to hold Emily tightly in her chest, "he can't get to you anymore." The Gilbert vampire felt like she needed to tell Emily these things, but in reality it was for her. It was basically the first time Elena hadn't been with her sister during a dangerous situation, besides the whole werewolf kidnapping ordeal, so it made Elena not to want to leave her twin sister's sight anytime soon as she was scared something would happen.

However, much to Elena's annoyance, the Gilbert twins were soon interrupted as the Petrova vampire walked up to the two sisters. "I'm guessing you're going to want this back," Katherine muttered as she ripped the locket necklace from her chest. The Petrova vampire then glanced down at the clothes that she's wearing before she added amusingly, "but your little outfit is going to need a good dry clean."

The Gilbert vampire let out a small growl at the disruption before she released her twin sister and turned around to face her doppelganger. Elena then swiftly ripped her necklace out of Katherine's hand before she exclaimed, "you need to leave before Jenna gets home."

Katherine crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow as she stared over at her doppelganger before a glare instantly transformed onto her face. "Is that all you have to say to me?" The Petrova vampire inquired to her ungrateful doppelganger.

Elena copied Katherine's stance as she crossed her arms over her chest before she exclaimed, "this doesn't change the way I feel about you." The Petrova vampire could help a million of times, but Elena was still never going to trust her or like her after all the crap Katherine had pulled on her friends and loved ones.

Katherine took a step closer to her doppelganger with her glare still fixed on her tan face before she told Elena irritatingly, "I don't much like you, either, if we're going to be open. And frankly, I'd be happy to see you dead." The Petrova vampire then glanced over to the silent Emily in Stefan's arms with a soft expression before she continued in a passionate voice, "but I'm here to protect her."

Katherine glanced at everyone in the room for a moment as she finally shared something of her past, "I didn't get the opportunity to protect my sister from Klaus," before she looked back to Elena with a glare and added with a smirk, "and you're doing a poor job of keeping Emily safe, so I'm doing it for you." Katherine then held out her arms to show that it didn't matter what they said before she told everyone in the Gilbert house, "you can hate me all you want, but that's not going to change a thing. I know you all think I'm lying, but if you are going to believe anything, then believe I'm really here to help keep Emily alive - no matter what."

The Gilbert house was barely silent for a half a second after Katherine's speech before a loud snarl escaped the youngest vampire's mouth. It made Elena so angry and jealous that Katherine keeps saying that she isn't protecting her twin sister and that she could do it better. So being the protective person she is over Emily, the Gilbert vampire went to rush at her doppelganger to attack her as she couldn't control her emotions.

However, before Elena could vamp speed towards Katherine and tackle her to the ground, the Gilbert vampire was instantly stopped when Emily quickly placed herself in front of her sister. "Hey, relax," Emily quickly told Elena before she added to hopefully convince Elena to stop trying to attack Katherine, "she's the only reason why I'm alive right now." The human girl then placed her hands onto Elena's shoulders and gave them a squeeze with a small smile when she felt Elena calm down before she uttered as Emily knew how protective Elena is, "you will always be my sister, no matter what, Elena." The human girl took a quick glance to Katherine before she continued to tell Elena but in a more serious voice, "but if we are going to beat Klaus, then we're going to need her help, okay?"

The Gilbert vampire immediately frowned deeply after she listened to what her twin sister had said. Elena hated that Emily was so willing to trust Katherine with her life like this, but Elena knew her doppelganger was their only option since she is the only one, besides Elijah and Rose, that has met Klaus. So, even though Elena didn't want to, she nodded her head in agreement before she swiftly pulled her twin sister into another hug and mumbled, "I'm glad you're okay."

Emily chuckled softly at her worried sister inside of their tight embrace. The human girl knew where Elena is coming from, though, as she would react the same way if Elena was in her position. So, instead of teasing Elena about how crazy and protective she's being, Emily kissed the top of her twin sister's forehead before she whispered, "I'm glad you are okay too."

It took at least three minutes or so before the Gilbert twins finally pulled away from one another in the middle of the hallway of their home. Emily gave her twin sister a reassuring smile once she was looking into Elena's brown eyes to assure her that she's really okay and safe. The human girl then turned her body around and looked over to her doppelganger's sister before she silently nodded her head towards the front door.

Once Emily, of course, assured the younger Salvatore that she would be okay with a quick kiss, the human girl followed after Katherine to the porch, where she found the Petrova vampire leaning against the white banister. Emily wanted to get Katherine out of the house for two reasons; so the vampires wouldn't all try to kill each other and because Emily had the need to thank Katherine for protecting her today.

"Uh, listen..." Emily awkwardly began as she didn't know exactly what to say while she looked over at the tall brunette vampire, "I know no one else will say this, so I will." The human girl then paused as she stared across at Katherine before she expressed, "I just wanted to thank you for keeping me safe today when you could have just let Jonas kill me."

A small smirk slowly slipped onto Katherine's face as she stared across at her sister's doppelganger before she murmured, "you're welcome." The Petrova vampire then stood her body straight as she stepped away from the banister and took a step closer to the human girl before she assured Emily, "you don't have to worry about a thing. You can always count on me to keep you safe."

The Petrova vampire stared across at the human girl for another minute or so as she tried to show with her facial expressions that she wasn't lying as she really did want to protect her. It wasn't just because of Darina and Maria's plan, either. Katherine had grown to care for the human girl, unlike her own doppelganger, so Katherine wanted Emily to know that she really would always protect her and keep her safe.

Once Katherine felt like the human doppelganger had believed she was being truthful when she saw Emily silently nod her head, the Petrova vampire turned around and headed off the porch of the Gilbert house. However, before Katherine reached the last step, she glanced over her shoulder with a smirk and wondered teasingly, "how's that doppelganger connection going?"

Emily's green eyes immediately widened in shock when she heard the thing that has been bothering her come from Katherine's mouth. It also annoyed the human girl as she felt like she was the only way that didn't know about it. Even though she knew she probably wouldn't get an answer, Emily decided to try her luck as she asked Katherine, "how do you know about that?"

Katherine carelessly shrugged her shoulders before she murmured, "I've been around for awhile." The Petrova vampire then went to finally leave the Gilbert house but when she heard Emily huff out a sigh, Katherine couldn't help but turn around and tell the human girl, "my sister, Dari, was meant for greater things and she just had that affect on people." Katherine twitched her head to the side for a moment before she added with a nod, "it seems like you have the same ability."

Emily felt like she was still not getting the answers she needed but at least she knew it only had to deal with her and Darina and it wasn't the same for every doppelganger. However, the human girl wanted to know more, so before Katherine continued walking, Emily quickly shouted, "wait!" Once Katherine was facing her again, the human girl then inquired confusingly, "do you know why I feel so connected to the people your sister knew?"

A large smirk instantly grew onto the Petrova vampire's face at the human girl's question as Emily was slowly figuring out the whole doppelganger connection. But instead of giving Emily the answer she wanted, Katherine only uttered, "you'll find out soon," before she swiftly vamp sped through the dark streets of Mystic Falls. The Petrova vampire knew it still wasn't the right time for Emily to find out the whole truth about the connection that she has with Darina since that information wouldn't help until after Darina and Maria's plan begins to be set in motion - which happens right before the sacrifice.

Emily frowned when she realized that she was all alone on the porch and that Katherine was gone along with her explanation. However, the human girl knew she shouldn't be surprised that she didn't get the answer that she wanted as no one ever gives her a straight answer. It just annoyed Emily as she felt like she was the only one that felt this way and was the only one that didn't know the truth. But Emily knew it wasn't the right time to be worrying about some connection with her dead doppelganger, so Emily let out an exhausted huff before she turned around and reentered the Gilbert house to see how everyone was doing after the destruction of the vengeful warlock.

* * *

It was about an hour and a half later when Emily found herself entering her house again for, thankfully, the last time of the night. The human girl had made sure Bonnie made it home safely before she had spent some time at the Salvatore boarding house with her worried boyfriend. Stefan had wanted to make sure that she really was okay after the whole ordeal with Jonas, so Emily didn't mind lying in bed while they made out for Stefan to finally realize that she's safe.

Now that everything was right in the world, the human girl was currently making her way through the hallway of the Gilbert house after she had slipped out of her boots while she was on the phone with Stefan, who was checking up on her. But instead of going straight to her room for bed, Emily had went a different direction as she heard voices coming from the kitchen.

The human girl instantly smiled when she saw her twin sister and aunt leaning against the kitchen island with a large tub of chocolate ice cream as she was glad everything was back to normal. Emily then gave Elena and Jenna a quick wave as she began to take off the grey cardigan that she had put on since her leather jacket smelled like fire while she also told the Salvatore vampire on the phone, "I just made it home. Yeah, i'll see you tomorrow. I love you too," before she ended the call and made her way into the kitchen to greet two of her favorite people.

"Ooh," the strawberry blonde cooed with a smirk as she slid the tub of ice cream towards her oldest niece before she exclaimed teasingly, "you guys are already saying the 'L' word." Jenna then placed both of her hands over her heart before she exaggeratedly gushed, "my baby is growing up!"

Emily rolled her green eyes at her aunt as she tried to push the blush that she could feel reaching her cheeks away before she mumbled to her laughing sister and aunt, "oh, shut up," as she took a large bite of the chocolaty goodness. Once the laughter had finally calmed down after a moment of them sharing the ice cream back and forth, Emily noticed how silent the house was, so she wondered, "is everyone else asleep?"

Elena nodded her head with a mouthful of ice cream. She then quickly swallowed the sweet dessert before she explained to her twin sister, "John's in mom and dad's room and I think Jer fell asleep once you took Bonnie home."

The human girl couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief at her sister's answer. The first part she couldn't care less about, though, as she only worries about the people that are actually involved in her life. Emily was just glad that her aunt and siblings were home and would at least be safe through the night. That was all Emily has ever wanted when something big goes down like today as she only wants to keep her loved ones safe - no matter what.

"Ugh," the strawberry blonde groaned after a few minutes had passed by with only the silence of tranquility and the metal spoons scoping up the chocolate ice cream before she straightened up her body and stretched her limbs. "If I go to bed right now, there's a chance I'll wake up hangover-free," Jenna uttered, mostly to herself, as she prayed that it would actually come true in the morning.

However, though, before Jenna could tell her nieces good night and finally go to sleep to hopefully wake up without a headache, the front door began to ring as someone pushed the loud bell. The strawberry blonde glanced at her nieces in confusion as it was almost midnight and mumbled, "wonder who that could be," before she tiredly walked out of the kitchen and towards the front door.

Once the strawberry blonde left, Emily couldn't help but be just as confused as her aunt was. It was weird for someone to be knocking on the door this late. It also puzzled Emily as if it was one of their friends, they would have called first or would have just entered without knocking. The human girl was starting to get a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach the longer she stayed there, so she quickly stood up and told Elena, "come on," before she quickly walked towards the foyer to see who was at the front door.

But the person the Gilbert twins saw was the last people on Earth that they thought would be showing up at midnight on a Tuesday. It was none other than their biological mother. The human girl felt frozen in her spot as she couldn't believe what she was seeing while she tensely watched as Isobel introduced herself with a fake smile, "I'm... Emily and Elena's mother."

On the other hand, the other Gilbert twin was anything but frozen as Elena was feeling nothing but anger at seeing her biological mother. However, Elena knew she couldn't outright attack Isobel in front of the clueless Jenna, so the Gilbert vampire took a deep breath as she squeezed Emily's hand before she mumbled through her clenched teeth, "Isobel."

The Flemming vampire looked passed the shocked human woman and over to her daughters, once she noticed them, with a slight smile before she greeted them with a kind and sweet voice, "hello, girls. It's nice to see you again."

Jenna swiftly swirled around and stared at her two nieces in confusion. "Again?" The strawberry blonde inquired in disbelief. Jenna couldn't believe that Emily and Elena had already met their mother and her boyfriend's supposedly dead wife without telling her.

Emily nervously bit down on her bottom lip while she glanced between her betrayed aunt and her anxious sister as she tried to think of what to say. The human girl could only mumble out, "Jenn..." before her lips just stopped moving. Emily didn't even know where to begin. It wasn't like she and Elena could tell Jenna the truth when their biological mother is a vampire, so Emily quickly avoided Jenna's hazel eyes and squeezed her twin sister's hand as she didn't know what to do.

Thankfully, the awkward silence in the Gilbert foyer didn't last for long between the twins and their aunt before Isobel was speaking directing to the Sommers woman again as she commented with an amused grin, "so, you're the woman who's dating my husband." But when Jenna didn't respond to her statement, Isobel slowly lost her smile before she told the strawberry blonde woman, "I need to speak to my daughters." Isobel then twitched her head to the side before she politely asked, "may I come in?"

Finally, Emily shook herself out of the shock of seeing Isobel as she quickly uttered as she moved to stand slightly in front of her aunt, "hell no." The human girl shook her head as she glared at her biological mother before she snarled, "we don't want you here."

Isobel took a step closer to the door's threshold until she felt the invisible barrier against her black heels before she stated as she stared across at her oldest daughter, "I need to talk to you, Emily." The Flemming vampire then glanced over to Elena before she added with a serious expression, "with the both of you."

Emily shot her biological mother a large smirk before she apologized condescendingly, "sorry, we don't want what you're selling." The human girl then gripped the edge of the front door before she slammed it shut with a heavy huff. Emily closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to calm her heartbeat while she leaned against the door. But when Emily opened them back up, her heart broke as she saw tears in her aunt's hazel eyes.

"You both knew that she was still alive?" The strawberry blonde asked in a scratchy and emotional voice as she glanced between her two nieces. Jenna then shook her head in betrayal when she saw Elena nod her head while Emily avoided looking at her. The Sommers woman let out a humorless chuckle before she interrogated while tears continued to pour down her face, "Ric? John? Did they know?"

Elena took a step closer towards her aunt as she nervously began to play with her fingers. "I-I can explain everything, Jenna," the Gilbert vampire hurriedly promised. Elena couldn't stand the heartbroken look that her aunt was currently giving her and Emily, so she knew it was time to tell Jenna the truth, despite all the dangers that could follow. Elena knew it would be their only option for the strawberry blonde to understand why they never told her about Isobel.

Jenna swiftly wiped the tears from her eyes that were blocking her vision before she snapped, "no!" The strawberry blonde then quickly turned around and headed towards the wooden staircase as she couldn't even look at her nieces right now. Jenna just couldn't believe that not even Emily told her about meeting Isobel when she has been stressing nonstop over what happened to Alaric's not-dead wife.

"Jenna, wait!" The human girl hurriedly uttered as she and Elena quickly jogged up the stairs to reach the strawberry blonde in time. However, unluckily for the Gilbert twins, Jenna slammed the door before they even made it up the stairs. _We should have used Elena's speed,_ Emily thought before she focused back onto her aunt when she heard Elena began to pound on the strawberry blonde's bedroom door.

"Jenna, please. We can explain everything," Emily pleaded as she placed her fist against the white door. The human girl glanced over to her twin sister with her sorrow filled eyes before she let out a sigh when she noticed Elena was listening in with her enhanced hearing. Emily could only assume Jenna was crying as she heard the loud breathing from the other side of the door.

The human girl hated that their aunt was hurting like this, so Emily uttered one last thing as she knew Jenna needed time to process all of this, "I know you feel betrayed right now, but we did this to protect you. We all did. We saw how happy you were, and we didn't want to ruin that." Emily glanced over to her twin sister, who had tears in her eyes, before Emily added softly, "we love you, Jenna, and we're here for you."

Emily waited with her ear pressed up against the door, but when she could only hear Jenna's sobbing, the human girl let out a loud deep breath before she turned around and faced her saddened sister. "We'll fix this," the human girl promised as she pulled Elena into a tight hug before she laid a kiss onto her twin sister's forehead as she was overcome by a deep frown and her thoughts.

The one thought that was stuck on Emily's mind the most, though, was the chance that Jenna wouldn't forgive them for hiding Isobel from her or even worse, that she would hate them. The Gilbert girl sounded confident with Elena as she wanted her twin sister to not blame herself, but Emily was nervous as hell about the outcome of their biological mother showing up out of the blue. Emily just prayed as she and Elena held each other in comfort that they could figure out how to fix all of this in the morning.


	57. The One With Isobel's Help

It was around eight the next morning at the tense Gilbert house when there was an urgent and loud knock before the twin sisters anxiously rushed towards the front door and saw the person that could help them with their problem; Alaric Saltzman. The two sisters had already knew the history teacher would be coming by as the younger Salvatore had texted Emily about an hour ago and told her that Damon had told Alaric about what happened with Isobel, so Emily and Elena both released a breath of relief, instead of being confused, at seeing their history teacher this early in the morning.

"Hey," Alaric quickly greeted Emily and Elena as he walked into the house before he began to look around the foyer and the living room for the strawberry blonde woman. But when the history teacher couldn't see his girlfriend anywhere, Alaric inquired, "is she up yet?"

Elena let out a heavy sigh as she slowly shook her head. "She won't even come out of her room," the Gilbert vampire explained to Alaric. The Gilbert twins had been trying to get Jenna out of her bedroom ever since they woke up a few hours ago. But sadly, Jenna wouldn't even let them know if she was okay or not.

Alaric glanced up towards the staircase where Jenna's bedroom is for a moment as he was worried about his girlfriend before he turned back around and faced the Gilbert twins. "What did you guys tell her?" The history teacher curiously asked as he wanted to know what he is working with. Damon had only told him that Isobel showed up, so Alaric wasn't exactly sure all what Jenna knew yet.

"Nothing really," Emily answered this time as she crossed her arms over her light blue sweater. The human girl shook her head with an exhausted sigh before she sadly murmured, "she won't even look at us, nonetheless talk to us." Emily hated that the cursed woman that is Isobel was the person who told Jenna the truth when she and Elena wanted to ease Jenna into their true lives when the time was right and not when Klaus is still a threat. But sadly, now they don't get that opportunity.

Alaric released a heavy sigh and briefly closed his eyes as knew this was going to be more difficult than he thought before he told the Gilbert twins, "we're gonna have to fix this." The history teacher knew that they couldn't just keep holding back the truth any longer now that Isobel had showed herself to Jenna.

"Well, we don't really have a choice anymore," Emily told Alaric as she shook her head. It wasn't like they could keep hiding the truth about Isobel now that Jenna has met the Flemming vampire. They had to tell Jenna everything that has happened for the strawberry blonde to, hopefully, trust them again. However, firstly, the strawberry blonde needed to come out of her bedroom.

It seemed like Emily's wish of wanting to talk to her aunt was finally being granted because after the Gilbert foyer grew silent for a moment, the aforementioned strawberry blonde came jogging down the wooden staircase. "Hey," the twin sisters hurriedly greeted their aunt in unison as it was the first time that they had seen Jenna since Isobel showed up at midnight.

"Jenna," the history teacher also greeted his girlfriend but in a much softer tone as he didn't exactly know how Jenna would react to him being here since the strawberry blonde woman had just met the one person that he has been lying to her about.

The strawberry blonde woman didn't even look up at the voices of her nieces and boyfriend as she made her way to the bottom of the staircase. Jenna only angrily told the older man, "I don't want you here, Ric. You need to go," before she headed straight towards the side closet without another sound.

Alaric took a steady deep breath as he knew he would get some sort of reaction like this from the strawberry blonde woman since he lied about something huge, so Alaric knew he just needed to stay calm and continue to try to get Jenna to understand. "Okay, listen," the history teacher softly uttered, "I can't begin to imagine what you must be feeling right now."

Jenna swiftly twirled around and faced Alaric at his statement before she snapped, "rage and betrayal would pretty much cover it." The strawberry blonde woman then turned back around and grabbed her light brown jacket from the closet. Jenna just couldn't even be in the same room of the people that lied to her as it was just too much to handle, so she decided she needed to leave.

Emily looked at her aunt in confusion as she just now noticed that Jenna was wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt along with her giant purse like she wasn't planning on sticking around. "Where are you going?" The human girl wondered before she stated softly, "I thought we could have the chance to talk for a bit." Emily knew it was a little far fetched for Jenna to want to talk to them right now, but she just needed to try so Jenna could understand why they never told her the truth.

Jenna paused in her step at the soft tone of her oldest niece but quickly shook her head as she reminded herself that Emily also lied to her and that she couldn't allow herself to forgive Emily right now. The strawberry blonde woman then grabbed her purse from the ground after she placed her jacket on and continued her journey to the front door. "I'm going to stay on campus," Jenna finally explained where she is going once she grabbed her keys from the clear crystal bowl, "I have a thesis to write, and I don't want to be in this house."

The history teacher quickly walked towards the strawberry blonde woman before she could leave as Alaric hurriedly uttered, "Jenna, please just stop." Alaric then glanced over to the twin sisters beside him once Jenna, thankfully, turned and faced him before the history teacher desperately pleaded, "let us explain to you exactly what is going on."

The strawberry blonde woman acted like she didn't even hear Alaric before she finally turned her gaze onto her nieces. "Emily, Elena, I need one of you guys to go to the Lockwood's today and accept the Historical Society's check for your mom's foundation," Jenna ordered as she was going to be on campus and wouldn't be able to make it before she swiftly twirled around and opened the front door to finally leave all the secrets behind her.

"I'll call and tell Mrs. Lockwood that there's been a change," Emily softly promised her aunt as she didn't want Jenna to have to worry about anything else right now. The human girl then quickly uttered once she realized Jenna was finally looking at her, "before you leave, though, can I just tal-"

However, before Emily could finish asking if they could just talk for a minute, the strawberry blonde woman quickly interrupted her oldest niece as she exclaimed on the brink of tears, "I don't have it in me to hear anymore lies from you." Jenna then moved her eyes over to Elena and Alaric and added, "from any of you," before she stepped over the threshold and slammed the door behind her.

The Gilbert house immediately went deadly silent after the strawberry blonde had left as they; Emily, Elena, and Alaric, were overcome by the turmoil of Jenna shutting them down when all they wanted to do was to explain everything to her. They all just felt so helpless since Jenna wouldn't even allow them to try to tell her the truth about how Isobel is alive.

The thick silence in the Gilbert house, however, didn't last that much longer as not even a minute went by with the drowning thoughts of their problems occupying everyone's mind before the familiar and irritating voice of John Gilbert loudly uttered, "it's better that she's not here, what with everything that's going on." The older man then slowly walked up to his daughters and the vampire hunter before he looked at them with false sadness and uttered, "but maybe had you been a little more honest with her from the beginning, this..."

However, before John could finish belittling them over keeping Jenna out of the supernatural world, the angry Alaric Saltzman took one fast step forward before he lunged his right fist directly at his target - which happened to be the Gilbert man's nose. Alaric then took a deep breath as he felt better now that John wasn't talking before he quickly turned and faced the twins as he apologized, "sorry about that."

Emily immediately lifted her hands in the air as she shook her head. "If you didn't, I would have," the human girl told Alaric with a smirk as she was glad someone had hit John. Emily was so close to hitting her biological father before the history teacher did as she was not going to just let John talk crap about them just because they wanted to protect Jenna.

The Gilbert vampire gave Alaric a small wave as he walked out of the house before Elena faced her biological father with a grin. "You know this is your fault, right?" Elena inquired teasingly with a tilt of her head.

John wiped the fresh blood from under his nose as he silently nodded his head. "Right," the Gilbert man mumbled before he swiftly turned around and headed back into the room that he was originally in to get away from the embarrassment that had transpired with being punched.

Once their biological father walked back into the kitchen, the Gilbert twins couldn't help but look at each other and break out into a giggling mess. It was the first time in hours since either sister had broke out a smile, so it made them feel better - it was also plus that it came at the expense of John, too.

Finally, after a couple of minutes of laughing had passed, Emily linked her arm through her twin sister's and uttered, "come on. Let's go get ready for the Lockwood's." Emily figured that they could at least do this for Jenna after the stress that they had caused her. _I was gonna go, anyways,_ Emily thought while she and Elena began to walk up the stairs as she always tries to go to anything that involves her mother's foundation to keep her legacy alive.

"So, what dress are you going to where?" Elena curiously wondered once she and Emily had reached the top of the stairs and began to walk down the hallway of bedrooms. The Gilbert vampire playfully rolled her brown eyes before she commented with a teasing smirk, "you'll probably wear something over the top."

Emily gaped at her twin sister in fake disbelief as she exaggeratedly placed her hand over her heart. "I do no-" the human girl had began but quickly closed her mouth once she and Elena had walked into her bedroom and noticed Stefan sitting on her bed while talking on his phone. Emily was confused as she wasn't expecting the Salvatore vampire to show up any time soon and definitely not in her bedroom.

However, Emily definitely didn't mind Stefan showing up unannounced, so she walked over towards her boyfriend and leaned down to place a gentle kiss onto his soft lips. Once Emily pulled away, Stefan quickly raised his finger in the air to keep the room silent before he took his phone away from his ear and placed it on speakerphone which immediately caused Caroline's nervous voice to be heard.

"I can't find him anywhere," the Forbes vampire frantically exclaimed through the phone as she hurriedly rushed out of her house. Caroline shook her head as she anxiously continued, "he's not at home. He's not answering his phone."

The Salvatore vampire tiredly shook his head as he knew today was going to be tough with the whole Isobel thing. But not only that, they now have to worry about the Donovan teenager telling everyone about vampires. "How could you let him go?" Stefan interrogated as he knew Caroline was smarter than to just let Matt go after telling him her secret.

"My mom walked in," Caroline quickly explained, "and he took off." The Forbes vampire threw her hands up in the air, even though she knew Stefan couldn't see it, before she murmured disappointingly, "I didn't know what to do."

Stefan let out a heavy sigh as he glanced over to the worried Gilbert sisters before he focused back onto the hysterical Caroline. "Did your mom hear anything?" The Salvatore vampire questioned as that was definitely the last thing that they needed right now. They already went through Liz finding out about them once and they didn't want to go through that again.

"No," Caroline promised before she explained about the short talk that she had with her mother when Matt had stormed out, "she just thinks we're fighting." The Forbes vampire then jumped in her car before she mumbled about her current problem with the Donovan teenager, "but he knows about me, and he's freaking out about Vicki."

The Salvatore vampire bit down on his bottom lip as he tried to think of what Caroline can do before he began, "all right, listen." Stefan pushed himself out of Emily's bed as he commanded the Forbes vampire, "you have to find him. You have to calm him down. Compel him if you have to." Stefan tiredly ran his fingers through his brown hair before he wondered, "is he still on vervain?"

Caroline anxiously tapped her fingers against the grey steering wheel of her Honda as she stated, "I slip it into his soda when he's at work, but I didn't get to last night, so it's out of his system." The Forbes vampire then quickly added and hung up before she could get scolded, "he has a catering shift at the Lockwood's today, so I'm gonna try there."

The Gilbert vampire let out a heavy sigh once Stefan ended the call and placed his cell phone into his pocket before she mumbled, "ah, this is bad." Elena shook her head before she glanced between her twin sister and the Salvatore vampire as she uttered, "between Isobel and Jenna and now Matt, this is disaster bad."

Emily leaned her elbows on her knees and threw her head into her hands before she mumbled, "if it's not one thing, it's another." The human Petrova doppelganger felt like they could never catch a break. She thought that they only had to worry about the whole Isobel and Jenna problem but now they had to worry about Matt telling the whole world about vampires. _Elena is right, this is a disaster_ , Emily thought as she let out a loud groan.

The Salvatore vampire silently walked and sat next to his stressed out girlfriend on the bay window seat before he pulled Emily into his arms. "We'll figure it out," Stefan promised in a whisper before he placed a soft kiss onto the human girl's brown hair.

The large bedroom in the Gilbert house grew silent for a moment after Stefan's promise as they all really hoped that they could actually fix all this mess with Matt and, of course, with Jenna. However, the tranquility didn't last very long as John, once again, interrupted another silent moment with his presence like he did in foyer only a few minutes ago. "Emily, Elena, can you guys come downstairs, please?" The Gilbert man asked as he leaned his body against the doorway before he stated, "I need to talk to you guys."

Elena let out an emotionless chuckle as she crossed her arms over her purple sweater. "I have nothing to say to you," the Gilbert vampire told her biological father. She then glanced over to Emily, where she noticed the irritated look on her twin's face, before she added, "we don't want anything to do with you."

John took a step into his oldest daughter's bedroom before he pleaded, "please. It's important." The Gilbert man then glanced over to his daughter's boyfriend before he added with a nod of his head, "you, too, Stefan."

Emily glanced between her boyfriend and sister in confusion as her interest was piqued at the fact that John also wanted Stefan in the conversation. So being the curious person she is, Emily stood up from her seat and mumbled, "come on," before she tiredly followed John down the stairs.

However, before Emily could follow John into the kitchen, she saw someone that she definitely didn't think would show their face here anytime soon; Isobel. The Flemming vampire gave her two daughters a tiny smile before she uttered, "I asked John for a do-over."

Elena swiftly moved her brown eyes to her biological father with anger and disbelief. "You invited her in?" The Gilbert vampire interrogated. Elena couldn't believe that John was really that stupid to let Isobel in the house when all she does is ruin everything she touches. Now no one is safe inside the Gilbert house since Isobel can come in whenever she wants.

"She has information about Klaus," the twin's father explained to why he allowed Isobel inside of the house. But when John saw the distrust and annoyance on Emily and Elena's face, he begged with a sigh, "please, just listen to her, okay?"

Emily silently sighed as she glanced between her biological parents before she moved her green eyes over to her twin sister with a pointed look. The human girl would rather spend her day with someone other than these two people, but Emily knew it was worth a shot to see what Isobel found out about Klaus. She promised to fight, so if Emily has to listen to the two people she hates, then she would do it for her loved ones. So instead of being the stubborn person she usually would be with talking to Isobel, Emily pointed her hand towards the dining room table and muttered, "let's talk."

The dysfunctional family and the younger Salvatore vampire silently moved towards the large oak table at the agreement from the Gilbert twins. There was only the sound of chairs scraping against the ground before everyone took their place around the table and the Flemming vampire began. "Since I was last here," Isobel explained, "I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus." The Flemming vampire moved her eyes over towards her human daughter before continuing softly, "we knew our best chance was to find him before he could find you."

The Salvatore vampire's brows furrowed as he glanced over to Isobel while he held Emily's hand in his to offer her some comfort. "Best chance at what?" Stefan inquired as he didn't understand what the young vampire was talking about.

"Keeping Emily alive," John answered for Isobel before he glanced over to his vampire daughter. "Keeping you both alive," the Gilbert man corrected himself. John knew all there was to know about the sacrifice, so he knew there was still a chance that Klaus could use Elena as his vampire sacrifice.

"You don't get to talk, okay," Elena angrily exclaimed as she pointed at the man that, sadly, gave her life. The Gilbert vampire shook her head before she muttered, "not after everything you've done." John was the last person on Earth that gets to talk about keeping her and Emily alive when all he does is ruin everything for them.

Emily lightly placed her hand onto Elena's shoulder to keep her twin sister calm before she moved her green eyes over to Isobel in wonder. "So, what did you find?" The human girl inquired with a raised eyebrow, "did you find Mr. Big and Bad?"

Isobel shook her head and mumbled, "no." The Flemming vampire ran her right hand through her dark hair as she explained what happened when she tried to find Klaus, "nobody knows where is but there are these rumors that are flying around." Isobel then moved her eyes over to her oldest daughter before she continued, "that a human doppelganger exists."

John silently stood up from the dining room table and stood in front of his two daughters with a serious look. "Which means any vampire that wants to get in favor with Klaus will be lining up to capture you," the Gilbert man added to what Isobel had left off as he stared solely at his human daughter, who will be every vampire's target.

Emily couldn't help but roll her green eyes at her biological father and mumble, "been there, done that." The thought of someone capturing her, made the human girl automatically think back to the masquerade ball when Trevor and Rose had kidnapped her and Elena for Elijah and their freedom. Emily definitely didn't want to have to go through that again.

Elena shook her head as she stood up from her chair and gave Isobel a glare before she stated, "I'm not buying any of this." The Gilbert vampire crossed her arms over her purple sweater as she explained, "the last time you were here, you made it clear that you didn't give a damn about me or Emily." She then rose an eyebrow before Elena let out a humorless chuckle and uttered, "now all of a sudden we're supposed to believe that you want to help?"

Emily nodded her head in agreement as she muttered, "Lena's right." Isobel had wanted nothing to do with them except from the Gilbert device and hurting their friends the last time that she showed her face in Mystic Falls, so something smells fishy. "You don't just help people out of the goodness of your heart," Emily told Isobel as she also stood up from her spot and stared down at her biological mother. "You especially don't help out your daughters," the human girl added before she wondered with a twitch of her head, "so what are you getting out of this?"

"Isobel's been helping all along," John defended the Flemming vampire. "Klaus has been obsessed with finding Katherine for centuries," the Gilbert man explained, "all it would take was one of those 1864 tomb vampires to spread the word around that Katherine was still alive and it would bring him straight here to Mystic Falls, where you both were bound to be discovered." John then shrugged his shoulders as he glanced over at Isobel before he stated, "so we killed them."

 _Oh, that is the wrong thing to bring up,_ Emily thought as she took a threatening step towards her biological father. "You tried to kill our boyfriends that night in the process, so you are really not pleading your case the right way, John," the human girl snarled.

"Emily, please," Isobel begged as she stopped her daughter from her plan of attacking John. "I know you have Darina's journal," the Flemming vampire mentioned which immediately caused Emily to turn towards her - like Isobel wanted. Isobel then placed her hand over her undead heart as she uttered softly, "I just want to help keep you alive. I even have a safe house that I can take the both of you to." Isobel pointing at the human girl as she continued, "the deed is in your name. No vampires can get in without your permission, not even me. Please let me help you."

Emily's brows furrowed as she stared across at her biological mother. The human girl just couldn't get behind that Isobel was actually here to help. It just didn't make sense that Isobel decided that now she would help after all this time. Emily didn't trust her for a second. They were doing perfectly fine without her, so Emily finally told her biological mother with a confident expression, "we don't need nor do we want you here, Isobel. So, don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Emily just had this bad feeling in the pit of her stomach with Isobel here. She could understand John trying to make up for his mistakes, and Katherine who wants to do right by Darina but Isobel is a vindictive bitch who only cares about herself. So there was no way in hell that she just changes her mind and decides to help her daughters. Emily would rather focus on defeating Klaus on their own instead of worrying about what Isobel is planning. _Maybe it's about time to wake Elijah,_ Emily thought to herself as she watched John and Isobel walk out of the Gilbert house as she knew without a doubt that she could trust the attractive original.

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

It was about an hour after Isobel had showed up for the second time in one day before the Gilbert twins found themselves sitting in the library of the boarding house with the Salvatore brothers. Elena had just explained to Damon about what Isobel had told them about wanting to help. "Do you really think that Isobel's telling the truth that word's gotten out about the doppelganger?" The Gilbert vampire worriedly asked as she leaned her head onto Damon's shoulder while she stared across at her twin sister. Elena knew they are in big trouble if Isobel is right as everyone in Mystic Falls immediately becomes a suspect of wanting to please Klaus.

"Look, I don't trust a word that she says," Stefan began as he softly ran his hand along the human girl's thigh before he stated, "but I think we'd be stupid to ignore the warning." The Salvatore vampire didn't want it to be true, but they couldn't just push the warning away when it wouldn't be first time someone has tried to kidnap Emily because of her being the Petrova doppelganger.

"Well, what are we supposed to do then?" Emily inquired with a raised eyebrow. If Isobel was really telling the truth that the word of the human doppelganger is out then no place is safe for her. "It's not like you guys can be with me twenty four-seven," the Gilbert girl muttered as that was unrealistic. Emily just didn't have a clue how she was suppose to keep safe and keep her loved ones from getting hurt in the process. There was just too many variables.

"You know, you could always just stay here," Damon suggested. The older Salvatore shrugged his shoulders as he added, "you basically live here, anyways." Damon then glanced over to Elena with a nod of his head before he told the human girl, "that way we can keep an eye on you."

Stefan looked at his brother like he was absolutely crazy. "What, in the house that any vampire can enter?" The younger Salvatore asked before he quickly shook his head and stated, "no. Their house is safer." The boarding house was the worse place on Earth that Emily should be at when every enemy that they ever had knew where they live.

"I can be on Emily duty during the mornings and nights, then," the Gilbert vampire told the Salvatore brothers with complete confidence. They live under the same roof, anyways, so Elena could protect her twin sister from anyone that tries to come into the Gilbert house.

Emily huffed out a loud sigh at the agreeing vampires. "I'm not going to be a prisoner in my hometown," the human girl muttered in annoyance. It was no way for her to live with vampires breathing down her neck or jumping when someone approaches her. Emily liked to face everything head on, so she wasn't going to hide like that.

"Well, let me know when you come up with a better plan, but until then you are going to be our inmate," Damon told the human girl with a large smirk as he knew it would annoy her. Despite his teasing, though, Damon did agree with Elena and Stefan as it's not safe for Emily to be out in the open anymore with Klaus closing in.

The human girl let out a heavy huff before she mumbled stubbornly, "fine." Emily knew she was never going to win with all three vampires agreeing with each other, so she decided to give their plan a chance. But if things don't work, Emily's not going to hide. She was going to fight no matter what to make sure her loved ones don't get hurt.

"Well, it looks like it's warden Elena's turn to babysit the inmate," Emily uttered as she shot Damon a sarcastic smile. The human girl then stood up from her seat before she told her twin sister, "come on. We gotta go get ready for the Lockwood's event for mom's foundation."

The Gilbert vampire nodded her head as she remembered the promise that they made to Jenna. Elena then gave Damon a quick kiss before she asked the Salvatore brothers once she was standing beside her twin sister, "so which one of you will be joining us?"

The younger Salvatore vampire stood from his seat in the library and joined the Gilbert sisters at the edge of the room. Stefan gave his girlfriend a playful smile and pulled her into a loving kiss before he uttered, "that'd be me."

Damon shook his head when he noticed the brown doe eyes of his girlfriend staring at him. "Not me," the older Salvatore vampire stated before he explained why he couldn't join them to the Lockwood mansion, "I have witch stuff to attend to with Bonnie."

Elena rose an eyebrow at her boyfriend as she grew curious. "Does that mean that you're taking her to the..." The Gilbert vampire began to question as Damon had mentioned earlier that he and Bonnie were going to the house of one hundred dead witches.

However, before Elena finish asking her question, though, the older Salvatore vampire swiftly vamp sped in front of his girlfriend before he placed his finger against Elena's lips while he whispered, "shh."

Elena looked into Damon's blue eyes in confusion as she didn't understand his problem. However, the Gilbert vampire soon realized why he told her to be quiet when she heard the loud noise of a pair of expensive heels clicking on the ground of the Salvatore library.

"Don't get quiet on my account," the newly arrived Katherine stated with a wide smirk as she walked into the room. The Petrova vampire glanced at each silent person in the library before she ordered as she crossed her arms over her black tank top, "if you have a plan to combat the impending vampire doom, please do tell."

But when no one said anything and the Salvatore brothers only glanced at one another, Katherine continued as she interrogated, "seriously, what is the plan to get us out of this mess, hmm?" The Petrova vampire slowly and tauntingly walked around the room as she listed off, "I delivered you a moonstone, a werewolf, and the dagger to lure and kill Klaus, and right now all you have is a moonstone." Katherine then shot Damon look with a raised eyebrow before she muttered, "or so you tell me."

Damon shook his head at the Petrova vampire's accusation before he simply told Katherine about the milky rock that is the moonstone, "no, we have it."

Katherine twitched her head to the side as she stared at the grinning older Salvatore vampire. "Where is it?" The Petrova vampire wondered curiously. Katherine did not need the brothers to lose the moonstone when they didn't know exactly when Klaus would pop up for the sacrifice. It is essential that everything goes smoothly for Darina and Maria's plan to work for the human girl.

The older Salvatore shot Katherine a wide smirk as he slowly took a step closer towards her. Damon then glanced up like he was thinking of where the location of the moonstone is before he finally exclaimed, "it's in a _very_ safe place."

Katherine let out a low growl when she didn't get the answer she wanted about the location of the moonstone. "I've been honest with you," the Petrova vampire snapped before she commanded, "time to return the favor."

Damon let out a small chuckle as he took another step towards the irritated doppelganger and began, "let me be honest with you." The Salvatore vampire then lightly touched Katherine's bouncy curls before he uttered with a smirk, "don't mistake the fact that we haven't set you on fire in your sleep for trust."

Katherine glanced each vampire in the library and immediately noticed that they wouldn't even look at her. The Petrova vampire let out a heavy snarl before she snapped irritatedly, "fine. Be that way." Katherine was not going to beg but it still annoyed her that they wouldn't tell her where the moonstone is. The future of the Protectors of the Innocent's and Darina's plan depended on that moonstone - but Katherine couldn't let them in on that secret just yet.

The Petrova vampire moved her brown eyes over to her sister's doppelganger for a moment before she let out a small sigh when Emily mouthed, 'it's safe.' Katherine felt a tiny bit better that Emily trusted her enough to let her know the moonstone was still in their possession. The Petrova vampire then gave the human girl a silent nod while the three vampires conversed before she finally took her exit with a small smirk shining across her face with one last thought playing through her mind - _I won't disappoint you, Dari._

* * *

 **LOCKWOOD MANSION**

The human Petrova doppelganger elegantly moved through the ballroom filled with residents of Mystic Falls in her short but flowing dark blue dress as she greeted the many people that were filling up the Lockwood mansion for the charity luncheon like the darling child she is. Emily didn't mind having to talk to so many people, unlike like Elena, hence the reason why the Gilbert vampire was leaning against the wall while she and Stefan watched in amusement as Emily talked to all the rich and influential people.

Emily was just finishing talking with the second in command of her mother's charity for the historical society when the woman of the mansion came charging towards her with a bright smile adoring her face. "Emily! Darling!" Mrs. Lockwood loudly gushed once she reached the teenage girl before she pulled Emily into a tight hug. "It's so good to see you," the mayor expressed once they pulled away before she asked, "aren't you excited for today?"

The human girl gave the mayor a polite smile as she nodded her head. "Of course, Mrs. Lockwood," Emily answered as she squeezed the woman's lower arm. "This foundation meant the world to my mother, so I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else," the Gilbert girl uttered truthfully. Emily had always wanted to follow more into her father's footsteps as a doctor, but she knew how much her mother worked to keep the preservation of their small town's history together and her published books of Mystic Falls, so Emily felt like she had to be involved to keep her mother's memory going.

Mrs. Lockwood gave the teenage girl a kind smile before she uttered, "I'm so glad to see you and Elena here for Miranda. I know she would have been proud of you two." The mayor then let a small sigh escape her lips at the thought of Miranda's children when she hadn't seen hers in weeks. "Y-You wouldn't have heard from Tyler lately, have you?" Mrs. Lockwood anxiously asked as she nervously crossed her arms over her dark purple dress.

Emily looked at the mayor with sorrow in her green eyes as she felt bad that Mrs. Lockwood didn't even know where Tyler is. She could only imagine it's be hard for a mother without her child, so Emily tried to assure the woman as much as she could as she uttered, "I got a text from him a few days ago. Ty said he's happy."

Mrs. Lockwood let out a heavy breath of relief and murmured, "good." The older woman nodded her head with a wider smile and added, "that's good." Mrs. Lockwood then surprised the teenage girl by pulling Emily into a tight hug before she whispered into her ear, "thank you for always be there for Tyler when Richard and I couldn't."

Emily hugged the older woman back just as tightly as she knew herself how hard it is to not have Tyler around. The human girl misses her best friend but she knew that Tyler was trying to figure out his werewolf side, so she's understanding to why he isn't in Mystic Falls - unlike Mrs. Lockwood, who was just confused and heartbroken. "He'll be back," Emily promised the older woman once they pulled away from each other with an assuring smile.

The human girl happened to glance over the mayor's shoulder once she gave the older woman a smile which she's glad she did as she noticed the Forbes vampire walking towards her twin sister and boyfriend. Emily wanted to see if Caroline had found Matt, so she looked up at Mrs. Lockwood with an apologetic smile before she uttered politely, "if you excuse me, mayor, but Elena is calling me over."

Mrs. Lockwood quickly nodded her head in understanding before she stated with a smile, "of course!" The mayor pointed towards the large platform stage behind the teenage girl and continued, "I need to get started on the presentation." The older woman then placed her hand onto Emily's shoulder with an excited grin and exclaimed, "I'll see you up there," before she swiftly turned around and headed to officially start the luncheon.

Emily barely even gave the excited mayor a second glance before she was flying through the crowd of people with perfect grace in her black high heels. It only took the human girl about a minute or two of trying to not get wrapped in passing residents conversations before she was finally in front of her boyfriend, Caroline, and her twin sister.

"Hey," Emily uttered softly as she gave her blonde best friend a small smile and squeezed the blonde vampire's shoulder. "Did you find Matt?" The human girl wondered as she settled herself between her twin sister and her boyfriend.

"No," Caroline pouted before her anxiety instantly began to takeover her emotions like they always do now that she's a vampire. "What if he tells somebody?" The blonde hurriedly asked as her blue eyes swiftly glanced between her three friends, "what if he tells everybody?" Caroline didn't know what she would do if Matt was telling everyone about vampires. The one thing she did know, though, - it would be her fault.

"No, we just gotta find him and make sure that doesn't happen," Stefan quickly assured the erratic blonde vampire. The younger Salvatore then thought for a moment to where Matt could have gone to before he turned his gaze onto the Gilbert twins. "Do you guys have any idea where he would be?" Stefan wondered as he knew Emily and Elena have always had a close relationship with the Donovan teenager.

Elena shook her head sadly as she had no clue where Matt could be. "I wish I did," the Gilbert vampire murmured before she stated, "he wasn't really one to run." Even though Elena did date Matt, she didn't know where he would have went as he had always just dealt with stuff head on. _Speaking of dealing with things head on,_ Elena thought before she moved her eyes to her twin sister and wondered, "do you know where he would have gone?"

The human girl bit down on her bottom lip as she tried to think. However, Emily come up empty handed. Yeah, she and Matt were close but the Donovan teenager never did come to her with his problems - that was always Tyler's position. "I'm sorry," Emily apologized as she stared across at her blonde best friend before she suggested, "maybe you could try the park. That's where Ty and I would always go when we were feeling down, so maybe Tyler took Matt there too."

Caroline silently nodded her head before she gave her best friend a small smile and muttered, "thanks." The Forbes vampire then let out a heavy sigh as she realized just how messed up things have been. "You know, this wasn't how it was supposed to happen," Caroline ranted as she anxiously ran her fingers through her wavy blonde hair, "you know, I was supposed to tell him at the right moment in the right way, and he was supposed to be okay with it because he loves me."

Emily felt bad for her best friend. Caroline is basically running all around Mystic Falls trying to find the Donovan teenager after she entrusted him with her secret of being a vampire. The human girl wished she could do more but she had so much other stuff happening with Jenna and Isobel, so Emily just offered one last piece of assurance, "we'll find him and we'll figure this out." _It's not like I could do any better than the vampire, anyway,_ the Gilbert girl thought as they first need to find Matt and her human speed wouldn't exactly help much.

The human girl then immediately focused onto the large stage behind her when she heard hers and Elena's name being called. "I'll go," Emily assured her twin sister like she usually does as she is more of a people person than Elena during events like this. The Gilbert girl then leaned beside her and pulled Stefan into a quick kiss and gave Caroline a small squeeze of her shoulder before she fast walked towards the stage with a polite smile adoring her face.

"And on the behalf of the Miranda Sommers-Gilbert scholarship fund, please help me welcome our very own Emily Gilbert!" The Lockwood woman exclaimed into the podium's microphone once the teenager girl began to climb up onto the stage which immediately caused the ballroom filled with residents to clap for the familiar teenager.

Emily gave the older woman a wide grin as she accepted the gold and red envelope filled with the check for her mother's foundation. The human girl took a deep breath once she was facing the crowd of people but when she found Stefan and Elena's smiling faces, she gained her confidence and began.

"Miranda, my mother, cherished the Historical Society with everything she had," Emily uttered into the microphone, "she believed that everything in Mystic Falls was meant to be preserved for generations to come." Emily let a soft smile reach her lips as memories of her mother began to takeover her mind. "It's an honor to accept this gift for my mother. She would have been so proud of the work everyone continues in her name to continue to preserve Mystic Falls. So on behalf of my mother, Miranda, my father, Grayson, and my siblings; Elena and Jeremy, and I - we thank you."

The sweet moment by the human girl, however, didn't last long as she had wanted of wanting to honor her mother because not even a second of silence went by before there was this loud noise of something falling down the stairs. All the residents of Mystic Falls quickly jumped up from their seats to see what was wrong which immediately caused Emily to be curious. So being the inquisitive person she is, Emily slowly walked towards the stairs of the stage before she went to jog towards the crowd of worried residents.

However, though, before Emily could see what was going on by the staircase, she felt someone touch her neatly placed hair that was in a high bun and felt someone whisper into her ear, "I'm sorry about this, Emily," and instantly felt something against her temple before everything for the human girl turned her dark.


	58. The One With The Farewell & The Letter

A loud groan escaped the human Petrova doppelganger's mouth when she finally opened up her green eyes about forty five minutes later - which immediately caused Emily to begin to look around while she ignored the pain in her head. However, when Emily saw that she was inside of an unknown car, another groan escaped from the human girl's lips because, of course, she would end up getting herself kidnapped once again.

"I'm really tired of this crap," Emily whispered to herself while she began to quickly look around the car for anything that could be used as a weapon against her captor or captors. However, sadly, the human girl came to notice that the vehicle was bare with not even a single spec of dust in sight. _It's probably brand-new,_ the human girl realized as she couldn't find a slip of paper or a piece of trash.

The human girl released a defeated sigh at the fact that she couldn't find anything to defend herself with before she leaned her head against the cool tinted windows as she tried to think of a plan to get out of here. However, when Emily placed her head against the window, she heard the sound of metal clinking against the glass which instantly caused the human girl to place her hand on the side of her head before a wide grin slipped onto her lips.

 _Thank you, protective Elena,_ the green eyed girl thought as she swiftly pulled out the two hairpins from her tight bun which happened to actually be two small knife hairpins that Elena had bought her a few days ago when they were shopping through downtown. Emily then quickly took the metal caps from the small weapons once she had them in her hands once she heard voices coming closer to the vehicle before she readied herself to attack whoever thought it was a good idea to kidnap her.

However, while Emily was waiting for her captor to try to do something to her, the human girl instantly recognized an extremely familiar voice that belonged to her twin sister. Emily immediately furrowed her brows in confusion at the fact that Elena was talking to her captor. But Emily soon came to the conclusion at the easiness in her sister's voice that she wasn't in danger, so she clipped the hairpins to the bottom of her dress before she slowly and cautiously exited out of the car as she was still on edge at who took her.

But before the human Petrova doppelganger could get a good look at her surroundings and who took her, Emily was immediately ambushed by a familiar pair of arms that wrapped themselves around her waist in a tight grasp. "I'm so glad Katherine didn't hurt you too badly," the Gilbert vampire whispered into her twin sister's ear as she listened to the sound of Emily's steady heartbeat. Elena had been so worried once she had woken up from her broken neck and saw that Emily wasn't moving.

"What are you talking abo-" Emily began to question Elena with her brows deeply furrowed once they pulled away from their sisterly embrace. However, before Emily could fully get her question out, she was instantly pulled into her last memory. _'I'm sorry about this, Emily,'_ the human girl remembered hearing Katherine whisper from behind her while everyone was rushing towards the staircase before she recalled everything turning dark on her.

"Why the hell did Katherine do that?" Emily changed her question with a hint of fire in her green eyes and anger in her voice as she felt betrayed by the Petrova vampire. The human girl felt blindsided as she always believed Katherine was being truthful with her since she was doing something for her deceased sister, who Katherine obviously cared a lot for. It just didn't make any sense to Emily for why Katherine would have betrayed and lied to her like this.

Elena looked at her twin sister with her brown eyes softened as she knew how much Emily wanted to trust Katherine to do good by her - even though she didn't really understand why her twin sister would believe anything Katherine says. Elena still felt bad for Emily, though, as she hates seeing her sister upset, which is why her expression swiftly changed into a glare as she remembered what she heard on the phone on the way to the cemetery.

"Katherine brought us to Isobel before she betrayed Katherine so she can hand us over to Klaus herself," the Gilbert vampire explained to Emily about what she had come to realize on the ride here before she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her fierce glare over to the silent raven haired woman that was standing slightly behind her. Elena still felt bitter and hatred towards their biological mother as she couldn't believe Isobel was really going to let her daughter be sacrificed for the hybrid. It made Elena realize even more that Isobel was never really their mother as Isobel only cares about herself.

The human Petrova doppelganger's facial expression didn't change all that much at what Elena told her as Emily knew all along that this was going to happen. Isobel wasn't going to just have a change of heart because of her daughter, who she never cared about, is in trouble. It just isn't who Isobel is. However, though, that didn't stop the anger from entering the human girl's voice when she finally spoke - despite already knowing that this was going to happen.

"So, what?" Emily snarled as she stepped around Elena and glared at her biological mother before she continued her angry questioning, "you're just gonna hand us over to the big bad hybrid? You made a deal, right? Our lives for yours?" The human girl then let out a humorless chuckle when Isobel avoided looking into her eyes and answering her questions before she added the final blow, "wow, you really are a cold hearted, selfish bitch that would turn her back on her own blood."

The Flemming vampire didn't respond to any of her oldest daughter's cruel words like she did with the words she had gotten earlier from her younger daughter as Isobel knew she deserved every single one of them and much more for never being the mother Emily and Elena needed while they were growing up. Instead, the raved haired vampire took a couple of steps towards the right before she stopped in front of a familiar tombstone and silently began to push the dark brown leaves from Virginia's fall season to the side.

The Gilbert twins glanced at one another in confusion as they watched Isobel focus on one certain tombstone. Emily and Elena were both still angry at their biological mother but they couldn't help but be curious to why they were in this unknown cemetery, so the Gilbert vampire linked her fingers with her twin sister's before they took a couple of steps closer to where their biological mother was standing. "What is this?" Elena wondered as she tried her best to read over the tall Isobel's shoulder.

Isobel took an uncommon shaky deep breath as she stared at the words in front of her before she turned her body to the side and showed her daughters what she was looking at which read; _'In loving memory ~ Isobel Flemming ~ Jan 18, 1978 - May 4, 2007.'_ The raven haired vampire watched Emily and Elena's facial expressions for a calm moment before she began to softly utter, "my parents, your grandparents, they put it here when it became clear that the police weren't going to find my body."

A small smile graced Isobel's usual stone-like face before she recalled, "they visit every week, and they bring flowers, even though there's no one buried here." The Flemming vampire then paused in her speech as she let memories of her parents take over her mind for a few minutes of tranquility before a grim expression instantly shined on her face as she stated with a shake of her head, "but the Isobel they knew is dead."

The Flemming vampire slowly turned her attention onto her two daughters as a thought popped into her head. "Maybe there's a part of me that's buried here," Isobel stated with a half smile as she pointed towards her tombstone, "the-the human part. The part that I abandoned when I-when I chose to become a vampire. The part that used to dream about the day that she'd know her two beautiful daughters."

The Gilbert vampire's brown eyes widened in surprise before she gaped breathlessly, "what?" Elena was shocked that there had ever been a part of Isobel that actually cared about her and Emily. _Maybe she wasn't a cold hearted, selfish bitch like we thought,_ Elena thought as she felt like she was seeing Isobel in a new light.

Isobel shrugged her shoulders in a careless fashion to hide her true feelings of her regretful choices. She knew there was no point in trying to get close to her daughters now, so she would rather act like the selfish bitch that Emily and Elena thought she was. It's easier that way. The Flemming vampire's mood then took a whole three-sixty as she looked at her daughters with sadness in her eyes before she murmured as she continued with her speech, "instead you guys got to meet the other part." Isobel gave Emily a small smirk as she repeated her oldest daughter's words, "the part that would betray her own flesh and blood."

The Flemming vampire let her words sync into her daughters for a few minutes of silence that she would forever cherish before she turned her whole attention on her younger daughter. "I'm so sorry, Elena," the raven haired vampire apologized sincerely, "I'm sorry I was such a disappointment to you and your sister." Isobel gave Elena a small smile before she continued, "If I could go back in time, I'd like to believe I would have picked my daughters over my obsession with vampires. It'll haunt me forever. I wished I could have seen you guys grow up to the beautiful girls you are now. I wished I could have loved you guys like a real mother should. It'll always be my biggest regret." Isobel shook her head a sad smile as she stated, "but sadly, that's not how things work. I can't go back. Instead, I can only offer you these words, whether you take them is your choice."

Isobel took a deep breath before she uttered the last kind thing that she would say to her youngest daughter, "I know I was never a mother to you, but I just wanna tell you how proud I am of who you have become." The Flemming vampire let out a soft chuckle as she recalled, "John used to call me all the time with every milestone in your life. It almost felt like I was there too." Isobel paused for a moment as she tried to gather her thoughts before she told Elena, "I hope your vampire life isn't filled with regrets like mine was. I-I just hope you can find your own happiness."

Isobel gave her younger daughter the first real smile she has ever shown in years before she finally turned her eyes onto her oldest child. "Emily," the Flemming vampire began with a soft but sad smile before she murmured, "I am truly sorry for the danger I have put you in - even though I'm not sure why I did it... probably compulsion." Isobel shook her head as she tried to not think about being compelled before she continued, "but I know that you can get through this. You know what you have to do. You have Darina's journal. You don't need Katherine, you just need to look through the lines."

The Flemming vampire opened her mouth to continue but before she could, her cell phone in her coat pocket began to ring. Isobel instantly let out a heavy breath as she knew what the call was about. But instead of answering immediately, Isobel looked back up at her oldest daughter as she hurriedly uttered, "like I told your sister, I am really proud of who you have become. You are a lot of stronger than you realize. You were born for so much greater things that Darina had tried to finish. You can survive Klaus. I know you can, Emily." The Flemming vampire let a small smirk raise onto her lips as she concluded, "you're a Petrova and us Petrova women are survivors no matter what."

Isobel gave her oldest child one final happy and proud smile for a moment as she absorbed Emily's strong and protective aura that always seems to surround her before she looked down at her phone with a deep frown. The Flemming vampire then shakily pressed the accept button and brought the device to her ear before she slowly began to walk away from her daughters as she was finally ready to accept her fate.

The cemetery in Grove Hill grew silent for a couple of minutes as the Gilbert twins watched as their biological mother spoke quietly on her cell phone before the tense silence was interrupted when Elena gently placed her hand onto her twin sister's lower arm and softly asked, "hey, you okay?"

The human Petrova doppelganger flinched slightly at the unexpected touch but instantly calmed down when she connected her green eyes with her sister's brown ones. Emily then gave Elena a small nod and murmured a quiet, "yeah, I'm fine." However, the truth was Emily didn't know if she was okay. It was just such a shock to hear the words coming out of Isobel, a vampire who never showed a second of interest in their lives. It also just seemed so puzzling to why Isobel went through all this trouble of basically kidnapping them and bringing them to her grave before taking them to Klaus. _What is Isobel's point of apologizing to us like this_ , Emily confusingly thought as she stared down at her biological mother's tombstone with her brows furrowed together.

The human girl would soon find her question being answered in a few minutes as the Flemming vampire slowly made her way back towards the Gilbert twins with nerves racking all through her body - which put Emily even more on edge as this wasn't Isobel's usual attitude. "Who was that?" The Gilbert vampire quickly wondered as she too was becoming more puzzled by Isobel's movements and motives.

Instead of providing the answer that both of her daughters obviously wanted, Isobel only shook her head before she silently moved to stand directly in front of her children. The Flemming vampire then soaked in every feature of the twins before she finally looked into their brown and green irises. "The both of you will always be my biggest achievement and my biggest regret. I'll forever regret not getting to know you guys, but I am damn proud of who you guys have become," Isobel confessed before she uttered with a humorless chuckle, "maybe that's why you are so perfect, because I didn't raise you."

The Flemming vampire quickly glanced towards the sunny and bright sky for a moment as she tried to hold the tears in before she focused back onto her daughters. "J-Just keep each other safe," Isobel ordered in a low murmur, "fight through this. You guys can get survive whatever Klaus has planned. Y-You just need to fight it and protective each other." The Flemming vampire then took a couple of steps away from her daughters and brought her shaky hand up to her chest as she prepared herself for what she was about to do.

Emily continued to stare at her biological mother with her brows furrowed as something didn't feel right. It was this whole situation. It just didn't make sense for all this to go down just for Isobel to hand them over to the hybrid. Emily tried to rack her brain for the reason Isobel would be doing this. So while Emily tried to think, she closed her eyes and went through everything and every move Isobel had made before something finally clicked.

 _It was as if Isobel was saying goodby-_ the human girl slowly noted before her green eyes instantly looked up at biological mother as she finally realized why Isobel had gone through all of this trouble by telling the story of what her parents did and all the things that she had never told her children. However before Emily could try to stop whatever Isobel was planning to do and to shield herself and Elena from anymore death, the Flemming vampire gripped her daylight necklace in a tight grasp before she tore it off of her neck - which instantly caused her body to gulf up into flames.

"Isobel!" The Gilbert vampire yelled out in shock and terror as she watched her last living mother burn right in front of her. However before Elena could even try to help, the human girl, who knew this was going to happen, quickly wrapped her arms around Elena's waist to stop her from being harmed as well.

Emily held onto her twin sister's waist until there was nothing left of their biological mother before she slowly released Elena's body while the shock slowly slipped through her own. Even though Emily had realized what Isobel's plan or whoever compelled her was to kill herself, it was still a horrible feeling to have to watch someone die right in front of her.

"Hey," the soft and trembled voice of the Gilbert vampire called out as she took a step towards her twin sister, who was staring down at the pile of ashes that was their biological mother. "I-I-I don-" Elena had began before she instantly closed her mouth as she couldn't even form a single sentence from the shock she was still experiencing.

The human Petrova doppelganger immediately turned her attention on Elena as she could hear the sadness in her sister's voice. "Come here," Emily murmured before she wrapped her arms around her taller sister's neck and brought Elena into her chest. "It's okay," the human girl whispered as she leaned her forehead onto Elena's shoulder.

Emily honestly didn't know why she or Elena were feeling this emotional over Isobel's death. It wasn't like they loved each other or were even a real family. Isobel was always just the person that gave birth to them and the vampire that tried to ruin their lives and terrorize their friends and loved ones.

"We should probably head home. It's not safe to be in the open when Klaus knows where you are," the Gilbert vampire murmured after about three or four minutes of silence had passed of the twin sisters holding each other as she wanted to keep Emily as safe as possible right now. Elena then slowly pulled her body from the human girl and quickly wiped her eyes before she glanced around them. "I'm going to make sure none of our things are in the car first, though," the Gilbert vampire informed Emily as she didn't want anything to connect back to them. The last thing they needed was the police trying to find them when they come across an empty and abandoned car in front of a cemetery.

Emily slowly nodded her head as she knew that would be a good idea. The human girl then went to follow after her twin but before she could, her green eyes continued to go back to the silver chain on the grass. Emily couldn't help but want to pick up, so she glanced over to her waiting sister with a soft and assuring smile. "I'll be right there," the human girl promised before she murmured, "I just need a minute alone."

Elena instantly nodded her head as she understood with all the stuff that has happened in the last couple of minutes. She's in the same boat as her twin as she needed a few minutes to collect her thoughts about Isobel's death. "Take your time," the Gilbert vampire uttered softly before she silently turned around and headed towards the black SUV.

Emily watched her twin sister walk away for a moment before she slowly turned and faced the pile of ashes that was her biological mother. The human girl hesitated for a moment before she quickly bent down and picked up the daylight necklace before she could change her mind. Emily didn't know why, but she felt like she needed to take Isobel's necklace with her. It was the last item that would ever connect her and Elena to their biological mother, so Emily felt, even though she despised Isobel, that any family is family no matter how much you hate them and that they have to accept and cherish the ones they have left.

"I'm sorry that our lives were never meant to link together," Emily mumbled as she rubbed her finger across Isobel's daylight necklace. The human girl let out a small chuckle as she continued, "you were a major bitch and a pain in our asses but you gave birth to Lena and I, so I guess that's why I'm feeling sorrow for a person I hated."

Emily released a deep breath as she stood there in silence for a moment before she slowly moved her green eyes over to her biological mother's tombstone for the last time and whispered, "goodbye, Isobel." The human girl squeezed her fingers around the daylight necklace in her hand before she finally turned around and headed to find Elena by the black SUV with thoughts of today replaying in her head and confusing feelings entering her chest.

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

It took about fifteen minutes before the Gilbert twins were silently settled in the living room of the boarding house after Elena had vamped them out of Grove Hill, once they had sure that there was nothing that could link them to the SUV, and arrived back in Mystic Falls. The sisters were currently relaxing closely together with their knees touching as thoughts of Isobel continued to run through their minds while they both stared down at their biological mother's daylight necklace in the human girl's hand. It was just still such a shock to the sisters and they weren't exactly sure how they were suppose to feel about this situation.

"Hey," the soft voice of the younger Salvatore interrupted the tranquility that the sisters were sharing as he walked into the living room. Stefan placed a soft but quick kiss onto Emily's temple once he was close enough before he handed the human girl and the young vampire a glass of bourbon. The green eyed Salvatore could only imagine what the sisters were feeling right now after watching Isobel die in front of them. It would be a tough situation for anyone.

"She was such a horrible person," Emily mumbled as she was the first one to speak while she ran her thumb over the slick blue stone that rested in the center of Isobel's daylight necklace. "She was a selfish bitch that got what she deserved," the human girl stated before she glanced over to her silent sister and up at her boyfriend as she muttered, "but I just feel this emptiness for someone I didn't care about."

Stefan gave his girlfriend a sad smile as he squeezed the human girl's bare knee from where he sat on the edge of the table in front of her. "She was your mother," the Salvatore vampire explained to why Emily was feeling like this before he glanced over to Elena and added to offer his friend the same comfort, "it's understandable for you guys to feel this way no matter how you felt about her."

Emily let out a low sigh as she silently nodded her head before she looped her arm with Elena's to absorb her twin sister's comfort and offer Elena the same. The human girl understood what Stefan meant as it made sense. Isobel was family in some dysfunctional way so it's plausible for why they feel this way from Isobel's death. Emily just wished the feeling would go away, though. She was just so tired of losing people.

"But there's just something I don't understand," the Gilbert vampire mumbled after a moment of silence had settled in the living room. "Isobel was on the phone with someone that had her compelled, probably for Klaus, so why did they just let us leave like that?" Elena questioned before she glanced over to her twin sister with her brown eyes softened and continued in a whisper, "why didn't they take you?"

The younger Salvatore vampire took a deep breath to keep the incoming panic down from the idea of someone taking Emily away from him before he cleared his throat and wondered as he tried to make sense of all of this, "well, anything John told Isobel, we have to assume that Klaus knows, right?" Once Stefan saw the Gilbert twins nod their heads in agreement, the Salvatore vampire continued but with his eyes solely on his girlfriend as he grabbed her hand that wasn't holding Isobel's necklace, "so he knows that you have everyone in Mystic Falls keeping you safe."

Emily and Elena immediately glanced at one another as they realized what Klaus knows from the keyword in Stefan's statement being their hometown. "He knows that I'm not going to try to run or hide," the human girl muttered which meant Klaus would know exactly where she would be when he's ready; Mystic Falls. _Well, game on, hybrid,_ Emily thought as she was not going to go down without a fight and would rather die than allow any harm to come to her loved ones just because Klaus wants her.

"Which is why we need to take some precautions," the newly arrived Damon Salvatore exclaimed as he came strutting into the living room of the boarding house. The older vampire plopped down onto the couch next to his girlfriend and took a stiff drink of Elena's bourbon before he continued with an eye roll, "cause we got played - all of us." Damon then reached into his leather jacket before he stretched his arm across his girlfriend and tossed a stack of papers onto the human girl's lap.

Emily glanced down at the papers in confusion as she didn't understand what Damon was trying to tell her. "What's all this?" The human Petrova doppelganger inquired with her brows furrowed as she didn't see how a stack of thirty or so pages was going to help them against the feared hybrid.

"It's the deed to our house," the younger Salvatore vampire began to explain to his girlfriend the plan he and Damon had came up with as he softly rubbed circles on Emily's bare knee, "it's in Zach's name." Stefan then gave Emily a small smile before he continued, "but as soon as you sign it, it'll be in your name."

The human girl's green eyes continued to be furrowed as she glanced between the stack of papers and the Salvatore brothers. Emily then lifted an eyebrow when Stefan and Damon didn't say anything else before she inquired with humor in her voice, "so, I'll be in charge of the boarding house?" _I like the sound of this plan,_ the human girl thought in amusement as she glanced around the spacious room, _but there definitely will be some upgrades._

Stefan let out a soft chuckle as he could see the fast thoughts roaming around the human girl's mind. "Theoretically, yes," the younger Salvatore vampire answered with a simple nod of his head before he explained why Emily would be signing the deed, "Isobel had the right idea with the safe house." Stefan then squeezed the human girl's knee as he assured her, "you'll just stay here until it's all over."

The silent Gilbert vampire quickly agreed as she realized what the Salvatore brothers' plan was. Elena then squeezed her twin sister's arm, that's looped with hers, to assure Emily that it's the right idea before she voiced her thoughts, "since Jenna and Jer can invite anyone inside of our house, this way you and you alone will be in charge of who can come inside the boarding house."

Damon swiftly lifted up his finger and pointed over at the human girl with a playful glare after Elena had basically finished explaining their plan. "But if you don't let me in, I'll kick your ass," the older Salvatore vampire jokingly exclaimed with a wide smirk.

Emily couldn't help but let out a heavy chuckle before she rolled her green eyes at her twin sister's boyfriend because, of course, Damon would be joking during a serious situation like this. "Oh, please," Emily exclaimed as she added her teasing, "I'll kick your ass any day of the week."

However before anymore jabs could be thrown by the older siblings of the Salvatore and Gilbert family, they were immediately interrupted by the loud sound of a gasp echoing throughout the boarding house. The three vampire and the human girl instantly moved their eyes towards the noise - where they saw the temporarily dead John Gilbert spring to life.

The first one to move towards the human man happened to be John's vampire daughter as Elena picked him up and rushed him against the wall in anger. Elena was beyond furious as it is John's fault that Klaus knows where her twin sister is located since he's been telling Isobel everything. "I swear I had no idea what she was gonna do," the Gilbert man hurriedly explained before he murmured, "I'm sorry." John then glanced over Elena's shoulder to his human daughter before he apologized once more with emotions clouding his blue eyes, "I am so, so sorry."

Emily stared directly at her biological father for a moment with her arms crossed over her chest as she tried to think of what they were supposed to do. But luckily for John, the human girl finally thought of something before Elena had the chance to kill him as Emily told her twin sister, "Lena, we should all have a talk." It was the only way they were going to figure out John's motive now that he wasn't under Isobel's spell.

It took a couple of minutes to get everything situated with Emily assuring Stefan that she would be fine with John by reminding him that Elena would be in the room with her and that he can always listen in to make sure nothing bad happens. Once Stefan was finally convinced, Emily gave her boyfriend a soft kiss before the Salvatore brothers left the living room which left the Gilbert man and his daughters.

"I always knew that she and Katherine were close," John began to speak about the deceased Flemming vampire once he was seated across from Emily and Elena on the light brown leather couch. The Gilbert man shook his head as he tiredly ran his fingers through his short hair before he mumbled, "but I never realized that Isobel and her were working against me."

Emily quickly spoke before John could continue as she defended her doppelganger's sister, "Katherine really thought she was helping. She just didn't know that Isobel was playing her. Katherine only wanted to make Darina proud." The human girl knew from the bottom of her heart that Katherine didn't lie or trick them. The doppelganger connection that Emily always feels wouldn't allow Katherine to trick her or she would be able to tell. Emily, of course, didn't understand the connection that much but she definitely would know if the Petrova vampire was being truthful or not.

John shrugged his shoulders at his daughter's statement as he couldn't agree or disagree with that. He never could find it in himself to trust Katherine ever since he met her all those years ago, so he didn't really know if the Petrova vampire was being truthful about the plan that was supposedly set into place centuries ago. So instead of arguing about what he thought about Katherine to his daughter, he just continued with his speech about Isobel and Katherine's close relationship as he uttered, "they were two of the world's most uncaring and selfish vampires and yet they were genuinely friends."

The Gilbert vampire grinded her teeth together as she still felt the need to attack her biological father. However, Elena kept her emotions in check thanks to Emily's hand linked with hers which kept her anchored in place knowing that her twin sister was currently safe. So instead of ending John's life for risking her twin's like she wanted, Elena interrogated with a hint of anger in her voice, "if that's what you thought of Isobel then why did you ever put your trust in her at all?"

John glanced down at his fingers for a silence moment before he answered in a soft tone, "because I was there when she gave birth to you both." The Gilbert man glanced up at his daughters as he continued, "I saw how heartbroken she was to give you guys up." John then paused as his childhood began to play through his mind before he murmured, "and because she was the first girl I ever loved, and when she said she'll help keep Emily and you safe... I believed her."

The human girl couldn't help but turn her green eyes over to her twin sister, who was definitely feeling the same thing as she was as it was shown all over Elena's face. The Gilbert twins were feeling an array of emotions but the biggest one was sadness and shock from how John really cared for Isobel and the fact that he really did think he was helping his daughters.

"At this point," the Gilbert man began again after a moment of silence had settled in the living room and his daughters didn't say anything, "I will do whatever you guys want me to do." John looked into their brown and green eyes with his blue ones clouded with unshed tears before he told his daughters, even though it pained him to do so, "if you guys feel safer with me not around, then I'll go."

The Gilbert twins slowly turned towards each other after John's promise as they tried to figure out what they wanted to do. It was like they were secretly conversing like they always do with their twin connection before they finally came to an agreement. But when the Gilbert sisters turned back around, they saw John standing up from the couch so Elena quickly told their biological father before he could leave, "you screw up everything, John. Everything you touch just falls apart." The Gilbert vampire then glanced over to her twin for reassurance before she told John in a softer tone, "but you're the only parent we have left... so maybe I can learn to not hate you."

Emily nodded her head in agreement as she stood up from the leather couch and faced her biological father. "We have never gotten along, but you're family and we need all the family we can get these days," the human girl honestly told John. "So, if you are serious about helping us defeat Klaus and keeping us safe, then I think we can make this work," Emily concluded with a small smile.

John had been her least favorite person in the world for basically her whole life but with Klaus coming closer to arriving, Emily knew that she couldn't keep this on her conscience by not making up with someone in her family before the sacrifice. There could still be a chance that Katherine's plan doesn't work and she could die, so Emily just wanted to make sure that she left this world on a clean slate. So if that meant that she had to let John in for the first time, then Emily would gladly do so.

The Gilbert man looked across at his daughters with a bright smile as he was glad that they were accepting him and was allowing him to help them like he always wanted to do to begin with. He only wanted to keep his daughters safe, so John was glad that he would now get the opportunity without Isobel or Katherine's interference. Once John finally found his voice through all the emotions he was feeling, the Gilbert man murmured, "okay." John then took a step closer towards his daughters and lightly touched their shoulders as he exclaimed, "thank you."

The twin sisters both silently nodded their heads as they both felt this awkwardness hanging in the air. Unlike John, Emily and Elena didn't feel like they were ready for the emotions that their biological father was already displaying like the caring and loving attitude as John has always been the jackass in their lives. But they knew that they couldn't be picky with the help they are getting, so the twin sisters both uttered together to hopefully end the awkwardness, "not a problem," and, "you're welcome."

John must have finally realized that his daughters were getting uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck before he quickly began to make his way towards the front door of the boarding house. The Gilbert man then turned towards his daughters once he grabbed the doorknob and promised before he finally walked out of the Salvatore boarding house for the night, "I'll be in touch tomorrow and we'll figure out how to stop Klaus together."

The Gilbert twins watched and waited until their biological father had closed the large wooden door behind him before they both glanced at one another and a small chuckle escaped their lips at the craziness of their lives. "I don't think I can even absorb anymore information tonight," the Gilbert vampire mumbled out of exhaustion while she rubbed her hand down her face. It had been a long day after watching their biological mother die in front of them and, surprisingly, accepting their biological father's help.

"Tell me about it," Emily mumbled with a loud and tired yawn. The human girl walked over to where her twin sister was standing by the staircase before she pulled Elena into a tight hug for a minute or two before she pulled away and uttered, "we'll worry about John in the morning, but right now I just want to sleep." Emily was just too tired to do anything else. The only thing she wanted to do right now was to lay down with her loving boyfriend and just forget the rest of the world.

"We'll figure this out," Elena promised her twin sister with a small smile as she squeezed Emily's upper arm. The Gilbert vampire swiftly pulled her sister into another hug as she breathed in Emily's scent as she tried to assure herself that Emily was safe and okay before she pulled away and murmured, "get some rest, Emmie."

Emily nodded her head as she gave her twin sister a large grin before she exclaimed with a smirk, "you don't have to tell me twice." The human girl then headed up the wooden staircase as she called out to her sister, who was making herself comfortable on the couch, "good night. Love you, Lena."

The human girl then headed down the long hallway in the boarding house once she tiredly made her way up the stairs. Emily rubbed her green eyes as she headed to the bedroom that she calls hers. But before Emily could open the door, she decided to stop by the bedroom across from hers first. So with her mind set, Emily knocked her knuckles softly on the wooden door before she slowly opened it and peeked her head inside with a small grin as she uttered, "hey, you."

The younger Salvatore instantly looked up from the book that he was reading on top of his bed at the voice before a smile instantly lifted onto his lips. Stefan then vamp sped up to the human girl and placed his hands onto her hips as he slowly pulled Emily into his room before he inquired softly, "how did it go with John?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders as she lightly rested her arms around Stefan's neck before she murmured, "as to be expected. Awkward as hell but at least we're getting some help with all this." The human doppelganger wasn't honestly sure how her interaction with John went. It wasn't like she could ever trust John's words, so Emily decided to wait for John's actions to speak for themselves.

Stefan silently nodded his head in understanding and muttered, "that's good." The Salvatore vampire didn't trust John as far as he could throw him, but he knew Emily is right; all the help they can get with dealing with Klaus, the better. It just means that Stefan was going to be even more protective and more careful now that John is involved. Stefan wasn't going to let a single thing happen to the girl in his arms - no matter what.

Stefan shook his head after a moment of silence had settled in his bedroom as he hated thinking about Emily being taken from him, so the Salvatore vampire decided to change the conversation to something lighthearted. "You ready for bed, babe?" Stefan wondered softly as he rubbed the right side of the human girl's face with the pad of his thumb.

Emily closed her green eyes as she enjoyed the feeling of Stefan's cold touch on her warm skin for a minute or so before she finally opened her eyes to tell the younger Salvatore what she originally came in here to do. "I'm just gonna jump in the shower then I'll join you," the human girl explained as she tried to take a step away from her boyfriend.

However, before the human girl could even take a step back to go shower, the Salvatore vampire kept his arms wrapped around Emily's waist in a tight grip with a cheeky grin so she couldn't leave. "I could always join you now," Stefan uttered with a smirk as he slowly and teasingly trailed his right hand along the human girl's warm skin.

Emily threw her head back with a loud chuckle before she looked into Stefan's green eyes with amusement in her own and exclaimed, "I don't think so, mister." The human girl padded the vampire's chest with a shake of her head as she explained to the pouting Salvatore, "we'll be in there for hours if you come along." Emily smirked as she took a step back as she teased, "but thanks for the offer, though."

The human Petrova doppelganger then swiftly turned around to leave but, once again, she was stopped as the Salvatore vampire grabbed ahold of her wrist and turned her around with a small smile. "Where's my kiss?" Stefan inquired with a deep pout.

Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes at her clingy boyfriend but she wouldn't lie and say she didn't like it. It made her feel loved and like a normal teenager for once that wasn't dealing with the supernatural, so Emily decided to indulge in her adorably sweet boyfriend. "I guess you can have one," Emily mumbled in false annoyance before she leaned up on her tippy toes and softly placed her lips onto the Salvatore vampire's cold ones.

However, the one kiss turned into two kisses which turned into a small make out session before the human girl had to forcefully pull herself away before she got sucked into the Salvatore vampire's charm which would lead to her never leaving Stefan's bedroom. Emily would rather stay in her boyfriend's arms but she knew she needed a shower and out of this dress, so she forced herself away and questioned with a raised eyebrow, "happy?"

The Salvatore vampire glanced up towards the ceiling like he was thinking hard before he moved his green eyes back to his girlfriend after a minute or so with a wide grin spreading across his cold lips. Stefan then crossed his arms over his grey Henley before he exclaimed cockily, "very."

Emily shook her head in amusement at her boyfriend and muttered, "you are trouble, Mr. Salvatore." The human girl then leaned up on her tippy toes for one more addicting kiss before she swiftly turned around and quickly walked down the hallway before Stefan could grab her again while she listened to the sweet melody of the vampire's laugh trailing behind her.

 _I am so ready to get out of this dress and in the shower,_ Emily thought once she finally opened the door to her personal bedroom. The human girl flicked on the light switch next to her and went to head towards her closet to grab something comfy to wear after her shower but instantly paused once she noticed something lying on top of her bed that wasn't there the last time she was here. "Wonder what they could be," Emily mumbled to herself before she gently picked up the lilac colored envelope that was settled on the edge of her bed.

The human girl's brows furrowed when she noticed the beautiful and elegant writing on the top of the envelope that simply said her name and nothing else. _No return address,_ Emily realized as she looked at the front and back. The brunette girl shrugged her shoulders before she slowly and cautiously began to open the envelope - where she noticed a single letter inside. _This looks awfully familiar,_ Emily thought as she recalled back to the handwritten note that Katherine had left her with Maria Radkova's letter as she began to read.

 _Emily,_

 _If you have received this letter, then it means Klaus is here in Mystic Falls and has found me. I made sure that someone would deliver this to you because I have some things I need to explain. I know I haven't told you much of anything about the plan but I just need you to know, even though I won't be with you during the sacrifice, you will be taken cared of. Maria Radkova made sure centuries ago that my sister's doppelganger would be protected when the sacrifice happened again._

 _Truthfully, I never thought the plan was going to work until I met you. I saw my sister in you and from hearing how Elena and Caroline along with everyone else in this town spoke about you, I knew that I wanted and needed to keep you alive. I have grown to hold a small place in my cold dead heart for you. But now that I have gotten to know you, I know that you are meant for this and you will survive this. You have the Petrova fire, after all, and us Petrova women are survivors._

 _Now, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you encase I never get to now that Klaus has me. I just wanna say sorry for all of the pain I have caused you. Most importantly, the Masquerade Ball fiasco. I am so sorry that I had my witch harm you. I wished it could have been Elena but I knew I wouldn't get the same response since everyone in Mystic Falls would rather die than see their darling child hurt and that was the only way for me to get the moonstone in my possession. Again, I apologize. I never wanted to do that._

 _I must also apologize for never telling you about the plan. Maria made sure that the only people to know about the plan was myself, Maria, and one other person (who you'll realize soon enough). She didn't want it to get out for Klaus to somehow hear about it. Speaking of that asshole, I also apologize for ever letting you believe that I was going to hand you over to Klaus during a few of our talks like in the tomb. I couldn't let Elena or the Salvatore's think that I was truly on their side as I don't trust them to make sure the plan happens. I had to make sure none of their feelings got in the way and ruined the chance of your survival._

 _Now, I am going to tell you something that may shock you. Ready? Okay, the main key to this plan is Elijah. I know this may not make sense right now since I tricked Damon into getting my freedom by having him stab Elijah with the dagger and ash but he has the answers you will need to protect yourself from Klaus with the plan Maria had set into place. I thought I would be able to get the key ingredient to the plan from Elijah before Klaus got to me, but I was wrong._

 _I know you feel connected and can trust Elijah like Darina did (thanks to that wonderful doppelganger connection you guys share ; hint: sarcasm), so you can trust Elijah with this. You just need to pull the dagger out of Elijah and he'll give you all the answers you will need once you clue him to the fact that Klaus is here in Mystic Falls. He has the answer to surviving the sacrifice._

 _I know you got this, Emily. You are a Petrova. We don't give up and we fight no matter what. Just be careful around Klaus. Do not understatement his hunger for turning into a full hybrid. I know you are all about protecting your friends and family but please focus on keeping yourself safe and alive._

 _Love, Katherine._

"Holy crap," was the first words out of the human girl's mouth once she placed the letter down onto her queen sized bed in shock. Emily couldn't believe that Klaus is actually here in Mystic Falls. She knew it shouldn't be that surprising, though, since Isobel had been compelled for Klaus but she didn't think the hybrid would already be here. It was like everything was going into super speed. Emily thought that they would have some time to prepare.

It put a small ounce of fear into the human girl with knowing that Klaus is here as she knew her end is coming near. However, it wasn't the chance that everything could go wrong with Maria's plan and end Emily's life that scared her. It's the fact that Klaus would do anything to get what he wanted, thanks to Katherine and Darina's history, and that is Emily's worst fear.

She didn't want her loved ones to be harmed when Klaus only wants her, so Emily right then and there made a promise to herself as she tucked the letter back into the lilac envelope and placed it inside of the bedside table that she would follow Katherine's advice and undagger the original. It's the only guaranteed way that she could keep her loved ones protected while also focusing on the sacrifice like the Petrova vampire advised.

However, Emily knew she had to wait for the right moment to undagger Elijah. It would be too obvious for her to do it right now with everyone on high alert after Isobel killed herself by compulsion from the hybrid. Emily decided that she would wait until Klaus showed himself before she would undagger Elijah and set the centuries old plan into motion along with making sure her loved ones will still be protected from the deal that she and Elijah originally made. That way, Elena nor the Salvatore brothers would stop her from undaggering the original because they will be too focused on stopping Klaus which means they will have to listen to Elijah.

Emily knew that everyone was going to have a hard time going along with the plan that only Elijah could help complete as no one really trusts the original like she does. The human girl also knew that they never really believed much about the bit of the plan Katherine had explained along with the fact that they have been dead set on being the ones to protect her from the sacrifice. Emily just hoped that once she undaggered Elijah and he explains the plan to them that everyone will realize that this will be their only chance of getting out of this alive.


	59. The One With The Dance Request

**SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

It was just about six-fifteen in the morning when Emily found herself sitting at the large, antique dinning room table in the boarding house with her best friend, Bonnie, and the Gilbert family's lawyer, Mr. Roger Henry, while the vampires stood outside waiting for their invitation. The Salvatore brothers and the Gilbert vampire wanted to have their own safe house in order like Isobel had as soon as possible for the human girl as they didn't know when Klaus would show up.

Emily didn't exactly like this idea but she decided to just humor her family and friends that only want to protect her as her plan A was currently lying dead in the basement of the boarding house. The human girl just had to wait for the right opportunity when everyone would be distracted by Klaus to wake the original and continue with the centuries old plan. So, for now, Emily would gladly follow along with her family and friends' plan if it meant protecting them in the end.

"Please sign here, Ms. Gilbert," the lawyer, Mr. Henry, requested as he pointed towards three bright yellow arrows on the first page of the deed for the Salvatore boarding house before he handed the blue pen to the young girl.

Emily jumped out of her thoughts about the incoming doom for Mystic Falls and gave the lawyer a small smile before she grabbed the pen. "Alright, let's do this," the Gilbert girl mumbled, mostly to herself, as she scanned through all the words that she didn't really understand before she signed her name and her initials on the correct spots that Mr. Henry showed her.

"So, this place is all yours?" The Bennett witch curiously inquired as she watched as the lawyer flipped to the second page and silently directed the human girl to the next set of arrows, "they just gave it to you?"

Emily briefly glanced her green eyes up to her best friend, who was sitting across from her before she shrugged her shoulders and quickly added her next signature and initials. "Well, basically," the Gilbert girl began to answer Bonnie's question as she looked for her next arrow before she secretly told the brunette girl so she didn't say anything about the supernatural in front of the lawyer, "it's just a safe house until this is all over so I'll be in charge of the type of people that can be invited in."

Bonnie twitched her head to the side as she thought over the brunette girl's words for a moment before she slowly nodded her head. "It's not a bad idea," the Bennett witch commented as she realized that Emily would be the only one to invite vampires inside the boarding house unlike at the Gilbert house, where a vampire could somehow compel Jenna or Jeremy if they weren't careful.

"Well, you can thank Isobel for that," Emily mumbled as she continued to add her name on the ten thousandth page for ownership of the Salvatore boarding house. The Gilbert girl glanced up at Bonnie as she explained what Isobel had told her about when she was still alive, "it's what she had originally tried to get Elena and I to agree to but I couldn't trust that woman as far as I could throw her." Emily shot her witch friend a small smile before she stated with a hint of humor in her voice, "so, at least this time, I have my own personal bodyguards to keep me safe."

Bonnie gave the human girl a small smile as she understood completely why they would sign the boarding house over to Emily as it was their safest option until the hybrid shows his face and they can finally end all of this. The Bennett witch then silently glanced around the large boarding house before she mumbled, "I wouldn't want to clean it."

The Bennett witch and the Gilbert girl both immediately let out a loud chuckle as they both looked around the boarding house at the thought of cleaning the place before Emily quickly shook her head. "Oh, trust me," Emily exclaimed before she joked with a small smirk, "I'm definitely getting a maid to shine this place up." _There was no way in hell that one person could clean this place unless they are a vampire_ , Emily thought to herself before she swiftly turned her attention back to the lawyer when Mr. Henry began to direct her to the next page.

Meanwhile, outside of the boarding house on the large porch stood the Salvatore brothers and the Gilbert vampire as they all watched from their vantage point at the very edge of the front door, the farthest that they could go before they would be stopped by the invisible wall, as the human girl signed the many documents for her personal safe house away from the hybrid.

"Do you really think Bonnie can take on Klaus?" The pacing and older Salvatore vampire interrogated as he broke the silence on the porch. Damon was very wary of this plan that the Bennett witch had begun to tell them about before the lawyer had showed up. He just didn't like the idea of trusting the witch with his girlfriend's sister's life as they were only going to have one shot at this with the dangerous hybrid.

Stefan lightly shook his head and stated, "she said she could channel enough witches' power to kill him." Unlike his brother, Stefan trusted Bonnie but he was still nervous about it, though. This wasn't an easy situation for him as he didn't even like it when someone besides himself had to keep the human girl safe like when Jonas was after her. Stefan would rather be the one protecting Emily as he would rather give up his life to keep her safe and alive.

"Well, Elijah thought it would work against Klaus," Elena mumbled with her arms crossed over her chest while she glanced between the two brothers. The Gilbert vampire lightly shrugged her shoulders as she added with a hint of doubt in her voice, "he was an original, so he must have figured it out." Elena wasn't exactly believing the words coming out of her mouth as she didn't really trust Elijah with her sister's life but the only thing she could do at the moment was believe that Bonnie could do this as Elena couldn't even begin to think about losing her twin sister.

Damon silently nodded his head as he tossed his arm lazily over his girlfriend's shoulder. "We just need to find him," the older vampire mumbled as they couldn't exactly do anything until Klaus showed his face and tried something since no one alive, besides Katherine, has any idea what the hybrid looks like.

"Yeah," Stefan murmured with sadness in his voice while he kept his green eyes locked on his brunette beauty, who was sharing a laugh with the Bennett witch, through his position against the door frame. The Salvatore vampire felt like it had always been his duty to keep Emily safe and now he felt like he was failing her since he couldn't even help her right now. It was just so frustrating for the younger Salvatore.

"Do you think Bon could track him?" Elena wondered as she anxiously picked at her nails after a moment of silence had settled on the front porch of the Salvatore boarding house as she tried to think of a way so that they could find Klaus and save her sister's life. The Gilbert vampire then quickly glanced between the two brothers before she explained her idea, "you know, like when Bonnie had to find Emily when Rose kidnapped her."

Stefan instantly shook his head at the young vampire's idea before he mumbled with the same sadness in his voice, "nope." The younger Salvatore let out a heavy sigh before he glanced over to Elena and told his girlfriend's sister why that wouldn't work, "Bonnie would need something personal to Klaus like when Bonnie had used Jeremy's blood to find Emily." Stefan had asked Bonnie that same question as soon as she had arrived but, sadly, it was a wasted attempt since no one had anything that belongs to the hybrid.

The Gilbert vampire released a heavy groan as she threw her hands up into the air in exhaustion as she felt helpless to her twin sister, who had protected her since they were born. Elena hated not being able to do anything for Emily as the green eyed girl had always been able to help her with every single thing. "I hate this," Elena mumbled as she slumped against Damon's chest with the same sadness that Stefan was visibly showing on his face.

The porch of the Salvatore boarding house was silent for a couple of minutes as Damon silently comforted his girlfriend with his arms wrapped around Elena's shoulder from behind and while Stefan continued to stare across at his girlfriend inside of the house until the older Salvatore interrupted the silence. "Do you think he killed her?" Damon curiously wondered as he remembered the news they had found out from the human girl that Klaus had taken the Petrova vampire.

Stefan took his green eyes off of his girlfriend and glanced over to his brother with his brows furrowed as he didn't exactly knew who Damon was talking about. "Katherine?" The younger Salvatore inquired as he figured that was the only person that Damon could be mentioning since no else had died or gone missing since Isobel. The green eyed vampire then lightly shrugged his shoulders before he turned his gaze back onto Emily as he muttered, "probably." If anything Katherine or Rose had told them about Klaus was true, then there was a huge percentage that Klaus finally killed the Petrova vampire.

"I hope so," the Gilbert vampire couldn't help but exclaim with a roll of her brown eyes. Elena had never liked Katherine ever since she had shown her face in Mystic Falls and Elena definitely hated her ancestor even more when Katherine had gotten close to her twin sister. Elena knew it had been jealousy, but Katherine was only causing them all problems, so she would say it is a win that Klaus finally has her.

"Thank you for coming by this morning, Mr. Henry," the calm and sweet voice of the human girl caught the attention of the three vampires before they saw Emily walk the older man outside of the boarding house. Emily then shook the lawyer's hand once he turned and faced her before she politely told him, "have a nice day, Mr. Henry."

The Gilbert girl watched and waited until the older man walked to his simple and black Honda before she turned her attention on the three vampires. Emily couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle when all of the supernatural beings stood in front of the doorway with a mixture of waiting and impatient expressions. "Oh, my bad, guys," the human girl mumbled with a bright smirk across her face as she was going to enjoy her fun of owning the Salvatore boarding house.

Emily watched the faces of the vampires for a few short minutes as she waited for one of them to finally explode before she decided to end their torment when she could basically see the steam coming from Damon's ears while her sister and boyfriend both just looked amused. The human girl then turned her attention solely on her twin sister before she exclaimed with a large grin, "dear sister, please come into my castle."

The Gilbert vampire let out a low chuckle as she knew what her sister was doing and squeezed Damon's shoulder to hopefully keep him calm through Emily's game before she finally stepped over the threshold and into the newly owned boarding house. "Thank you, dear twin," Elena praised and placed a thankful kiss onto Emily's cheek before she headed further into the foyer to watch the amusing show.

Once Emily saw her twin sister walk passed her, she turned her attention back onto the front door and to the Salvatore brothers. The human girl then focused onto the younger brother with a smile shining across her pink lips before she held out her hand and exclaimed in the same manner that she had used with her twin sister, "Mr. Salvatore, it would be my greatest honor for the king to join the queen's castle."

The younger Salvatore couldn't help but shake his head with a loud and an amused chuckle before he crossed over the threshold and placed his hand into Emily's awaiting one. "The honor would be all mine, Your Majesty," Stefan exclaimed before he squeezed Emily's hand and swiftly twirled her around until she was pressed against his chest. The Salvatore vampire stared deeply into the human girl's green eyes with happiness for the first time all day before he pulled her into a passionate kiss.

"Any day now, Stefan," the grumpy and older Salvatore growled while he tapped his black boots against the wood from the front porch in annoyance because he wasn't inside his house yet while his brother was being all lovey dovey with the human girl. "Let's go, Gilbert," Damon commanded as he crossed his arms over his chest before he muttered, "I don't have all day."

Emily placed one last kiss onto Stefan's lips as she could tell Damon was getting pissed before she faced the lone vampire that had yet to be invited in. "I pretty sure you do have all day with being immortal in all," the human girl uttered with a smirk as she leaned the side of her body on the door.

"Oh, my God!" Damon loudly groaned as he tossed his head towards the ceiling of the porch. "Just let me in, dammit!" The older Salvatore commanded as he just wanted a glass of bourbon and his girlfriend by his side right about now. Damon did not like these games when he couldn't even counter them while being stuck outside like this.

Emily innocently showed the older vampire her hands with a chuckle before she stood up straight and looked directly into Damon's blue eyes. "You can enter but as soon as you answer this question," the human told the vampire before she inquired, once she saw Damon roll his blue irises, "do we still have a deal?"

Damon raised his left eyebrow at the human girl before he inquired with a twitch of his head, "what deal?" The older Salvatore then shot Emily a smirk before he exclaimed by using the Gilbert girl's own words against her, "I've made a lot of deals in my very immortal life."

"That there will be no more secrets between everyone," Emily explained with an eye roll at the fact that Damon was playing dumb right now. "We all promised that there will be no more lies or secrets." The human girl then pointed at the vampire with a deadly serious expression before she stated, "if there are more lies involved, I will gladly turn myself over to Klaus because I will not put anyone I love in anymore dangerous. Got it?"

The older Salvatore rolled his blue eyes, once again, when he heard the human girl's threat along with his brother's and girlfriend's command for him to just agree as they all didn't want the doppelganger to get back into these ideas of turning herself over to Klaus again when they finally got her to fight for her life. "Fine," Damon finally grumbled before he held up his right hand like he was being sworn into court and told Emily in an emotionless voice, "I swear to tell the queen whatever she wants." The older vampire then rose an eyebrow at the human girl before he interrogated, "are we done now?"

Emily glanced up towards the ceiling of the foyer like she was thinking over the question while she enjoyed the minutes that she had being in charge of Damon before she looked back at the aforementioned Salvatore and mumbled with a false heavy sigh, "I guess that will do." The Gilbert girl then shot Damon a small smirk before she held out her hand towards the boarding house and exclaimed, "please, Damon, come into my castle."

The older Salvatore grumbled under his breath about how it might have been a bad idea to let the human girl be in charge of his home before he finally entered the boarding house. Damon walked past the grinning Emily once he stepped over the threshold and told his also grinning brother, "shut up." The blue eyed vampire then silently walked into his girlfriend's waiting arms that held a glass of bourbon just like he wanted before he began to lead Elena towards the living room with the other couple laughing behind them.

However, before the human girl could reach the living room, she spotted Bonnie walking down the stairs. "Oh, hey," Emily called out before she asked the Bennett witch, "did you find that grey sweater that'll go with your top?" The Gilbert girl had told her best friend about the sweater while she was signing the deed to the boarding house after Bonnie had mentioned that she had forgotten her jacket at home.

The Bennett witch nodded her head as she moved the items in her hand before she gave Emily the black leather jacket that she had requested to go with her black crop top and an off-white floral skirt with red and pink flowers along with a medium sized black side purse. Bonnie then pulled out the grey sweater from her bag before she slipped it over her shoulder and told the human girl, "thank you for this. I'll give it back to you before school ends."

Emily instantly shook her head as she lightly waved her hand with a small smile. "Keep it. I probably have multiple ones at home," the human girl told the Bennett witch as she probably did. Emily had lost count of the many clothes that were in her closest at the Gilbert house and the large collection that she now has at the boarding house. The Gilbert girl then waited until Bonnie had the sweater on before she wondered, "you ready to go?"

The Bennett witch nodded her head before she looped her arm with Emily's so they could leave like they had planned when the lawyer was still here. However, before the two girls could get farther than three steps towards the door, the confused voice of the younger Salvatore inquired, "wait, where are you going?"

The human girl rose an eyebrow at her obviously puzzled boyfriend before she simply stated, "school." Emily then placed her hand onto her hip as she joked with amusement shining throughout her green eyes, "you know, that place where we go every week with all the books and teachers."

The younger Salvatore vampire's green eyes almost popped out of his head as he took a step towards his girlfriend and the witch before he asked as he wanted to make sure that he was hearing Emily right, "huh? What did you say?" _There is no way in hell Emily is actually thinking about going to school when they just learned that Klaus is here in town_ , Stefan thought.

"Oh, no, no, no," the older Salvatore immediately exclaimed while he glared at the human girl. "We did not just create this safe house for you and I did not just get played with while outside of my own damn home for nothing," Damon growled as he couldn't believe that they set this all up just for the doppelganger to go out around town when Klaus could be anywhere right now.

The Gilbert vampire bit down on her bottom lip as she stared at her twin sister while she thought of both sides' argument before she walked up to Emily. "I don't think this is a good idea, Emmie," the brown eyed vampire mumbled as she shook her head, "you should just skip school until we deal with this." Elena didn't like the idea of her twin sister leaving her safe house when Klaus could just come up and grab her. They had to keep their guard up now that Klaus is in Mystic Falls and going to school was definitely not going to help with trying to keep the human girl safe.

Stefan quickly nodded his head as he agreed with his brother and his brother's girlfriend before he faced his own girlfriend and the Bennett witch. "Yeah, guys," the younger Salvatore began as he slowly stepped towards the two brunettes before he stated something that they all knew but apparently needed to be reminded about, "Klaus is out there."

Emily took a quick glance over at the Bennett witch as they had a conversation like this one when Bonnie had showed up this morning, where they decided it to would be good for the human girl to go to school. "Exactly!" Emily exclaimed with a sigh as she glanced at the three vampires before she uttered, "come on, guys. You said it yourselves this morning. We can't do anything when we don't even know what Klaus looks like and I will not hide away." The human girl shrugged her shoulders like she was indifferent to the hybrid before she stated, "if he wants me, he can come and try but I'm not going to cower away like some scared girl."

The three vampires silently glanced at one another for a moment before Elena walked closer towards her twin sister and mumbled, "well, it looks like we aren't changing your mind." The Gilbert vampire then let out another sigh before she stated, "if you're going to school then I'm coming. You're not leaving my sight no matter what." Elena didn't care if she was being overbearing or what, but she wasn't going to let her go to school when there could be a sneak attack or trick from the hybrid. Elena would rather fight right next to her sister.

"Don't worry," the Bennett witch assured the vampires as she squeezed Elena's hand and she shot the two Salvatore vampires a confident look, "I'm ready." Bonnie then glanced over to the human girl as she also assured the doppelganger that was currently the target as she promised, "if he shows his face, I can take him."

Emily shot her witch friend a bright smile before she turned towards the vampires with a smirk as she stated, "there! Problem solved." The Gilbert girl then glanced between her sister and best friend before she continued with a light shrug, "I have the strongest witch in Mystic Falls and my protective vampire sister by my side, so I think I'll be just fine."

Stefan couldn't help but shake his head at his stubborn but strong girlfriend. He hated that Emily wasn't scared like everyone else about the fact that Klaus is actually here in Mystic Falls. It terrifies him every time he thinks about it. So like the Gilbert vampire, Stefan didn't plan to let the human girl out of his sights until Bonnie could get rid of the hybrid for good. "You'll have two protective vampires on your side," Stefan corrected the human girl and pulled her into a light kiss before he slug his arm over her shoulder and pulled Emily tightly into his chest before they began to exit out of the Salvatore boarding house with the Gilbert vampire and the Bennett witch following quickly behind with only one mission in mind - keeping the human doppelganger alive.

* * *

 **MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL**

Emily had made her way through her first three classes with no problems and a bodyguard in the form of her best friend, sister, or boyfriend always by her side without any clue that Klaus was following her or was planning an attack, so now Emily was currently in her favorite and easiest class of the day; history. The human girl only really liked it because she didn't have to do much work when she's close friends with the teacher.

The Gilbert girl was sitting in the middle of the classroom like she usually would with Stefan sitting directly behind her, with Elena on her left, and Bonnie on her right like her own personal protective bubble as she waited for the vampire hunter to arrive. Emily furrowed her brows as she clicked her pen on the wood of her desk while she stared at the clock above the chalkboard that showed class should have started thirty-two minutes ago as Alaric is never this late. The human girl then quickly pushed that thought away about the vampire hunter's abnormal behavior when she felt Bonnie tap her on her arm from the right side of her.

Emily glanced over to the Bennett witch, where she instantly noticed Bonnie waving around a piece of paper with a wide grin across her face. The human girl studied the bright-colored paper for a moment before she finally realized what it was; a flyer for the 60's Decade Dance. Emily honestly hadn't been involved in this month's school dance since they've been dealing with all the Klaus drama, so she had left that to her co-captain and blonde best friend; Caroline Forbes.

"Oh, we are definitely going," the human girl affirmed what the Bennett witch was obviously thinking. There was no one Emily was going to miss out on her first decade dance just because someone was trying to sacrifice her. It may seem like the perfect excuse for anyone else to miss the dance but not for Emily, so she grabbed the flyer out of Bonnie's awaiting hand and showed it to her twin sister as she knew Elena would agree. She and Elena had always loved going to the dances since they were children and no hybrid was going to change that.

The Gilbert vampire instantly grinned that matched the ones on her sister's and her best friend's faces once she saw what Emily was holding before she quickly nodded her head like the human girl knew she would. Elena knew that a dance right now probably wasn't the right thing to do when they are trying to keep Emily alive but after the half day of protecting her twin sister and keeping Emily in her sights, Elena felt like there would not be any safer place for the human girl than at a dance surrounded by four supernatural beings or five if she could convince Damon to come as well.

The three girls all shared another round of bright smiles as they glanced at one another from their diagonal row of desks before the human girl turned around in her seat and faced her boyfriend. Emily then brought the flyer for the 60's Decade Dance in front of Stefan's green eyes and shook the piece of paper with a large grin shining across her lips. The human girl figured it was the perfect time to relax with the Salvatore vampire since they never even had an official date when they are always so busy when all the supernatural problems in Mystic Falls.

The Salvatore vampire shook his head with a small smile peaking on his lips before he moved the single piece of paper that was between him and the human girl. Stefan then leaned across his desk until he was only centimeters from Emily's mouth and whispered, "not a chance," before he placed a soft kiss onto her lips and pulled away with a teasing grin.

Emily immediately let out a loud groan while she ignored all the looks from her fellow classmates before she pouted, "oh, come on, babe!" The human girl then put on her best puppy dog voice as she linked her fingers with the Salvatore vampire's before she mumbled with false sadness in her voice, "I just wanna see my handsome boyfriend's dancing skills."

Stefan let out a small chuckle at the way the human girl was trying to bate him into going to the dance. He hated and loved that he could fall under her green eyes just like that and that was exactly what was happening. "We'll see," the Salvatore vampire told Emily as he watched her pout as he, of course, couldn't deny something that would make the brunette girl so happy, so he settled on an in-between answer.

Emily pointed at her boyfriend and mumbled, "we're going, Mr. Salvatore." The human girl was not going to miss the opportunity to have fun during their crazed filled lives. It would be the perfect way for everyone to relax and have fun before Klaus would finally show himself - whenever that would be.

"Hello, class," the hybrid in the history teacher's body announced once he finally walked into the classroom before he headed towards his desk and picked up a green notebook. Klaus/Alaric flipped through the pages with his brows furrowed as he tried to see what the hell he was supposed to teach about. However, Klaus/Alaric got bored after a minute or two, so he addressed the room of teenagers again as he asked, "what are we learning today?"

The history classroom was silent for a few minutes as Klaus/Alaric continued to flip through the notebook as he tried to find any type of answer from the vampire hunter's chicken scratch writing before the brunette teenager in the front row, Dana Johnson, saved Klaus/Alaric and explained to, who she thought, was her normal teacher, "with the decade dance tonight, we've been covering the sixties all week."

A large grin spread across the hybrid in the history teacher's body and stated, "right," before he slammed the notebook shut thanks to the teenager's help. The hybrid then stood there for a moment as he tried to remember any important details for that decade as he mumbled to himself, "the sixties." Klaus/Alaric glanced around the room of students while he thought before he noticed two familiar faces from his past. However, the hybrid focused his blue eyes solely onto the girl with the bright green eyes as he knew that was the right and human doppelganger - thanks to the information Isobel had gave him.

Klaus/Alaric then quickly shook his head and faced the black board when he noticed the human girl's furrowed brows staring at him and he knew that he needed to keep his cover for now. So, the history teacher picked up a piece of chalk and awkwardly cleared his throat before he mumbled, "the, uh, the sixties." Klaus/Alaric let out a small chuckle as he wrote ' _the 60's,'_ on the messy board before he mumbled to himself, "I wish there was something good I could say about this decade, but..." He then faced the classroom with a small grin as he exclaimed, "actually, they kind of sucked."

Klaus/Alaric walked around the wooden desk as he racked his brain for details about that boring decade before he stated while he pointed towards the teenage students, "except for The Beatles, of course. They made it bearable." The history teacher then let out a loud huff before he continued, "uh, what else was there?" The hybrid in the hunter's body screwed up this face in disgust as he listed off, "there was the Cuban Missile thing, the... we walked on the moon. There was also Watergate."

"Watergate was the seventies, Ric," the Gilbert vampire immediately interrupted her history teacher with a smile shining across her lips. However, though, when Alaric turned and faced her with an unreadable expression and everyone in the classroom all turned and looked at her, Elena quickly and awkwardly corrected herself, "I-I mean, Mr. Saltzman."

Emily playfully rolled her green eyes at her twin sister, who was still scared to call their friend by his first name - unlike the human girl, who does it every time that she addresses her history teacher like it was her normal thing. It sort of was now since none of her fellow students ever looked at her when she did as they were all used to it. "The sixties were about The Vietnam War, Civil Rights Protests, along with the assassinations of JFK and MLK," Emily corrected her history teacher after Elena had hit her shoulder and she faced the front again. The human girl shot the man a small smirk before she joked, "come on, Ric. I thought you were the history teacher here."

The whole classroom filled with teenagers all laughed at the usual sass from the older Gilbert sister before Klaus/Alaric muttered with his own smile, "right." The history teacher shook his head before he pointed towards his brain as he joked, "it all kind of mushes up together up here - the sixties and the seventies." Klaus/Alaric then glanced between the two doppelgangers from his past with a secret smirk and a hint of hunger in his blue eyes at the fact that the human sister would be the cure to his freedom before he praised them, "thank you, Elena, Emily."

The blaring bell for the end of fourth period instantly rang loudly before anymore words could be spoken from the hybrid in the history teacher's skin or from either of the Petrova doppelgangers - which Klaus was extremely grateful for as he did not want to talk about the sixties any longer than he had to. Klaus/Alaric then let out a silent sigh as he took a seat at the edge of the wooden desk before he silently watched his doppelganger walk away with the witch, the sister, and the boyfriend. _You'll be mine soon enough,_ the hybrid thought with a smirk proudly displayed across his lips.

Meanwhile, in the crowded hallway of Mystic Falls High School, while the hybrid dreamed about his wolf finally waking up, the Gilbert sisters, the Salvatore vampire, and the Bennett witch all walked together as they headed for lunch before the human girl instantly remembered something. "Ah, crap," Emily mumbled before she stopped - which instantly caused the three supernatural beings to protectively stand around her. The human girl then moved the set of books around in her hand before she found the one that she had to return before she glanced up at her bodyguards and told them with an assuring smile, "I need to do something real quick, so I'll meet you guys in the cafeteria."

However, Emily didn't get the answer that she had expected as the three supernatural beings immediately shook their heads in unison as they were not on board with that plan. The human girl then got three different voices telling her three different things in the order of her boyfriend, twin sister, and best friend, "that wasn't the deal, Emmie,", "I told you I wouldn't be leaving your side today," and, "hell no you're not."

A loud groan escaped the human girl's mouth as she realized that they were serious about never leaving her side while out in Mystic Falls. _At least I'm not stuck at the boarding house,_ Emily reminded herself as she would rather have a bodyguard than be on lock down. So, instead of getting mad about it, Emily just let out a small sigh before she glanced at the three supernatural beings and wondered with a raised eyebrow, "fine, but who's coming with me to drop off my book?"

It barely took half of a second after the doppelganger uttered the last syllable in her sentence before Emily got an answer to which of her three bodyguards would be joining her to the library. However, instead of just one voice, the human girl got two as the Salvatore vampire and the Gilbert both stated at the exact same time, "I will."

The Bennett witch shook her head with a small chuckle as she glanced between the twin sisters and the younger Salvatore with amusement in her brown eyes. "I'll let you handle that," Bonnie joked as she shot the human girl a small smile and promised, "I'll save you guys a seat," before she turned around and headed towards the cafeteria like all the other students.

The human girl playfully rolled her green eyes at her best friend, who left her with the two very protective vampires, before she turned and faced the two aforementioned supernatural beings after she watched Bonnie walk around the corner. Emily then held out both of her arms before she asked with a cheeky grin, "shall we?"

The Gilbert vampire immediately grinned right back at her twin sister before she looped her arm through Emily's awaiting one and uttered, "we shall." Elena was glad to have these short moments with the human girl, where they could just be normal for once. They rarely got to be normal teenagers lately, so Elena always savored these moments with her twin sister as much as she could.

The Gilbert twins then looked over at the Salvatore vampire once they were connected at their arms with an identical look as that had their right eyebrows raised while they waited for Stefan to join them. The aforementioned Salvatore vampire couldn't help but shake his head in amusement at the two girls before he finally linked his arm with his girlfriend's after he couldn't deny her puppy dog eyes and they all began to head towards the library at the end of the hallway.

The two vampires and the human girl tried to maneuver their way through the students that were going the opposite direction for a few minutes before they finally reached the library. Emily then quickly placed the biology book that she had borrowed into the small slot for returning books before she rejoined her sister and boyfriend, where they turned around and headed towards the cafeteria.

"I can't wait for tonight," the Gilbert vampire was the first one to speak while they walked down the empty hallway as she excitedly gushed over the Decade Dance. "It's been so long since we've actually gone to one," Elena mumbled as the last one that they went to was the fifties dance and they didn't exactly get to have fun since that vampire, who had been obsessed with Katherine, had tried to hurt them.

Emily shot her twin sister an equally excited grin before she exclaimed, "we are going have a groovy time!" The human girl then swiftly grabbed Elena's hand and twirled her around through the empty hallway before they began to dance together. The Gilbert sisters both began to laugh together before they glanced at one another and thought about the same thing before they instantly did the famous sixties dance; the mashed potato.

Stefan shook his head with a small chuckle as he watched the two sisters do several of the dances that he remembered back from the sixties like the swim, the twist, and even the frug. "When did you have time to learn all these dances?" The Salvatore vampire curiously wondered once the Gilbert siblings finally stopped dancing and began to walk normally down the hallway to the cafeteria.

"Well, whenever there is a decade dance, Caroline and I make sure to go over them with the cheerleading squad since we are all apart of the planning committee," Emily easily explained how she knew about the dances from the sixties, "and since we usually have the help of the other Mystic Falls sports teams, some people are left over, so the rest of the people go around to classes and teaches some of the dances since the teachers are only teaching about that certain decade all week long."

Stefan silently nodded his head in understanding as he had noticed some of the students from the cheerleading team hadn't been in his classes for a while before he raised a teasing eyebrow at his girlfriend. "Oh, really?" The Salvatore vampire inquired before he wondered with a small, amused smile playing on his lips, "so, you know about every dance there was in the decade you weren't even alive for?"

The Gilbert vampire immediately released a loud groan as she glanced between her twin sister and the Salvatore vampire. "Bad move, Stefan, bad move," Elena mumbled with a shake of her head as she knew how competitive Emily was about to get. It was the reason why Elena steered clear from dancing unlike her twin sister, who used to love to make it a game when they used to take dance class as children.

Emily puffed out her chest with confidence at the challenge from the vampire before she exclaimed, "you bet your sweet ass I do, Mr. Salvatore." The human girl then glanced up and over at her boyfriend with a raised eyebrow before she competitively questioned, "why? You think you could do better than me?"

A large smirk instantly pulled onto the Salvatore vampire's lips as he got the reaction that he wanted from the human girl as he, in fact, knew how competitive Emily can get. Stefan then swiftly grabbed ahold of the human girl's hand and twirled Emily underneath his arm faster than any human should before the Salvatore vampire began the famous dance from the sixties; the east coast swing that involved lots of spins and turns until Stefan stopped when he looped his right hand on Emily's neck and dipped her body lowly. Stefan also leaned his head down, which caused his body to hover over the human girl's, before he whispered huskily, "I think I can hang."

A small gasp escaped the human girl's mouth as she stared directly into her boyfriend's green eyes from her bent over position while she was slightly out of breath. "Wow," Emily whispered as she had not been expecting all that from the vampire, who said that he didn't want to go to the decade dance. The Gilbert girl shook her head with a small chuckle once Stefan lifted her up before she exclaimed excitedly, "oh, we are so going to the dance. You are a natural and I'll have the best dancing partner in town."

The Salvatore vampire let out a heavy chuckle as he watched how excited the human girl was getting over the high school event. "Fine," Stefan finally sighed and caved in as he only wanted to make Emily the happiest that he could, "I'll be your date." The Salvatore vampire then placed his hand onto the side of the human girl's cheek before he pulled her into a sweet kiss.

However, the couple sadly pulled away when there was the distinct sound of the Gilbert vampire making throwing up sounds. The Gilbert girl and the Salvatore vampire both chuckled at Elena as Stefan threw his arm over Emily's shoulder and linked their hands together before they continued to walking towards the cafeteria. "Oh, shush," Emily told her twin sister after a moment as she playfully bumped her hip into Elena's before she stated, "I'm sure you can convince your boy toy to go with you."

The Gilbert vampire rolled her brown eyes at her twin sister as she knew Emily still held a grudge towards the older Salvatore vampire from everything that has happened like Damon killing their brother. However, Elena decided to not comment on the fact that her twin sister only calls her boyfriend her boy toy as they had finally reached the crowded cafeteria.

The two vampires and the human girl stood at the entrance of the cafeteria for a moment as they searched the large room before Emily finally spotted where the Bennett witch was sitting along with her brother. "There she is," the Gilbert girl uttered and pointed as she showed the two vampires where their best friend was.

The Gilbert twins then went to walk towards the Bennett witch, but the Salvatore vampire stopped the human girl from moving by the grip that he had on her hand. "I'm going to grab your lunch real quick," Stefan promised and pulled his girlfriend into a sweet but quick kiss before he silently walked over to the lunch line.

Once the two sisters watched the Salvatore vampire walk away from them, Emily looped her arm through Elena's before the Gilbert twins made their way through the packed out lunch room and headed straight towards their best friend - where Emily instantly noticed the Bennett witch and her brother were in a heated discussion. However, Emily figured that she had just imagined it since when she and Elena took a seat across from them, Jeremy and Bonnie both grew silent.

"Hey, Jer," the Gilbert vampire greeted her brother once she glanced up at her younger sibling as she didn't even notice the tension at the table unlike the human girl had. Elena then connected her soft brown eyes with her brother's unreadable ones before she curiously wondered with a hint of worry in her voice as she knew that she and Emily just laid onto Jeremy that the fact that they wouldn't be living together, "how are you doing? Are you okay at the house alone with John?"

Emily shot her brother a comforting smile as she could tell by looking at Jeremy that he was stressed about something but she just couldn't exactly tell what it was. The human girl then shot the three people around the table a small smirk before she couldn't help but joke, "I don't think anyone would be okay if they had to live alone with daddy dearest." Emily knew that they had accepted John's help yesterday with fighting Klaus, but that didn't mean that the human girl liked it. She knew from past experience that being anywhere near John only caused problems, so she could see why her brother would be stressed out.

The youngest Gilbert shot his older sister a smile that barely lifted onto his lips before he folded his arms across his blue jacket with an emotionless expression. "It's not ideal," Jeremy mumbled before he stood up from the table in the cafeteria as he did not want to talk about his home life that he tries his best to avoid - especially with the fact that Bonnie wasn't going to tell his sisters about the truth of the spell that will get rid of the hybrid.

"Has Jenna been home at all?" Emily quickly inquired before her brother could walk away from them. The human girl had been so worried about her aunt ever since John had laid the news about hers and Elena's birth parents. It wasn't like Emily had time to stop by the house either since the whole getting taken by Isobel and watching her die along with owning the boarding house with her bodyguards by her side. Emily just didn't want Jenna to hate her since she hid this from her. However, the human girl knew it was going to be hard for Jenna to forgive her since they have always been the closest. They had almost been like sisters while Emily was growing up, so she could only imagine how Jenna was feeling right now.

Jeremy shook his head as he looked into his older sister's saddened green eyes. "Nope, sorry," the brown eyed teenager apologized before he guessed as he tried to assure Emily with a small shrug of his shoulders once he slug his backpack over his body, "she's probably staying on campus to finish some paper." Jeremy then let out a huff when he noticed the extra two pair of eyes on him as he usually only showed his soft and caring side to his older sister before he glanced at the three important girls in his life. "Look," the brown eyed teenager mumbled, "I'm going to be late for class," before he swiftly turned around and sluggishly stomped his way out of the cafeteria.

The Gilbert twins both watched their brother leave with their brows deeply furrowed. However, unlike the human girl - who thought Jeremy was moody because of the fact that he has to stay with John, the young vampire was beyond and completely confused by her brother's attitude. "What's going on with Jer?" Elena voiced her confused after she turned attention back at the table and looked over at the Bennett witch.

The Bennett witch let out a nervous chuckle as she avoided looking into the twins' green and brown eyes for a moment before she got controlled of her emotions when she remembered what was at stake; her best friend's life. So, once she remembered what was important to her, Bonnie turned back to her best friends and playfully rolled her brown eyes before she made up an excuse to why Jeremy was acting so standoffish that would be believable, "I told him he had to dress up tonight and he got all uptight."

The Gilbert vampire released a slow sigh and muttered with a small laugh, "oh." Elena was glad that nothing had happened between her brother and John while she and Emily had been staying at the boarding house nor was their brother having any other problems as she had been worried about how Jeremy was doing lately with everything going on.

"Hey, guys!" A loud but familiar voice called out after the three teenagers let out a chuckle at the youngest Gilbert sibling, where they noticed their classmate, Dana Johnson, walking towards them. The brunette girl in the dark purple sweater gave Elena and Bonnie a small smile before she turned her attention solely onto the last girl. "Hey, Emily, I'm glad I finally found you," Dana began before she softly chuckled and excitedly exclaimed, "okay, this going to sound so crazy, but this totally hot guy just asked me to ask you if you're going to the dance tonight." Dana then waved her hand as she added with an eye roll, "I told him of course you were going as co-cheer captain but he said to ask you anyways."

The three teenagers at the lunch table all looked at each other in silence for a moment before they all busted out into laughter. However, before any of them could speak to the awaiting and excited Dana, a new voice spoke instead. "Sorry, Dana," the green eyed Salvatore politely told the human girl as he had heard the conversation before he placed his girlfriend's lunch in front of her and kissed her temple. Stefan then faced Dana and stated as he wrapped his arm protectively and jealously around Emily's waist, "you can tell the guy that this gorgeous girl is taken and she already has a date."

An excited grin lifted onto the human girl's face as she was glad that Stefan was serious about taking her to the decade dance before she turned and placed a sweet and loving kiss onto her boyfriend's smooth lips. "A very hot date," Emily exclaimed to the group of teenagers before she softly rested her head onto Stefan's upper arm as she absorbed the vampire's warm and safe presence.

However, it was like Dana didn't even hear any word that came from the vampire and human couple as she continued to stare solely at Emily with her brown eyes still holding the same excitement. "You could at least meet him," Dana began as she tried to convince her co-captain to meet the hot guy, "he'll be at the dance tonight. You should look for him - his name is Klaus."

Emily's whole body instantly went rigid as she straightened her spine and leaned over the black lunch table as soon as she heard the name leave her fellow student's mouth. The human girl then anxiously and quickly glanced between the Bennett witch and the two vampires beside her before she focused back onto Dana and interrogated as she needed to be sure that she heard Dana right, "um, can you repeat that again?"

Dana threw her long brunette hair over her shoulder as she answered her co-captain's question and didn't notice the obvious tension in Emily's voice, "his name's Klaus." The human teenager rolled her brown eyes with a small laugh before she exclaimed as she leaned over the lunch table, "I know the name's stupid, but I swear he's hot."

The three supernatural beings all immediately began to look around the cafeteria once they were positive that the human girl was speaking about the hybrid. However, when the witch and the vampires couldn't spy anyone that didn't belong, the Salvatore vampire turned his attention to the human girl. "Dana," the green eyed vampire called out before he asked as he stared directly into her brown irises, "can you tell me where he is?"

The Johnson girl deeply furrowed her brows as she stared at the Salvatore vampire for a few silent moments before she instantly closed her brown eyes, without even looking around for this so-called hot guy, and mumbled with uncertainty clearly throughout her voice, "I-I don't know."

The Salvatore vampire gave the human girl a small smile before he turned his attention onto his silent girlfriend and the two other supernatural beings. "She's been compelled," Stefan quietly muttered while he comfortingly ran his hand softly down the anxious Emily's back as he had recognized the glazed over and empty look in Dana's eyes like every time someone is being manipulated by a vampire.

"Anyways," Dana began as she shook away her confusion from Stefan's question that she wasn't allowed to answer and focused her attention back onto her co-captain before she exclaimed with the same excitement back on her face, "he wants to know if you'll save him the last dance." The Johnson girl then completely ignored the presence of the three supernatural beings, like she was instructed to do, before she gushed, "how cute is that?"

Emily gave the oblivious and compelled teenager a fake and large grin as if she was also excited by the fact a hot guy wanted her to save him the last dance before she sarcastically exclaimed, "super cute." The Gilbert girl watched Dana go on and on as she released a small sigh and tightly held onto her boyfriend's hand while her twin sister grabbed onto her other hand. T _here goes our calm, date night,_ the human doppelganger thought now that they knew Klaus would be showing his face tonight. _Well, game on, hybrid,_ Emily thought as her green eyes hardened as she was not going to get scared because of some small taunt like that.

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

It was directly after school when everyone, Stefan, Emily, Elena, and Bonnie, found themselves huddled together in the living room of the boarding house, where Stefan had just finished explaining to his brother about what took place during lunch when the hybrid that wanted to use his girlfriend for the sacrifice made his first move.

The older Salvatore glanced at each face around the room that showed the worry and anxiousness that they were all feeling now that Klaus is finally showing himself before Damon lightly shrugged his shoulders as if he wasn't bothered by the fact that the most feared supernatural being was ready to come out of hiding before he stated like it was the simplest thing, "so, we go to the dance and find him."

Stefan rolled his green irises at his brother, who was acting like that this wasn't the most dangerous thing that they ever have done. "Really?" The younger Salvatore interrogated as Stefan decided to humor his brother's plan for a moment, "how are we going to do that when we don't even know what he looks like?"

Damon walked through the spacious living room in silence before he carelessly tossed his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder. The older Salvatore vampire then faced his brother with one his striking eyebrows raised and exclaimed, "something tells me he's not going to be sixteen and pimply." It was honestly common sense in Damon's opinion as he figured the oldest vampire in history wasn't going to look like everyone else at the school dance.

"He can be anywhere at any time," Stefan argued with Damon's stupid logic that he wasn't about to trust when Emily's life is on the line before he reminded his brother about what he literally just had told him about, "he compelled someone at school to do his dirty work." The younger Salvatore then moved his green eyes over to the two huddled up girls, Bonnie and Emily, before he raised his eyebrow and inquired, "I guess it's not as safe as you guys thought, huh?"

Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes at her boyfriend, who's basically taunting her decision to go to school. "Well, I guess you were bad at your bodyguard job, huh?" The human girl shot back as she wasn't going to let Stefan or anyone else tell her what she can or cannot do like the vampires did this morning. She wasn't going to let Klaus stop herself from living and it would be a cold day in hell that she was going to hide away from him.

However, before the tension between the human girl and the younger Salvatore could continue, there was the sound of someone knocking on the front door of the boarding house before everyone noticed as the history teacher/vampire hunter finally walked into the living room. "There you are," Damon huffed out as they had been waiting for Alaric to show up for over twenty minutes now.

The hybrid in the vampire hunter's skin slowly and cautiously glanced around at each face around the room before he silently and quite awkwardly nodded his head. "Sorry, I'm late," Klaus/Alaric apologized as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his thick black coat while he avoided looking directly at anyone encase they realized that something was up with their friend.

However and thankfully for the hybrid, no one noticed anything different - except for the human doppelganger, who had her brows furrowed in confusion as she felt like something wasn't right. The air in the living room took a whole different feel as soon as the history teacher walked in but Emily just couldn't place her finger on why she felt a hint of hate and anger in her chest.

"Hey," the older Salvatore vampire began as he looked over at his fellow drinking buddy before he requested, "I need you to put me down as a chaperone for the dance tonight." Damon then nodded his head in the direction of the human girl and the Bennett witch before he explained with a playful but serious voice, "Klaus made his first move."

The Gilbert vampire silently nodded her head when, who she thought was her history teacher, looked at them in shock as she subconsciously ran her hand gently across her boyfriend's waist underneath his leather jacket before she glanced at everyone in the living room and wondered, "so, what are we going to do? How are we supposed to keep Emmie safe when Klaus could be anywhere?" Elena nervously shook her head as she glanced over to her twin sister before she mumbled, "it just seems like a trap with that any people around."

The human doppelganger released a small sigh when she heard the worry in her sister's voice before she squeezed Bonnie's hand, that was tightly holding her own, and walked over to the vampire couple. Emily then placed her hand onto Elena's shoulder to comfort her anxious sister before she glanced at everyone in the room with complete determination in her green irises. "If we are really going to end Klaus tonight then we need a plan," Emily stated before she rose an eyebrow at the vampires, the witch, and the hunter as she asked, "did you guys come up with something?" The human girl knew her plan wouldn't fly over with everyone, so she decided to give them the benefit of the doubt until she would wake the secret weapon.

"Me," the Bennett witch immediately answered the human girl's question. Bonnie lightly shrugged her shoulders as she only got confused and curious looks from everyone in the room before she explained, "I'm the plan." The brown eyed witch shook her head before she confidently stated, "he has no idea how much power I can channel. If we can find him, I can kill him."

The living room of the Salvatore boarding house grew silent after the Bennett witch told everyone her plan as they all thought it over before the hybrid hiding in the vampire hunter's skin let out a deep chuckle - which caused every pair of eyes to go towards Klaus/Alaric. The hybrid in the human's skin awkwardly cleared his throat before he quickly stated so everyone would think that he was in fact their normal Alaric, "that's not going to be that easy." Klaus/Alaric crossed his arms over his black coat while a small and cocky smirk played on his lips before he explained why he didn't think the witch's plan would work, "I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around."

The human doppelganger couldn't help but continue to stare at her history teacher with her brows deeply furrowed because of the way that he had been acting and talking since class. It just didn't seem right to why Alaric would have a smirk on his face, which he never does, and why in the world that he would be basically complimenting the hybrid while also doubting Bonnie. However, Emily couldn't put her finger on why all these things were happening along with the strong emotions that she was feeling around the hunter and it was completely pissing her off. _It's like I'm feeling the strong emotions when I'm around Katherine or Elijah,_ the human girl thought to herself as she tried to place all this information that she had gathered together.

"Alaric has a point," the older Salvatore uttered as he agreed with his fellow drinking buddy which interrupted the human girl's thought process. "I mean, what if he..." Damon had began to easily say before he swiftly vamp sped up to the Bennett witch to sneak attack her. However, before the vampire could get too close to her, Bonnie quickly rose her right hand in the air and focused her brown eyes directly on Damon. The Bennett witch then slowly lifted her hand in the air - which instantly caused Damon to go flying through the living room before he fell roughly across the room and onto the ground.

The living room of the boarding house was silent for a few moments as everyone watched Damon groan before he finally stood up with annoyance in his blue eyes. "Well, I was impressed," the younger Salvatore exclaimed with a small grin playing across his lips - which caused everyone in the room, except for Klaus/Alaric, to let out a small chuckle as they had enjoyed watching the older Salvatore being proven wrong for once.

"It doesn't matter if he's an original," the Bennett witch confidently stated once another tense silence had settled in the boarding house after their small moment of calmness had settled from watching Damon being thrown around. Bonnie silently walked around the room until she was standing directly beside the human girl before she placed her hand onto Emily's shoulder like the human girl was currently doing with her twin sister. "I can take down anyone who comes at me," the Bennett witch continued before she stared directly into the human girl's green irises and stated, "I can kill him, Emily. I can end this."

The human doppelganger immediately nodded her head with a small smile as she trusted that the Bennett witch could do it. However, if things got sticky and Bonnie gets put in danger with the hybrid then she would have her backup plan and that is to just hand herself over to Klaus. Emily would keep that to herself, though, as she knew they would definitely lock her in the boarding house if they knew that she was back to that option again. The human girl would always rather hand herself over than to let her family and friends to get harmed and that would never change but it wasn't really something that everyone needed to hear so Emily decided to keep on with this plan for now.

Emily clapped her hands together once no one spoke in the living room as she uttered, "great." The human girl then stood in the middle on the vampires, witch, and hunter before she exclaimed with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "I'm glad my trusty bodyguards have a plan because we now have a dance to get ready for." Emily didn't mean to sound so sarcastic but it was her defense mechanism coming out as she hated that everyone was so concerned and worried about her when that was her job. She just wanted to get this dance over with so she could see if Bonnie could finish Klaus or if she had to wake up Elijah.

The Bennett witch and the Gilbert vampire went to follow after the human girl, who was quickly heading towards the staircase of the boarding house to find a dress that resembled something from the sixties since she didn't get the chance to go shopping with Caroline a few weeks ago. However, before the three girls could walk up the stairs, the voice of the younger Salvatore quickly stopped them. "Hey, if you want some authentic sixties dresses, we have some in the basement," Stefan mentioned to the three girls while his green eyes stayed locked onto his girlfriend. The younger Salvatore knew that this was a difficult time for the human girl with all the tension and stress, so he at least wanted to make sure that she would have bit of fun by starting with her outfit.

The human girl removed her black flats from the wooden staircase when Stefan had informed her of where he had some clothes from the sixties before she swiftly twirled her body around. Emily stared across at her boyfriend, who was obviously worried about her by the softness in his green eyes, for a moment or two before she murmured softly with a small smile, "thank you."

The three teenagers then headed towards the basement and down the small set of stairs once the younger Salvatore silently nodded his head and went to look for these sixties outfits for the decade dance. Emily briefly glanced at the locked door to the cell that held the dead original before she quickly continued to walk as she couldn't show that she was even thinking about waking him up. Instead, Emily focused on traveling towards the back of the basement, where she had never been, before she silently spotted the hundreds of boxes pushed against the far wall.

"Wow," the Bennett witch mumbled and gaped in surprise at all of the boxes. She honestly was thinking of a couple of dresses hidden away and definitely not this much stuff. "It's going to be hell going through all of these," Bonnie muttered as she looked inside one of the boxes and noticed it was filled with nothing but flowing flapper dresses that were obviously from the twenties.

The Gilbert vampire spot her twin sister and best friend a large grin before she teased, "well, good thing we have a vampire here then." Elena then swiftly vamp sped around the basement while she looked for any boxes labeled 'sixties' and sat them beside her awaiting twin and the Bennett witch. Finally, after about ten minutes of searching, Elena came to a stop with one last box in her hand before she walked normally up to the two girls and boxes as she stated proudly, "all done."

"You're finally useful for something," Emily playfully joked with her twin sister as she bumped her hip into Elena's before she glanced between the boxes, that were down to about fifteen, and the two girls beside her. The human girl then clapped her hands together with an excited grin before she exclaimed, "alright, ladies. Let's get looking."

The three girls immediately got to work after the human girl's command as they looked for any outfit that would fit in with the Sixties Decade Dance at Mystic Falls High School. It ended up taking the teenagers about fifteen minutes before they all found something that they liked. The Gilbert vampire ended up with a deep purple dress with patterns, Bonnie found an orange dress while Emily found herself a red and pink one.

"Okay, dresses check," the human girl mumbled to herself once she saw that they all had their main component to their sixties outfit before she stated with a grin, "now accessories." The three girls then turned their attention back to the boxes, where they found five different ones that held accessories, shoes, and purses. It only took about ten minutes of searching before Elena found a white belt with white gogo boots and purple peace earrings, Bonnie found orange gogo boots and a peace sign necklace, while Emily found a pair of light pink heels, red stockings, and a red bow for her hair.

"We look like Charlie's Angels," the Bennett witch joked once they had their outfits on and all ready for the dance and they were standing in front of an ancient full body mirror. The Gilbert twins glanced at one another in the mirror with identical grins before they swiftly turned their body to the side of Bonnie and lifted up a sideways fake gun to the side of their faces as they posed. Bonnie shook her with a small chuckle as she watched the sisters in the mirror before she playfully rolled her brown eyes and did the same pose - which immediately caused the three girls to bust out into a happy laughter like they used to.

It took a couple of minutes before the three girls finally calmed down while they enjoyed the calm moment together before Elena turned away from the mirror and glanced between her twin sister and best friend. "Okay, so what are we thinking for the hair and makeup situation?" The Gilbert vampire wondered. Elena had never really been a person that cared a lot about hair and makeup, but she knew that Emily would make her do it, anyway, so she figured to skip to the part where she just agrees.

"Actually, I'm going to do mine at home," Bonnie stated as she glanced between the two sisters before she explained when she saw the confused expressions on Emily and Elena's faces since they usually get all dressed together for events like this, "I just wanna go over the spell for tonight a few more times so I'll be ready." The Bennett witch gave the sisters a small smile as she told them, "I'll meet you guys at the dance with Jer."

The human doppelganger nodded her head in understanding and murmured, "okay," as she would rather have Bonnie prepared than get hurt later tonight. The Gilbert twins and the Bennett witch then made their way up and out of the Salvatore basement and up to the foyer before they came to a stop. "Make sure our brother is dressed up," Emily lightly ordered as she pointed at Bonnie once the Bennett witch opened the front door and stood in front of threshold.

Bonnie let out a small chuckle as she nodded her head. "I will," the Bennett witch promised. The Bennett witch then gave her two best friends a serious look before she stated with confidence, "we're going to end this tonight." There was nothing that was going to stop Bonnie from ending the hybrid. They couldn't let Klaus escape tonight, she wasn't going to let that happen so he can just sacrifice one of the people that has always been in her life.

Emily reached across the doorway and squeezed Bonnie's lower arm with a small smile before she and Elena both uttered at the exact same time like they usually do with their twin connection, "I believe in you." The three girls then quickly glanced at one another and chuckled as everyone always thought it was weird when they did that. "We'll see you soon," Emily told the Bennett witch once they had calmed down before she waved goodbye when Bonnie began to walk towards her car.

The Gilbert vampire closed the front door behind her once they watched Bonnie drive away before she and Emily slowly walked down the hallway with their arms locked together. The human girl then pulled them to a stop once they reached the staircase before she told her twin sister, "alright, I'm going to go fix my makeup and hair real quick then we can leave."

Elena nodded her head in agreement and stated with a small eye roll, "I need to go make sure Damon is actually dressing up." The Gilbert twins then headed up the staircase together and walked down the hallway before they parted ways as Elena went to Damon's bedroom and Emily went to her bedroom.

However, Emily didn't walk into her bedroom like she originally planned to do her makeup and hair as she noticed Stefan in his bedroom through the half cracked door. Emily softly pushed opened the wooden door, where she instantly saw Stefan standing in front of his mirror while he focused on buttoning up his white shirt. "Hey, there," the human girl murmured as she quietly walked up to her boyfriend and loosely wrapped her arms around Stefan's waist.

A small smile lifted onto the younger Salvatore's face as he saw the human girl through the mirror before he turned his body around and lightly placed his hands on top of his girlfriend's shoulders. "You look beautiful," Stefan murmured as he bent down by a little bit and placed his cool forehead against Emily's warm one.

A blush instantly lifted onto the human girl's face at Stefan's compliment like it always does and murmured, "thank you." Emily then ran her fingers down Stefan's hard and exposed abs as she leaned up on her tippy toes before she placed her soft lips against the vampire's neck and stated, "you look pretty hot yourself."

Stefan let out a soft chuckle at the compliment and the way the human girl's cheeks went bright red like he loved to see happen. The Salvatore stood like that for a moment with his girlfriend racking her fingers down his stomach and enjoyed her presence before he gently placed his hand onto Emily's neck and lifted her face by her chin. Stefan stared into Emily's sparkly green eyes with a soft smile playing on his lips before he whispered, "I love you."

A bright smile immediately lifted onto the human girl's lips as she stared into Stefan's green irises before she whispered right back, "I love you too." Emily then lifted her arms so they were now wrapped around the younger Salvatore vampire's neck before she pulled him into a passionate kiss.

The human and vampire couple stayed like that a few minutes before Stefan pulled away when he knew Emily had to breathe. The younger Salvatore then brought his hand back to the side of the human girl's face and softly rubbed her right cheek before he admitted, "I wanna apologize for my snarkiness earlier." Stefan shook his head as he explained why he had basically snapped at her when he mentioned that she and Bonnie had made the wrong choice by going to school, "I trust your decision but i just don't want anything to happen to you." The vampire gave his girlfriend a sad smile as he continued to rub the side of her face before he told Emily, "I don't want to give Klaus the chance to take you away from me. I will go out of my mind if I lose you, Emmie."

The Gilbert girl released a small sigh as she stared into Stefan's green eyes that held so much emotions before she grabbed Stefan's unoccupied hand and brought it to her lips before she softly uttered as she consoled the worried vampire, "I know. I know." Emily then silently shook her head with a small smile playing on her lips before she promised truthfully, "but I'm not going anywhere until you decide that you don't want me anymore."

The Salvatore vampire brought the human girl tighter into his arms until they were chest to chest as he murmured, "good." Stefan placed a gentle kiss onto Emily's forehead before he told her, "you're stuck with me forever, then, because I will never get sick of you." The younger Salvatore played with the end of the human girl's brown hair as he stared into her green eyes before he confessed, "you're it for me, Emily."

The human doppelganger leaned up and placed a chaste kiss onto the vampire's lips at his confession before she murmured like Stefan had done, "good." Emily let a large grin spread across her lips before she confessed her own feelings, "you're my one and only." The couple then stood there for a few minutes more as they stared into each other's green eyes before Emily finally broke the connection as she began to button up Stefan's white shirt as she asked with a grin, "so, are we ready to have a blast?"

Stefan shook his head with a small chuckle before he grabbed his black tie from beside him and slipped it onto this neck, where he began to tie it together. The Salvatore vampire then focused back onto his girlfriend and pulled her tightly in his arms once more before he inquired, "you know it's not too late to back out, right?" Stefan was still nervous about going to the decade dance, even though he trusts Bonnie, as he would hate himself if he allowed any harm to come to the human girl.

"Stef," the human girl softly uttered her boyfriend's name as she wrapped her arms lowly around the vampire's waist as she could hear the nervousness in his voice before she murmured, "tonight will be fine." Emily lightly ran her hand down Stefan's back before she truthfully told him, "I'm not scared and neither should you." The human girl softly brought her hand to Stefan's cheek like he did to her before she continued, "I believe Bonnie can do this and we'll finally be free from Klaus for once and for all."

The Salvatore vampire stared into his girlfriend's green eyes with a hint of doubt in his own before he slowly nodded his head. "You're right. We're going to end this tonight," Stefan agreed as pulled the human girl tightly in his arms. The brunette supernatural being was still nervous about tonight and facing off with the hybrid but he just had to remind himself that he would never let any harm come to Emily and he would protect her with his life, so he was willing to do exactly that against Klaus.

Emily wrapped her hands around Stefan's neck once more as she gave her obviously anxious boyfriend a large grin while she absorbed the comfort in his arms. "Thank you for everything that you have done for me in this last year," the human girl praised as she felt like that she had to show her gratitude before they go through this dangerous 'mission' that could possibly cause her death, "you mean the world to me, Stef."

The Salvatore vampire placed a soft kiss onto the human girl's forehead as he could tell that she was nervous - even though she wasn't saying so. However, he also knew that she was trying to say goodbye like they were never going to see each other again and Stefan didn't like that feeling. "You can thank me tonight when we come home," Stefan told his girlfriend with a small smirk as he planned on bringing her home - alive and well.

However, before either of the vampire and human couple could say anything more, the duo vampire couple that is Elena and Damon walked into the younger Salvatore's bedroom and interrupted their moment. "Any time tonight," Damon called out to the human girl and his brother as he stood against the doorway with Elena under his arm.

Emily mentally rolled her green eyes because, of course, leave it to Damon to ruin a private moment with her boyfriend. The human girl then connected her lips with Stefan's once more and whispered, "I love you," before she linked her fingers through the vampire's and faced her sister and Stefan's brother with a small nod. "Let's get this groovy train moving," Emily exclaimed to the room of vampires with a small smirk and the sixties slang before the two couples chuckled and left to face off against the feared hybrid.

The human doppelganger felt her chest pound in her chest as they made their way out of the Salvatore boarding house. Emily was, in fact, nervous - despite how she had been so confident about this. However, Emily wasn't nervous or scared for her. She was more worried about the people that would be protecting her. Emily didn't doubt that Bonnie could kill Klaus or that Stefan, Elena, and Damon would protect her. It was the fact that she had the feeling that Klaus would do whatever it took to end his curse and that meant hurting anyone that Emily loves like he did with Maria Radkova and the whole Petrova family. However, Emily promised herself as she walked hand and hand with her boyfriend that she was going to do her damnedest to keep everyone safe no matter the cost.


	60. The One With The Failed Plan

**MYSTIC FALLS HIGH SCHOOL**

Emily walked inside of the loud and brightly colored decade dance while she held Stefan's hand tightly in her own once they finally walked into the cafeteria to come face to face with the feared hybrid. The human and vampire couple had arrived fifteen minutes after Elena and Damon had, even though they rode together, since Stefan wanted Emily to experience the sixties with him which came in the form of making out against his hot rod of a car.

It had calmed Emily's nerves about someone getting hurt because of her tonight by a lot, so the human girl didn't mind at all that they were the last ones to show up. It gave her time to relax her mind and for Emily to focus on her task for the dance. There was, of course, the whole Bonnie destroying Klaus, but Emily's task was to make sure that no harm comes to anyone she loves. That was all the Gilbert girl cared about or she would gladly put her life on the line for them.

The human girl took a deep breath as she stood at the edge of the sixties dance with the comfort of her boyfriend right beside her before Emily began her search through all of the dancing teenagers to find the group of people that they were looking for. It was hard to find them through all the different patterns of clothing, though, but finally after a full and very long song had passed, Emily spotted her two siblings, Bonnie, and Damon standing to the side of the DJ booth.

The Salvatore vampire nodded his head as he also spotted their group of friends and siblings just as Emily had spoke. Stefan then placed a light kiss onto the human girl's forehead and squeezed Emily's hand as he prepared himself for the long night at Mystic Falls High School. The green eyed vampire was honestly dreading all of it as he didn't want anything to happen to Emily. He would hate himself if he allowed Klaus to take her away, so Stefan was quite anxious. However, Stefan knew that this needed to be done to insure that the human girl would be safe, so the Salvatore vampire pulled Emily closer into his body before he walked her through the crowd of humans and towards the DJ booth.

"Hey, guys," the Gilbert girl loudly uttered to her siblings and friends over the loud music with a small smile and a slight wave of her fingers as she greeted them once she and Stefan had finally pushed their way through all of the dancing and sweaty teenagers and they were standing in front of the small group.

"There you are," Bonnie sighed when she finally laid eyes on the human girl in the red dress before she swiftly pulled Emily into a tight hug. The Bennett witch was confident in her powers and her ability to get rid of Klaus but she was still so worried. She felt like she needed Emily in her sights or everything was just going to go to hell. However, Bonnie knew she could relax for now so she took a deep breath before she pulled away from their tight embrace. Bonnie then lifted an eyebrow at the human girl before she wondered, "what took you guys so long? We literally passed each other on the road."

A smirk slowly lifted onto the human girl's lips as she leaned her head onto Stefan's shoulder before she secretly uttered about what took them so long to get into the dance, "Stef was just telling me about the sixties."

Elena rolled her brown eyes at her twin sister before she let out a low chuckle. "She means they were making out," the Gilbert vampire explained to the Bennett witch with an amused shake of her head.

"What?" The human girl wondered as she noticed everyone was looking at her in amusement - well, except for her brother, who was looking disgusted at the idea of his older sister making out with the vampire. Emily then carelessly shrugged her shoulders as she wasn't the least bit sorry and uttered, "it's not my fault my boyfriend looks so hot in his sixties get-up," before she pulled the younger Salvatore into a kiss as she couldn't get enough.

The witch, the two vampires, and the human all couldn't help but laugh at the Gilbert girl's actions before Emily and Stefan joined in once they pulled away from their embrace. The group was actually enjoying themselves and having fun for the time being like they weren't actually about to face off with the most dangerous vampire in the world. However, that fun was all about to end when the bubbly Dana Johnson walked up onto the stage by the DJ booth.

"Thanks for being here, everyone!" Dana loudly praised into the microphone with a wide smile once the DJ had turned off the loud music and the cafeteria grew silent before everyone began to clap and cheer. The Johnson teenager looked around at her fellow dressed up classmates before she announced for the reason why she had stopped the party, "we have a special shout-out tonight." Dana looked for a certain girl for a moment before she locked eyes on one of her cheer captains and uttered, "this is for our lovely Emily Gilbert - from Klaus!"

Emily couldn't help but roll her green eyes, despite the nervousness she was feeling again, while everyone clapped and the lyrics began to come out of the DJ booth ~ _this is dedicated to the one I love. This is dedicated to the one love._ "Wow," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest before she mumbled in annoyance, "real original, Klaus."

"That was a lame cheap shot," the older Salvatore vampire muttered with the same annoyance the human girl was showing as he was already tired of the hybrid. Damon then glanced around the room for a moment before he faced the girl that was in danger, his girlfriend, and brother as he exclaimed, "he's just trying to bait us."

However, no one felt better by Damon's words. Instead, they all just tried to find someone at the decade dance that didn't belong. But sadly, there were coming up empty. "We know everyone here," Elena murmured with her brows furrowed in confusion that she couldn't find the person that was taunting her twin sister.

"Maybe he's not even here," the younger Salvatore uttered as he glanced around them while he gripped tightly onto his girlfriend's hand along with a hand protectively on her waist. "Maybe he just wants us to believe that he is," Stefan continued with a small shrug when he couldn't find Klaus. The green eyed vampire wasn't really sure if he believed his own words, though, as Stefan felt like Klaus would want to see the terror he's causing and he wouldn't just compel Dana for the hell of it.

The nervous group of humans and supernatural beings all continued to try to find the hybrid before the older Salvatore exclaimed when they were all coming up empty again, "it's a party, people. We need to blend in." Damon glanced over to the human girl, his girlfriend, and brother towards the right of him while the Bennett witch and the younger Gilbert was on his left before he told them, "let him come to us."

The Bennett witch in the red and orange dress nodded her head as she agreed with the older Salvatore for the first time before she murmured, "good idea." Bonnie squeezed the human girl's wrist with a confident look on her face to show Emily that she would be ready for anything before she grabbed ahold of Jeremy's arm so they could blend in like all the other students.

"No, no," the youngest Gilbert quickly disagreed with Bonnie's idea and planted his feet onto the ground of the cafeteria as he realized what the Bennett witch was going to make him do. "I really don't feel like dancing," Jeremy uttered as he tried to stop it from happening by making an excuse.

"Too bad," Bonnie uttered in a light singing voice as she shot the brunette teenager a small smile, despite all their problems right now, before Bonnie moved her warm fingers down Jeremy's arm until their fingers were locked together before she pulled the youngest Gilbert with all her might into all of the dancing students.

The two Salvatore and Gilbert couples watched Jeremy and Bonnie walk away before all their eyes went back to their surroundings as they looked for Klaus, once again, instead of actually blending in like they were supposed to. However, the oldest Salvatore had a purpose of standing there before he uttered a nod of his head when he found the person he was looking for, "there's Ric." The blue eyed vampire linked his fingers through Elena's before he told his brother and the human girl, "we'll go catch him up on what's happening."

The older vampire then went to pull him and Elena towards the local vampire hunter but he paused when Elena mumbled, "stop." The Gilbert vampire released Damon's hand before she swiftly threw herself into Emily's arms. "Be careful," Elena whispered into her sister's ear as she held Emily as tightly as she could.

Emily squeezed her twin's waist just as tightly - well at bit less since she was human. The green eyed girl was nervous about them splitting up as she didn't want Klaus to plan a sneak attack and hurt one of them. However, Emily knew this was something that they needed to do if they were ever going to find the hybrid, so the human girl whispered right back before she watched as her sister and Damon walked away, "be careful, too."

The Gilbert girl stayed silent until she saw Damon and Elena walk up to Alaric before she turned and faced her boyfriend. Emily gave the green eyed vampire a small smile before she uttered, "looks like we need to blend in, Mr. Salvatore" The human girl figured that she could at least enjoy one of the decade dances for once until everything goes to hell.

"Indeed we go, Ms. Gilbert," Stefan uttered in the same tone as the human girl had used with a small smile playing on his lips. The Salvatore then lightly grabbed ahold of his girlfriend's hand and gave it a small squeeze before he pulled her into the middle of the decade event so they could dance and also blend in.

Emily instantly wrapped her arms around the Salvatore vampire's neck once they came to a stop before they began to slowly dance to the slow sixties song that was playing throughout the packed cafeteria. The human girl stared directly into Stefan's sparkly green eyes with a soft smile playing on her painted lips as she felt relaxed and safe in Stefan's arms before she praised, "thank you for being my dancing partner tonight."

"You'll always have a dancing partner with me," Stefan uttered as he protectively wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist and held her tightly. The Salvatore vampire, even though he complained about coming to the decade dance, was happy with Emily in his arms. They never really get to be just with each other, except if they are going to sleep, so it was nice to be out in public and to able to show his love for his girlfriend.

"Now," Emily exclaimed as soon as a fast paced song began to blare loudly through the crowded cafeteria before she shot the Salvatore vampire a smirk and asked, "how about you show me these dancing skills that I only got a taste of?" The Gilbert girl had remembered the short amount of dancing she saw from her boyfriend in the hallway, so she wanted to see it in action now that they were all dressed for the sixties.

Stefan let out a small chuckle as he knew that he wasn't going to be able to avoid going all out with the sixties dancing that the human girl obviously wanted. "Alright," the younger Salvatore finally agreed with a nod of his head after a minute or two as he watched the happiness on Emily's face before he pointed at the human girl and ordered with teasing in his voice, "but once you see me rule this floor, we aren't entering in any dancing competitions."

Emily innocently held up her hands once she removed them from her boyfriend's neck before she exclaimed with a playful and giddy giggle, "I promise. No competitions." The Gilbert girl then rose an eyebrow at Stefan as she curiously wondered, "so, what dance are we doing tonight, Mr. Salvatore?"

Stefan glanced around at the dancing students in cafeteria for a moment and noticed that they were all doing the mashed potato. The green eyed vampire didn't want to do whatever everyone else was doing as he wanted Emily to feel special and have a memorable night tonight, so Stefan shot the human girl a small smirk before he gripped her hands in his own with a few inches between them and began to turn his hips in a twisting motion as he waited for Emily to notice what dance he was going for.

The Gilbert girl instantly grinned when she recognized that they were doing one of her favorite dances from the sixties; the twist. It had always been one of Emily's favorite as it was so carefree, fun, and the fact that you can add your own spin to it. Once the loud music had picked up speed, the human girl began to get more into the dance with her boyfriend. Emily bent her knees and twisted her hips back and forth as she followed after Stefan while they moved in sync.

The Salvatore vampire then surprised the human girl when he suddenly released her left hand and swiftly twirled Emily underneath his arm for three full circles before they were back in their original position. Stefan shot the surprised human girl a smirk as they danced like that for a moment before the music picked back up. The Salvatore vampire released Emily's left hand, and began to do the twist like that before he pulled Emily into his chest and went around in a circle before he released her hand her hand and did it repeatedly.

Once the Salvatore vampire realized the song was about to end, Stefan decided to give the human girl one last surprise. So, right as the last few seconds of the song played and Stefan twirled Emily around, the green eyed vampire then swiftly gripped the human girl's waist and lifted her into the air before he tossed her and caught her a few seconds later as the song came to a close.

The Gilbert girl was breathing hard as the song came to an end and a slower one began to play. Emily had not expected that at all when she and Stefan started dancing. It was honestly such a surprise but the human girl enjoyed herself more than she would have hoped. Emily shot the grinning Salvatore a wide smile before she uttered with a small chuckle as she was still so shocked, "you are amazing, Mr. Salvatore."

Stefan placed his left hand onto Emily's hip and pulled her into him as he placed his other hand on the human girl's cheek before he whispered with a soft smile, "not as amazing as you, Ms. Gilbert." The Salvatore vampire then pulled his girlfriend into a sweet and meaningful kiss as he poured all his emotions out into their embrace about his fears of losing her to Klaus and just how much she means to him.

Emily gave her boyfriend a small smile once they pulled away from their embrace and lovingly rubbed the side of his cheek before the human girl wrapped her arms around Stefan's neck and whispered as she knew what Stefan meant by the kiss, "I love you, too." The human and vampire couple then began to slowly dance to the slow song with Stefan's arm wrapped around the human girl's waist and with Emily's head resting against the vampire's heart.

The human doppelganger released a low breath as her cheek rested against the vampire's dark suit while she absorbed the comfort that she was feeling when the hybrid could be anywhere right now. Emily just felt relaxed at the moment, though, as she felt like everything else just disappeared around her and Stefan. However, the human girl knew that really wasn't the case right now. Emily just feared something bad was going to happen. She could just feel it in her chest like she usually felt when something horrible happens, and Emily feared what could be lurking in the corner.

"Ah, crap," Emily mumbled after a few minutes of slow dancing with her loving boyfriend when she spotted someone across the crowded cafeteria. The Gilbert girl lifted her head from Stefan's chest before she pointed towards the doorway and stated, "we forgot to tell Care about what's happening tonight." Emily had totally forgotten to tell the blonde vampire about their plan to get rid of Klaus since everything just happened so quickly after school.

Stefan glanced over to the direction the human girl was looking towards before he gave Emily a small nod as he realized that the blonde vampire wasn't in the loop. "I'll go tell her," the Salvatore vampire promised before he placed a lingering kiss onto the human girl's forehead. Stefan then glanced over Emily's shoulder and towards his brother before he twitched his head to tell Damon that he was leaving as Stefan didn't plan on leaving the human girl alone at all tonight when Klaus could snatch her up.

Emily bit down on her bottom lip as she watched her boyfriend walk up to her best friend and Matt as she prayed nothing would happen to those two tonight with Klaus stalking around. However, before the human girl could worry too much, she pushed out of her thoughts when her twin sister and the older Salvatore walked up to her.

The twin sisters and the older Salvatore stood there for a moment as they watched Stefan begin to talk to Caroline and Matt before Damon was the one to break silence. "Go make sure Stefan tells vampire barbie everything," the blue eyed Salvatore told Elena as he nodded his head towards the two vampires and the Donovan teenager.

Elena looked between her boyfriend and sister with a bit of puzzlement in her brown eyes as she knew Stefan wasn't going to leave anything out when her twin's life depended on it. However, the Gilbert vampire figured it wouldn't hurt to make sure Stefan did in fact tell Caroline everything about Klaus's song shout-out and Bonnie's plan, so she gave Damon a quick kiss and squeezed her twin sister's shoulder before she quickly headed towards the two vampires.

Damon and the human girl stood there for only a short moment before the Salvatore vampire turned his body to the side and faced the human girl with his hand held out. The blue eyed vampire nodded his head towards the dancing humans before he told Emily, "come on. Let's dance."

The Gilbert girl immediately rolled her green eyes at the Salvatore vampire before she exclaimed and began to walk away, "goodbye, Damon." There was no way in hell Emily was going to dance with one of her least favorite people in the world. Damon just rubbed her the wrong way ever since he temporarily killed her baby brother. Emily didn't take kindly to someone hurting her family, so she still held a grunge for that.

However, before the human doppelganger could walk away from the Salvatore vampire and get as far away as possible, Damon swiftly grabbed ahold of Emily's hand and twisted her into his grasp until they were face to face. "I think it's due time we talked," the Salvatore vampire told the human girl as he stared into her green eyes. Damon had been wanting to have this conversation ever since he and Elena had gotten together but it just had never seen like the right time.

Emily pulled her arms from Damon's hold and crossed them over her red dress with an annoyed huff before she looked at the older Salvatore with a raised eyebrow. "Are you serious right now?" The Gilbert girl questioned in disbelief that Damon wanted to have a serious conversation during this mission of theirs to get rid of Klaus. "We're supposed to be looking out for my secret admirer," Emily joked about the hybrid that was after her.

The Salvatore vampire, however, didn't joke back or even answer the human girl's question. Instead, Damon placed his hand into Emily's and put his other one on her upper back before he basically forced the doppelganger to dance with him. The blue eyed vampire relaxed slightly when Emily only rolled her green irises before they slowly began to dance in an awkward silence. However, Damon knew that he just needed to get this conversation over with, so he opened his mouth and swiftly uttered, "I'm sorry."

Emily instantly looked over at the Salvatore vampire instead of letting her eyes roam around the decade dance before she questioned in shock, "you're what?" The human girl didn't even remember a time that Damon had apologized for everything in his life since she's known him, so she was definitely surprised right now.

Damon rolled his blue eyes and grumbled under his breath before he exclaimed, "I'm sorry, okay?" The Salvatore vampire let out a huff before he explained, "I've been meaning to apologize for when I killed Jeremy a few weeks ago when I was upset." Damon watched the human girl's facial expressions before he cautiously confessed, "and I didn't know Jeremy was wearing the Gilbert ring."

The Gilbert girl took her hand off of Damon's shoulder and slapped his chest as she exclaimed, "I knew it!" Emily then closed her eyes and shook her head as she took a deep breath now that she finally heard the truth. It still hurt to be reminded of that memory of watching the vampire snapping her brother's neck but Emily felt like she could breathe now that she heard it come from Damon instead of him lying about it again.

"Thank you for being honest about it," the human doppelganger praised once she opened her eyes and placed her hand back onto the vampire's shoulder. "That's all I ever wanted," Emily murmured to Damon as she hated being lied to. It just made her feel better and she could move on from it. Emily still hated the fact that Damon did kill her baby brother, but the human girl knew that was just their life. Death is unpreventable in Mystic Falls but Emily would gladly kill Damon if it was to happen again.

The Salvatore vampire silently nodded his head as he was pleased that they finally had that all cleared up. Damon then slowly danced with the human girl for a moment or two before he brought up his second topic that he needed to discuss with Emily. "I know you haven't exactly shown your acceptance in mine and Elena's relationship but I want you to know I'm serious about her," the blue eyed vampire truthfully uttered from the caring part of his dead heart, "I'm not just messing around with her. I really do care and love Elena." Damon shook his head before he stated, "I don't want there to be tension between us since we're both dating each other's siblings."

Emily stared into Damon's blue eyes for a moment as she tried to judge if he was telling the truth or not before she let out a groan. "Why do you gotta be all nice and polite now?" The human girl questioned as she knew that she couldn't not accept their relationship now. "I think my sister is changing you," Emily mumbled stubbornly with a small pout. The human doppelganger honestly didn't really have a problem with her sister's relationship. She just liked to make fun of Damon by not taking it seriously since her hatred for the older Salvatore was still showing from the fact that he temporarily killed Jeremy. The human girl only wanted her sister to be happy, so Emily guessed she could be more accepting of it now that she didn't really have an issue with Damon anymore.

"So, are we all good now?" The Salvatore vampire inquired with a smirk on his face from all of the human girl's complaining and groaning before he teased as he twirled Emily underneath his arm, "are we besties yet?" Damon, despite his playful attitude, was quite glad that this talk, that he had been wanting to do for weeks, was finally situated. The Salvatore vampire honestly did it for Elena. He wanted to show her that he could get along with her twin sister, the one person that she loves more than anything, and that he was serious about them.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but roll her green eyes with a small chuckle once she was face to face with Damon after he twirled her around to the classical song. "Yeah, yeah," Emily mumbled as she carelessly waved her hand before she affirmed the smirking Salvatore's assumption, "we're good."

An even wider smirk lifted onto the Salvatore vampire's face now that he knew everything was peachy with the oldest Gilbert before he stopped their dancing and reached his hand into the pocket of his black slacks. Damon then pulled out a silver flask and shook it in front of the human girl's face with a grin as he exclaimed, "well, I think we need to toast to that!"

"Oh, God," Emily mumbled with another roll of her green eyes at the older Salvatore vampire's childish behavior of them basically becoming friends. "You're such a bad influence," the human girl mumbled before she swiftly swiped the flask of bourbon and secretly downed a shot while she watched out for any teachers.

Emily couldn't help but shake her head in amusement when Damon tossed his arm over her shoulder and lead her through all of the dancing students and towards the back of the wall with the promise of getting drunk with his bestie. The human doppelganger wouldn't lie, though, and say she wasn't enjoying herself with the older Salvatore. Damon was like a fun, older friend that always gets you in trouble but you don't care because you're having fun. He was like Mason for Emily, so she didn't really mind hanging around Damon - despite how annoying and arrogant he can get.

* * *

It was about three hours into the sixties decade dance when Emily found herself leaning against the refreshments table next to her baby brother. The human girl had finally escaped the older Salvatore and had visited with Caroline and Matt along with anyone else that tried to talk to her, so Emily was glad that she could finally relax with Jeremy. However, that feeling didn't last too long when Emily's green eyes scanned through the colorful cafeteria, where she spotted her twin sister, best friend, and the older Salvatore having an intense conversation. Emily furrowed her brows at the interaction before she looked over to her silent brother and wondered, "you know what's going on with them?"

Jeremy glanced over in the direction his older sister was looking towards before his body went frozen as he could probably guess what they were talking about. However, as bad as he hated to do it, Jeremy knew that he couldn't tell Emily the truth. So, instead, the younger Gilbert only lifted his shoulders in a shrugging motion and mumbled while he avoided looking into his sister's green eyes that could make anyone roll over, "I have no idea."

Emily frowned as she watched her brother's nervous stance before she turned her green irises back onto the two vampires and the witch. It just didn't make sense to the human girl as she watched her twin sister get all emotional with Bonnie and Damon. The human doppelganger could just feel that something was wrong, so she glanced back up to her brother before she softly asked, "are you sure, Jer? You know you can tell me. I can probably help."

Jeremy avoided his sister's gaze for a moment as he tried to control his own emotions from all this information that he was hiding from the human girl. However, Jeremy couldn't keep up this blasé attitude any longer before he faced Emily and uttered with unshed tears in his brown irises, "that's the problem, Em. You'll easily give your life to fix someone's problem and I'm not going to let you do that."

"Jeremy!" The Gilbert girl shouted as she watched her brother basically stomp away as soon as he had uttered his last word. Emily didn't understand what was happening and she didn't like it. The human girl knew this wasn't about her turning herself to Klaus because that hadn't been brought up in a long time since she agreed to fight. It had to be something else but Emily just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Hey," the younger Salvatore softly uttered and placed his hand lightly onto his girlfriend's shoulder as he had watched the scene unfold between the two Gilbert siblings. "What was that about?" Stefan gently inquired as he rubbed his hand down Emily's lower arm as he offered her some comfort that he knew she needed by the saddened and puzzled expression on her face.

Emily glanced up at her caring boyfriend with her brows deeply furrowed. "I-I'm not sure," the human girl mumbled before she watched as her brother stomped his way through an empty hallway. "Can you go check on him?" Emily asked the Salvatore vampire with a pleading smile before she murmured, "I don't know what's wrong but I don't want him wondering around alone."

Stefan nodded his head in understand and murmured, "of course." The Salvatore vampire placed a sweet kiss onto the human girl's lips before he told her as he glanced over Emily's shoulder, "go join Caroline and I'll be back as soon as I can." Stefan still didn't want Emily to be alone, despite the fact that Klaus hadn't shown himself in hours, as he knew she would at least be safe with a vampire or a witch by her side.

"Okay," Emily murmured in agreement and placed one last kiss onto her boyfriend's soft lips as she knew Stefan was just worried about her safety like she was with all of them before the Gilbert girl silently turned around and headed towards her best friend, who was leaning against the wall while she spoke to a couple of their fellow cheerleaders.

The Salvatore vampire waited until the human girl was in front of the Forbes vampire and gave Caroline a small nod to watch Emily before Stefan headed towards the way that he saw the youngest Gilbert head in. Stefan only had to walk through two hallways before he finally spotted Jeremy dragging his feet across the grey floors. "Jeremy!" Stefan shouted to get the human's attention before he jogged up to the teenager. "Where are you going?" The Salvatore vampire questioned once he was in front of Jeremy before he told him to hopefully convince the human boy to come back into the dance, "Emily wants us to stick into pairs or more. You can't go off on your own right now."

Jeremy silently nodded his head as he anxiously ran his fingers through his messy brunette hair before he mumbled, "yeah, I know." The younger Gilbert raised up his left hand to show the vampire his family spelled ring as he exclaimed, "I'll be fine. I got this to keep going." Jeremy then finally let all his emotions show as he couldn't keep up the lie anymore as he murmured with sadness in his voice, "i-it's not me we should be worried about. I-It's Bonnie."

Stefan furrowed his brows as he watched the conflict flashing all over the younger Gilbert's face before he gently inquired, "what's going on?" However, when Jeremy decided to close up on him after finally talking about what's on his mind by avoiding his green eyes and going silent, the Salvatore vampire spoke in a louder voice to hopefully get the teenager to talk, "hey, come on, Jeremy. You got Emily worried. What's happening with Bonnie?"

Jeremy let out a shaky deep breath as he nervously played with his Gilbert ring before he finally looked into Stefan's green eyes and confessed about what he learned yesterday and about the thing that had been plaguing his thoughts all night, "if Bonnie takes on Klaus and she channels on that energy, it's going to kill her."

The Salvatore vampire's green irises widened in shock at the new information that the Bennett witch never mentioned during their plan to get rid of Klaus before he gaped, "what?" Stefan had never expected that all the powers from the hundred of dead witches could possibly harm Bonnie.

The younger Gilbert silently nodded his head with tears trying to push their way through his brown eyes but he quickly pushed them away as he cleared his throat and glanced up at the dull ceiling in the dark hallway. "Bonnie didn't say anything because she knows, like we all do, that Emily will go back to giving herself over to Klaus when she finds out that one of us could get hurt," Jeremy explained why the Bennett witch didn't say anything before he murmured helplessly with glazed over eyes, "I-I didn't know what to do."

Stefan couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought they were going to end this but now that he knew that Bonnie was going to do it even if it killed her, it changed a lot of things - starting with his girlfriend. "You know I have to tell Emily, right?" The Salvatore vampire uttered to the emotional Jeremy before he stated, "she would hate us if she finds out we didn't tell her when we could have stopped Bonnie from doing something so reckless."

Stefan wanted Klaus gone as much as the rest of them but he just couldn't allow Bonnie to do this to herself. He knew Emily wouldn't forgive him if he didn't tell her about this. Stefan just prayed that Emily didn't do anything reckless either like offering herself to Klaus. They just needed to scrap this plan as soon as possible and get out of here now that their plan was definitely not happening. They could not allow Bonnie, their friend, to do this. They would just have to come up with a different plan to keep Emily and everyone else alive.

Jeremy released a heavy sigh before he mumbled as he anxiously ran his fingers through his messy brunette hair, "yeah, I know." The human teenager knew Bonnie might be pissed at him when she finds out that he told Stefan, who's going to tell the one person that Bonnie didn't want to know but Jeremy didn't care as long as Bonnie and his sister were alive as that was all he cared about right now.

The Salvatore vampire squeezed the emotional teenager's shoulder and softly told Jeremy to assure him that, hopefully, nothing would happen to either girl, "we'll figure this out." Stefan then gave Jeremy one last assuring look before he swiftly took off back towards the cafeteria to find the human doppelganger.

It took the younger Salvatore a few minutes before his green irises finally locked onto the girl in the red dress laughing with the blonde vampire. Stefan quickly moved through the dancing students and quickly wrapped his hand around Emily's waist before he told Caroline, "we'll be right back." The Salvatore vampire then pulled Emily with him as he fast walked down an empty hallway before he pulled her into an empty classroom.

"Hey," Emily softly uttered once they finally stopped moving and she looked over at the anxious looking vampire, who was pacing in front of a chalkboard. "Did you find out what's going on?" The human girl nervously whispered as she could feel the strong emotion that she was right and something is definitely wrong.

The Salvatore vampire anxiously ran his fingers through his now messy brunette hair like Jeremy had done only minutes ago before he swiftly walked in front of his girlfriend and gently began to rub her exposed lower arm to hopefully keep her calm. "If Bonnie does the spell to kill Klaus, it's going to kill her, too," Stefan bluntly confessed as they didn't have time to sugar coat it when the moment could happen any second now.

The Gilbert girl swiftly placed her hands over her lips with her green eyes widened in shock. "Oh, my God," Emily gaped as she couldn't believe that Bonnie hid this from them. "W-We have to stop this," the human doppelganger quickly exclaimed with a frantic shake of her head, "we need to call this all off. There is no way I'm letting Bonnie die."

"I know. I know," Stefan softly uttered as he pulled the emotional human girl into his arms and placed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. "I came and told you because I didn't want you to be out of the loop or hide anything," the Salvatore vampire told Emily before he muttered as he knew it wasn't a good idea to stick around when they weren't willing to let Bonnie die, "we can leave when you're ready."

Emily silently nodded her head against her boyfriend's chest before she pulled away after a moment and stated, "I need to talk to Bonnie, so you can grab everyone while I go talk to her then we can get the hell out of here." Emily wanted to know what in the world her best friend was thinking about getting herself killed and talk some sense into her. It would be a cold day in hell before Emily was going to allow anyone to die for her. There was no way. Emily would gladly do it for her family and friends but that didn't mean she was just going to allow someone to die for her when this whole Klaus thing is because of her.

Stefan hugged the human girl into his chest for a few silent minutes as he waited for Emily to calm her fast beating heart rate before the couple walked out of the empty classroom and down the dark hallway while they held hands. The Salvatore vampire then placed a kiss onto Emily's lips once they reached the cafeteria before he told her, "go straight to Bonnie and I'll meet you in a few minutes."

The Gilbert girl squeezed her boyfriend's hand to let him know that she would be okay and whispered, "love you," before she quickly began her search for the Bennett witch that had some explaining to do. So, Emily searched all through the decade dance for the teenager in the orange and red dress but she was coming up empty. The human girl knew there could only be one place left that Bonnie could be, so Emily headed towards the entrance of the cafeteria and opened the door, where she instantly spotted her twin sister and the Bennett witch laughing together.

Emily quickly walked up to the two supernatural beings with an emotionless face before her green eyes instantly showed the sadness that she really felt. "Why didn't you tell me, Bonnie?" The Gilbert girl questioned in a small murmur before she shook her head in disbelief as anger took over her emotions, "what are you thinking? This was not part of the plan!"

Bonnie and Elena glanced at each other as they silently conversed before the Bennett witch let out a heavy sigh and faced the human doppelganger. "I knew this would be your response, Emily, if we told you the truth," the brown eyed teenager uttered as everyone knows that Emily would try to fix it on her own without caring about the consequences.

Emily swiftly glanced over to her twin sister, who didn't look the least bit shocked, when Bonnie mentioned _'we'_. "So, you know, too?" The human girl asked Elena before she let out a humorless laugh when her sister silently nodded her head and muttered, "am I the only one that didn't know this?" Emily then quickly focused back onto the issue at hand before she told the Bennett witch, "we're leaving. I can't and won't let you do this, Bonnie."

"Emily," the Bennett witch softly uttered as she tried to reason with the human girl before she murmured, "it's the only option we have to finally get rid of Klaus like we want." Bonnie then glanced over to the Gilbert vampire beside her when Emily began to frantically shake her head and gave Elena a meaningful look, so hopefully the young vampire could get Emily to see that this is their best choice right now.

The Gilbert vampire immediately caught Bonnie's silent plea before she walked the few steps towards her twin sister and placed a light hand onto Emily's shoulder. "Emmie, she has this," Elena stated with complete confidence in her voice before she took a quick glance over to Bonnie and explained what she learned earlier tonight as she hoped it would calm her sister down, "and we aren't even sure if it will kill Bonnie. There is only a small chance that the witch spirits are right."

Emily looked at her twin sister like Elena finally grew a second head. "Are you serious right now, Elena?" The human girl gaped before she swiftly shook her head and exclaimed, "I am sure as hell not willing to go against hundreds of witches!" Emily would rather trust all those witches from the past than to take the chance on her best friend's life. "We will just come up with another plan," the human girl muttered as she completely moved away from Bonnie's plan.

"Like what?" The Gilbert vampire interrogated as she crossed her arms over her purple dress while she stared across at her twin sister before she continued, "offer yourself again?" Elena quickly shook her head as she knew her sister would do exactly that if she knew that she could keep everyone safe. "No," the young vampire told Emily before she stated, "if Bonnie thinks she can do this, then I believe her." Elena then gave her twin sister a furrowed look as she murmured, "like you did earlier tonight."

"That was before I knew she was going to die!" The Gilbert girl shouted as she couldn't believe her twin sister was still on board with this plan after knowing what would happen to Bonnie. It just didn't make sense to Emily why Elena would still think it's the right decision when Bonnie could die. Emily honestly didn't know what the hell her sister was thinking, so she turned her attention onto Bonnie to hopefully convince her this was the wrong call. "Look, let's just call it a night and regroup with a safer idea," the Gilbert girl told the Bennett witch before she seriously exclaimed as she glanced between the two teenagers, "because I am not willing to let anyone else get put into danger because of me."

Bonnie shook her head with a sad smile and unshed tears in her brown eyes before she brought her hands to tightly grip around the human girl's wrists and frantically exclaimed, "I have the power to save you!" The Bennett witch then briefly closed her eyes as she tried to push away the tears before she told Emily with heartbreak clearly shown throughout her voice, "and if I don't use it and something happens, that would kill me more."

The Gilbert girl released a shaky breath as she stared into her best friend's brown eyes with tears in her green ones for a moment or two before Emily whispered, "I'm sorry, Bonnie, but I can't let you do it." Emily just couldn't let Bonnie basically sacrifice herself. It would haunt her forever and it was against everything Emily had tried to do her whole life and that is to protect the people around her no matter what.

Bonnie let out a low sigh as she knew Emily wasn't going to change her mind about this. The Bennett witch then thought of one last plan, so she took a deep breath before she asked the human doppelganger, "just answer one question... if the situation was reversed, would you do it for me?"

"Yes," the Gilbert girl immediately answered without even a second thought as she murmured, "I would do whatever it took to keep you alive." Emily really wished she hadn't answered the question, though, as she knew it was exactly what Bonnie wanted to hear from her. However, no matter the fact that she would do the same for Bonnie, the human girl still wasn't going to let her best friend do this. She would fight or die trying before she would allow Bonnie to kill herself by trying to save her.

The Bennett witch gave Emily a small sad smile as she squeezed the human girl's hand before she stated in a broken voice, "so, you know why I have to." Bonnie knew that the Gilbert girl would do the exact same thing that she was currently trying to do. It was one of the reasons why Bonnie loved Emily so much, so it was time that she returned the favor.

Emily could only stare across at her best friend as she repeatedly shook her head. It was like no words could express how the human girl was feeling with this continuous back and forth before her, Bonnie, and a little bit from her twin sister. It was like nothing Emily could say would change the Bennett witch's mind which broke the human girl every time Bonnie mentioned going towards her death by killing Klaus.

The Gilbert girl hated that Bonnie was willing to sacrifice her life and her future for the spell. Emily had always been the one to protect everyone from danger and keep them safe - from as small as a broken arm when they were children to as big as a murderous hybrid. The human doppelganger would feel like she's failing at her job if she lets Bonnie go through with her suicide plan even though Emily would gladly do it herself. It was just how she always has been. She would rather be the one taking the fall than let someone else do it for her.

The biggest factor in all of this, though, would be the fact that Klaus wants her and no one else. Klaus needs a human Petrova doppelganger. Emily is the only one left - since Katherine's been a vampire for centuries and Elena was a recently turned into one. So, it would absolutely kill Emily if Bonnie died when Klaus only needs her. There was no point in any of her loved ones also getting harmed, in Emily's opinion, since she is the way to break the hybrid's curse, so Emily was not going to back down against the Bennett witch anytime soon when she could save Bonnie from her death.

The Gilbert girl opened her mouth after a few minutes of her thoughts running through her mind in hyper speed as she wasn't giving up just yet to convince Bonnie to just leave the decade dance and think of a better plan. However, though, before Emily could even begin to work on her mission in stopping the Bennett witch, the three emotional teenagers were interrupted when the door to the cafeteria was slammed open and the loud, frantic voice of the local vampire hunter and history teacher called out, "Elena! Emily!"

The Gilbert sisters immediately turned their heads when they heard their names come out of Ric but the young vampire was the first one to speak. "What is it?" Elena quickly questioned Klaus/Alaric with her dark brows furrowed as she was instantly worried that someone had gotten hurt inside the decade dance.

Klaus/Alaric leaned over his knees as he tried to catch his breath from his human body before he stood up straight and glanced at each worried face. The hybrid in the human body enjoyed the distress he was causing with an invisible smirk playing across his lips before he finally explained with a fake panic look, "he has Jeremy."

The human doppelganger immediately rolled her green eyes, despite the fact that her brother could be in danger, as she just couldn't believe their luck tonight with their plan to get rid of Klaus slowly falling apart. "Of course he does," Emily exclaimed as she threw her hands into the air before she mumbled in annoyance, "that stupid ass hybrid just couldn't leave my family alone." The human girl was honestly just tired of all the people in her life getting put in danger because of the hybrid, so Emily was just about at her breaking point.

However, no one really reacted to the human doppelganger's annoyed voice. Well, except for Klaus/Alaric, who turned his now hard blue eyes onto the Petrova descendant with a glare when she started talking about him. But thankfully for the hybrid, no one noticed the anger on his face as the Gilbert vampire and the Bennett witch worriedly shouted in unison, "what!?"

Klaus/Alaric turned his blue eyes back to one filled with concern once he took his gaze off of the human girl before he quickly nodded his head, "yeah, Klaus has Jeremy." The hybrid in the human's body then quickly opened the door to the cafeteria and told the three teenagers, "come on."

The Gilbert twins and the Bennett witch didn't need to be told twice before they instantly entered back into the decade dance as soon as the history teacher mentioned the name of the hybrid as it all became so real to them. They weren't thinking about their previous argument or coming up with another plan to get rid of Klaus since Jeremy was in danger. The only thing that mattered at the moment was getting the youngest Gilbert to safety.

The three teenagers had quickly pushed their way through all of the dancing students before they followed after Klaus/Alaric as he led them through a dark hallway. However, when the history teacher and vampire hunter just kept turning at random points for over five minutes, the Gilbert vampire was the first one to question it. "So, where are you taking us?" Elena worriedly inquired as she was growing more concerned for her brother's safety as the seconds ticked by.

Klaus/Alaric lightly waved his right hand as he kept leading the teenagers further and further into Mystic Falls High School as he muttered, "just a little further."

The human doppelganger couldn't help but furrow her brows when she realized that they passed Mrs. Irving's English classroom over three times already. Emily knew Alaric knows his way around the school since he's been here for months, so it didn't make sense for why they were going in circles.

"Wait..." The Gilbert vampire mumbled as she glanced over to her twin sister and best friend as she had the same idea as the human girl. "Something's not right," Elena mumbled as she slowly came to a stop in the middle of the hallway while she kept her eyes glued to the back of the vampire hunter.

Emily couldn't help but feel a wave of emotions as she also stared at the local vampire hunter. It was like a rush of amusement, power, and anger was hitting her all at once, so Emily quickly grabbed ahold of Bonnie's and twin sister's hand to keep them in place as she didn't like the feeling that she was getting. Emily knew that she usually gets this feeling when something bad was going to happen, so she knew that they needed to be extremely cautious until they figured out what is wrong. "Ric..." The human girl slowly called out as she tried to piece everything together.

"Where's Jeremy?" The Bennett witch frowned as she glanced over at the Gilbert vampire and human girl in confusion as she didn't understand what was happening. She didn't understand why Klaus/Alaric hadn't taken them to Jeremy yet or why the twins had gotten rigid and tense all of a sudden.

However, Klaus/Alaric didn't respond to either of the three girls's statements as he slowly came to a stop with a loud and abnormal chuckle escaping his lips. The hybrid in the human body slowly twirled around in his black dress shoes to face the human and the two supernatural beings before he exclaimed, "I just had to get away from that dance." Klaus/Alaric rolled his blue eyes as he complained, "the sixties, ugh, not my decade." The hybrid held out his arms with another chuckle before he asked no one in particular, "I mean, whose call was that, anyway?" Klaus/Alaric swiftly shook his head before he commented, "I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz."

"Alaric," the Gilbert vampire carefully uttered before she cautiously asked her history teacher, "are you being compelled?" Elena could tell that something just wasn't right when the vampire hunter. Alaric would never talk like that, so Elena could only guess that he was being compelled by a vampire.

Emily quickly shook her head at her twin sister's assumption before she murmured, "no, he's not." The Gilbert girl then released the vampire and the witch's hands and slowly took a step towards the supposedly history teacher and vampire hunter as she let all of the emotions take over her body from the power and the cockiness that didn't match Alaric's personality.

Emily took a shaky deep breath once she connected all of the dots but tried to control the frightfulness that she felt as best as she could. "I should of known it was you," the human girl mumbled with an emotionless chuckle. "I noticed it in class today but I didn't feel it until you walked into the boarding house," Emily continued as she took another step towards the man that wants her before she explained, "I could feel your emotions like I am now."

A smirk slowly worked it's way onto the human man's face as he also took a step closer to the human girl, who was a lot smarter than the other two, until there was barely any space between them. "Tell me," Klaus/Alaric commanded in a whisper before he brought his hand to grip Emily's chin, "tell them who I am."

The human girl took a large swallow of the tense air around them while she ignored the whispers coming from her twin sister and best friend, who were begging her to step and come back to them. Instead, she stared the devil right in the eye as she loudly uttered his name without even flinching at his hard hold on her face, "Klaus."

A large grin instantly lifted onto Klaus/Alaric's face when the human girl said his name before he exclaimed as he stared right into her familiar green eyes, "surprise!" The hybrid in the human's body let out a deep chuckle before he told Emily, "I knew you were the smart one, my little doppelganger."

The Gilbert vampire's brown eyes immediately widened when she heard Emily utter the hybrid's name before she swiftly vamp sped and grabbed ahold of her twin sister. Elena vamp sped the human girl back towards Bonnie and stopped when she placed her very human twin sister behind the Bennett witch to keep her safe. The Gilbert vampire then faced the hybrid with a glare in her brown irises before she commanded, "do not come any closer."

The human doppelganger quickly stepped around Bonnie and avoided her grasp when she heard her twin sister basically ordering the oldest and dangerous creature in existence as she felt the need to protect her twin as she recalled the story of the death of the Petrova family. Emily then moved to stand beside Elena before she told the hybrid in a strong voice while she tried to keep standing straight when Elena grabbed ahold of her arm to pull her away, "leave my family alone, Klaus. You want me." The human girl took a step closer towards Klaus with her sister basically attached to her before she continued, "take me and let them go. You don't have to hurt anyone that's not involved in this."

Klaus/Alaric let out a heavy chuckle as he watched the protective girl, who reminded him of the pesky Darina Petrova, before he shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart," the hybrid apologized with no real emotion in his voice before he told his doppelganger as he had someone else that he needed to deal with first, "it's not your time yet." Klaus/Alaric then turned his glare over to the Bennett girl as he exclaimed, "but, you, witch. You are on my hit list tonight."

The hybrid stared at the witch that would most likely cause him problems during the sacrifice before he swiftly charged towards her. However, before the human body could even take two full steps, Bonnie thrusted her arm out as she walked in front of the Gilbert twins - which caused for the hybrid to be thrown harshly against the wall.

Klaus/Alaric let out a heavy groan when his body hit the front of the grey, steel lockers before he rolled onto his hands and knees and slowly began to stand up from the ground. The hybrid let out a chuckle when he saw the shocked expressions of the teenagers's faces before inquired with a smirk, "now, did I mention that I knew a witch?" Klaus/Alaric then held out his arms like he was challenging the Bennett girl before he exclaimed, "you're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that."

The hybrid in the human's body took a deep breath to ready himself before he, once again, ran directly towards the witch. But, of course, Klaus/Alaric was stopped once again when the witch threw out her hand - which caused the angry hybrid to crash into a trophy display case before he was engrossed in shards of glass.

Klaus/Alaric instantly let out a deep and throaty laugh once his body bounced onto the hard ground while he tried to catch his human breathing before he slowly worked his way into a standing position. "By all means... fire away!" The hybrid told the Bennett witch with a wide grin before he let the witch on a little secret, "if you kill this body, I'll just get a new one." Klaus/Alaric lightly shrugged his shoulders while he dusted off the glass before he shot the Gilbert twins a wink as he uttered thoughtfully, "maybe I'll use Jeremy."

The Bennett witch didn't even want to think of the possibility of Klaus inside of Jeremy's body, so she glared across at the hybrid while she hurriedly told the sisters behind her, "go, run." Bonnie quickly grabbed ahold of both Emily and Elena's hands when Klaus started to move towards them before she shouted as she pulled them down the hallway, "run!"

The three girls ran as fast as they could since Elena couldn't exactly use her speed with both her sister and best friend. The Bennett witch then closed the blue metal doors with her powers once they turned the corner to hopefully slow down the hybrid. The human, the vampire, and the witch slowly came to a stop to catch their breaths while they stared at the locked door before they were spooked by a voice from behind them.

"What happened?" The older Salvatore swiftly interrogated when he saw the nervous and anxious looks on the three girls's faces before he swiftly pulled his girlfriend into his chest. Damon placed a kiss onto Elena's forehead as he tried to comfort her before he looked down into her brown eyes as he tried to figure out what the hell just happened.

Elena took a deep breath as she tried to control the feeling of being around the hybrid for the first time before she hurriedly told Damon in a rushed and confused voice, "Klaus is in Alaric's body." The Gilbert vampire then pushed herself out of her boyfriend's arms before she rushed and pulled her twin sister into her chest. Elena just felt if she let Emily out of her sight that Klaus was going to take her from him, so she didn't plan on letting go anytime soon.

Damon's blue eyes widened in surprise before he gaped, "what?" The older Salvatore had never even heard of the possibility for a vampire to take over someone else's body, so Damon was definitely shocked at what his girlfriend told him.

"It's like he's possessing it or something," the Bennett witch quickly told the vampire. Bonnie honestly didn't even know for sure if that was what Klaus was doing but it was the only thing that she could think of.

"I'm so stupid," Emily mumbled as she pulled herself out of her twin sister's strong hold when the hallway grew silent. The human girl let out a humorless chuckle before she scolded herself, "I could feel something was off with Ric all damn day. I should of known Klaus was behind this." Emily couldn't believe that she didn't realize that Alaric's strange attitude and the anger that she felt could have been Klaus related. It just never crossed her mind when they were getting ready for the feared hybrid.

"Hey," the Gilbert vampire softly uttered as she gently placed her hand onto her twin sister's slumped shoulder. "You couldn't have known," Elena murmured as she tried to comfort the human girl by pulling her into a tight hug before Elena stated with a shake of her head, "he had us all fooled."

The older Salvatore watched the Gilbert twins for a moment before he and Bonnie shared a look that told Damon exactly what they needed to do, so Damon walked up to his girlfriend and her sister before he pressed his hand onto Emily's back to get her attention. Damon waited until the human girl turned around and faced him before he commanded, "you need to go find Stefan right now."

The human doppelganger, however, instantly shook her head in disagreement before she exclaimed, "hell no." Emily glanced at the two vampires and the Bennett witch before she stated as she, once again, frantically shook her head, "I'm not leaving when Bonnie could get killed from using too much of her powers. No way in hell."

The Gilbert vampire placed her hand onto her twin sister's shoulder to get the erratic human girl's attention before she gave Emily a small smile. "If Bonnie starts to show any signs of death, I will get her out of here," Elena promised before she held out her pinky finger to show her twin that she wasn't lying.

Emily glanced between the two vampires and the Bennett witch as she bit down on her bottom lip while she tried to decide what to do. The human girl didn't want to leave her friends and sister alone with Klaus heading their way as it was her job to protect everyone. However, on the other hand, Emily knew that she needed to grab Stefan, so they could escape from the hybrid. Emily knew she couldn't be in two places at once, so she decided to trust her twin sister, who never lies to her, as she linked their pinkies together and murmured, "okay."

"Go," the older Salvatore vampire encouraged the human girl after he glanced over to the Bennett witch, who gave him a nod to let him know that she was still going to go through with their plan, before he placed his hand onto Emily's back and pushed her towards the other direction, "now!"

Emily gave the Salvatore vampire a quick nod before she moved her green irises over to Bonnie and told her, "be careful." The human girl then swiftly turned around and jogged her way down the hallway as fast as she could so she could get Stefan in time before something bad happens. However, Emily's plan was turning out badly as she couldn't find her boyfriend anywhere once she reached the decade dance. It was like every face was blending and she couldn't even recognize anyone.

"Hey!" A voice suddenly called out from behind the human doppelganger - which immediately caused Emily to turn around and see her blonde best friend and Matt Donovan. "There you are," Caroline exclaimed with a large grin spread across her lips before she uttered, "I was wondering when you would..." However, though, before Caroline could utter a full sentence, she finally noticed the concerned look on Emily's face, so she quickly turned her statement into a question as she worriedly asked, "hey, what's wrong?"

The Gilbert girl was like in a different world as she barely even heard anything come out of her best friend's mouth while she continued to search through all of the dancing humans for her vampire boyfriend. Emily loves Caroline like her own sister but she just couldn't be bothered to listen to anything as she needed to find Stefan right now, so the human girl didn't respond to the blonde vampire as her green eyes continued to look for the younger Salvatore.

"Hey!" Caroline shouted over the loud music as she swiftly latched her hand tightly around Emily's upper arm. "You can talk to me," the blonde vampire murmured with her blue eyes furrowed as she didn't understand what would cause her best friend to be so stressed out right now when she was supposed to be having fun at the decade dance.

Emily, finally, connected her green eyes onto her best friend when Caroline stopped her from moving before she noticed the Donovan human standing behind her. "Um," the doppelganger mumbled as she tried to think of what to tell her best friend without revealing too much before she stated, "I-I just have to find Stefan to help me with something." Emily then gave Caroline a pointed look before she ordered, "just stay here with Matt where it's safe."

The Gilbert girl then swiftly turned away, before either blonde could say anything, as she finally saw her boyfriend running towards her. Emily grabbed ahold of Stefan's hand when they met in the middle before she swiftly began to pull the vampire in the direction that she had originally came from. Emily pushed their way through all the dancing and oblivious humans before she and Stefan finally entered the silent hallways.

"Bonnie is trying to kill Klaus right now," the Gilbert girl quickly explained to her boyfriend about what was happening while they continued to run through all the different hallways to find the Bennett witch. However, just as the human girl and the Salvatore vampire rounded the corner, they ran right into their siblings.

"I see you finally found my brother," the older Salvatore vampire exclaimed with a small grin on his lips to the human doppelganger when he noticed the aforementioned Gilbert girl and Stefan in the dark hallway.

Emily instantly came to a sliding stop when she noticed Damon and her twin sister walking around when they were supposed to be watching the Bennett witch. "What the hell!" The human girl gaped as she swiftly glanced between the two vampires before she turned a glare towards her twin sister. "You are supposed to be keeping her safe!" Emily shouted before she angrily pushed onto Elena's chest.

The Gilbert vampire didn't move or flinch at her twin sister's anger or touch. Instead, Elena only told the human girl the answer that she and Damon had to tell Emily and Stefan, no matter how much she hates to do so, "I'm right where I'm supposed to be and Bonnie is doing what she has to do, Emmie." The Gilbert vampire hated this plan so much but she would rather her twin sister be pissed at her than have Emily and Bonnie _permanently_ dead.

"She's our best friend!" Emily continued to shout at her twin sister in disbelief that Elena would actually allow Bonnie to die. "What the hell is wrong with you!" The human doppelganger cried out as she looked at her twin sister with betrayal and heartbreak in her green irises.

"Where is she!?" The younger Salvatore interrogated while his green eyes frantically glanced between his brother and his close friend as he tried to figure out where the Bennett witch was. Stefan was not going to allow Bonnie to be killed by Klaus - unlike Damon and Elena apparently are.

"Stefan, let her do this," the older Salvatore commanded his brother in a extremely calm voice while he crossed his arms over his black dress shirt and leaned against a row of gray lockers.

The younger Salvatore growled under his breath as he was growing tired of Damon and Elena's games of not giving them a straight answer before he swiftly walked up to his brother and interrogated angrily, "damn it, Damon, where is she!?"

"Elena," the human girl slowly breathed out as she tried to control her anger as she only cared about finding Bonnie and getting her the hell out of here before she muttered, "if you even care a little bit about our best friend then you will tell us where she is right now." Emily could be pissed later. She just wanted to get her best friend away from Klaus before she ended up dead.

The Gilbert vampire bit down on her bottom lip as she stared across at her saddened sister with conflict in her brown eyes before she glanced over to her boyfriend, who was silently shaking his head. Elena knew that there was nothing they could do anyways to help Bonnie, so the Gilbert vampire closed her eyes with emotions all over her body stance before she whispered the location, "they're in the smaller cafeteria."

The Gilbert girl barley even gave her twin sister a second glance after she finally got her answer before she was rushing down the hallways with footsteps behind her as she ran like her own life was in danger. Emily only cared about getting Bonnie out of this mess that was because of her and her doppelganger-ness.

Finally, after a few minutes of running down three or four hallways, Emily reached the smaller cafeteria with Stefan and her twin sister on either side of her, where they took in the destruction. There were flyers flying all over the room with tables flipped over and glass spraying across everything. However, but the one thing that mattered to Emily was the Bennett witch facing her with a look of determination on her face.

Emily's green eyes immediately widened as she realized what the Bennett witch was about to do before she swiftly shouted while she tried to enter the cafeteria, "Bonnie, don't do this!" But, sadly, the Bennett witch didn't listen to the human girl as she lifted her arm and locked the doors so no one could stop her.

The human doppelganger quickly began to beat her fists onto the glass window of the wooden door as she shouted to stop her best friend. But when Emily saw that wasn't working, she tried her original plan that she came up with alone before they left the boarding house. "Klaus!" The human girl shouted before she yelled, "you can have me! Come on! You can't end your curse if you don't have me! Take me, you coward!"

However, unluckily for the human girl, the Bennett witch and the hybrid both ignored Emily's pleas as they were both determined to end one other. Bonnie stared across at Klaus/Alaric with blood dripping down her nose before she swiftly twisted her hand - which caused the human body of the vampire hunter's left knee to twist in an awkward position. The Bennett witch then lifted her other hand and did the same as she tried to kill the hybrid. The power in the Bennett witch's body, though, was causing the lighting from above them to burst into a shower of sparks as the dead witches's magic began to exit out of her body.

"Please, Bonnie!" The human doppelganger shouted through the small glass window as she knew Bonnie was going to get herself killed, "you don't have to do this! There's always another way!" Emily felt so helpless as she watched her best friend use up all that magic that would be her demise. _I can't do nothing,_ the human girl thought before she swiftly began to pull at the door handle, along with Stefan, as she prayed it would just open.

The door wouldn't even budge for Emily, so she looked back up as she decided to just talk to Bonnie, but was surprised to find the aforementioned witch was already staring at her. Bonnie gave the human girl a small smile and mouthed, 'I'm sorry,' before she faced Klaus/Alaric just as he was getting up from the ground. The Bennett witch gave the hybrid one last glare as everything around them began to explode before her body suddenly jerked to the side and Bonnie fell to the ground.

"BONNIE!" The human girl screamed out in agony as soon as she saw her best friend's body drop. Emily quickly pushed onto the door,which immediately opened for her, before she rushed towards Bonnie. The human doppelganger dropped to her knees as she ignored everything around her before she placed her hand against the Bennett witch's chest.

"Oh, God," Emily sobbed when she couldn't feel anything. However, Emily just wouldn't allow herself to believe it, so she grabbed ahold of Bonnie's limp arm and pulled her onto her lap as she begged with tears falling down her stained cheeks, "come on, Bon Bon. You need to open those beautiful brown eyes for me." Emily pushed Bonnie's hair behind her ear with a sad smile as she continued to beg in a whisper, "come on. We need to go, Bonnie. Come on, please. Please."

"Emmie," the soft and heartbroken voice of Elena Gilbert whispered as she placed her shaky hand onto her sister's shoulder before she whispered, "she's gone." The Gilbert vampire knew Bonnie wasn't actually dead but it still hurt so much to see her best friend dead and her twin sister breaking down in front of her. It broke Elena's heart so much.

The emotional human girl swiftly pushed her twin sister's hand off of her as she felt in her frantic state that this was Elena's fault and partly her own for not doing a better job of making sure Bonnie didn't end up like this. "Don't touch me!" Emily yelled out with betrayal and heartbreak in her voice before she focused back onto her best friend with tears in her green irises. "Come on, Bonnie," the human girl shakily begged, "you gotta come back. Please! You weren't supposed to die! Please, Bonnie. I-I-I need you to come back. Please!"

The Gilbert vampire wiped a tear that was trailing down her face as she watched the scene in front of her before she took a glance over to the younger Salvatore, where she saw the same sadness that she was feeling while Stefan stared down at his girlfriend. Elena then turned back to her twin sister with a small sigh before she slowly bent down to the ground and pulled Emily away from Bonnie's body as she knew that the human girl was just destroying herself right now.

"Let me go!" Emily immediately shouted when she didn't feel Bonnie's warm touch before she began to push against Elena's arms and chest. "I need to save Bonnie!" The human girl exclaimed with tears falling down her face and down her neck - despite the fact that she knew that she couldn't do a damn thing. Emily just felt like she had to try to help Bonnie or she would just completely breakdown.

"Shhh," Elena whispered as she squeezed her arms around her twin sister's waist while she let Emily push against her as much as the human girl needed. "Focus on your breathing," the Gilbert vampire softly ordered as she was afraid her twin was going to have a panic attack right now from all this stress, "you're okay." Elena knew that there was nothing that she could do to make this better at the moment, so she just tried her hardest to comfort her twin as much as she can.

"B-Bonnie's dead," Emily whispered as she finally stopped fighting her sister's embrace and her body went limp in Elena's arms, "I-I'm not okay. S-She's gone." The human doppelganger then just let out all the tears that was left like if a dam was opened while she sobbed into her twin sister's chest at the lost of her best friend.

The only thing that could be heard in the small cafeteria was the sound of the heartbreaking sobs coming out of the human girl and the soft whispers from the Gilbert vampire before the sadness was interrupted when loud footsteps came into the room. The younger Salvatore was the one to swiftly look at the entrance, where he noticed his brother.

The older Salvatore stared at the scene in front of him with the dead witch on the ground and his girlfriend comforting her sister before Damon turned his attention onto his brother. "Stefan, get Emily out of here," Damon commanded in an emotionless voice before he stated, "I'll deal with the body."

Emily's body immediately went rigid when she heard Damon's words before she stopped sobbing into her sister's chest and slowly pulled herself to her shaky feet. The Gilbert girl then silently walked up to the older Salvatore while everyone cautiously watched her before Emily pointed at him with tears still trailing down her face and growled, "touch Bonnie and I will kill you, Salvatore."

The threatened Salvatore, however, ignored the emotional human girl as she pushed on his chest and took out her anger on him before Damon looked over Emily's shoulder and commanded his brother in a bored tone, "take her home now."

Stefan didn't say anything. He just got up from his crouched position in front of the deceased witch before he silently walked over to his girlfriend. The younger Salvatore then wrapped his cold arms around Emily's waist and pulled her away from her continuous assault on Damon before he turned the human girl around in his arms. Stefan let out a small sigh as he rubbed his hands up and down Emily's back as he tried to comfort her as best as he could after losing her best friend.

"Hey, I got you," Stefan softly uttered as he could feel Emily sobbing into his chest. It broke Stefan's heart to see this happening to the always strong human girl and the fact that he couldn't do anything to fix it or make her feel better. "Shhh," the Salvatore vampire cooed as he tried his best to make Emily feel better before he whispered, "it's okay. I got you."

The human doppelganger continued to sob into her boyfriend's chest as Stefan pulled her to the side of his body before he slowly began to lead her to the door of the small cafeteria. However, when Emily glanced over her shoulder at Bonnie on the ground, another round of tears fell down the human girl's face as she wailed and rambled as she just couldn't accept what happened tonight, "Bonnie, no! It wasn't supposed to be you! Bonnie, please. No, no, no, no! P-Please come back!"

The three vampires hearts absolutely broke at the sight in front of them as they watched the human girl crumble to the ground by the deceased witch. Damon had a hint of regret in his blue irises as he wished Emily didn't have to go through this - even though it was to fool the hybrid. Elena just wanted her twin sister in her arms and explain everything to her but couldn't because of the hold Damon had on her. However, ultimately, it was the younger Salvatore that had immediately took action as he swept Emily off the ground and held her in a bridal position. Stefan then gave his brother and Elena a small nod before he began to whisper comforting words into Emily's ear as he carried the sobbing girl out of the cafeteria and down the dark hallways to take her home.

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

The emotional human doppelganger stared her glazed over green eyes at the roaring fire in front of her while she absorbed the heat that burned her exposed skin. It was the only thing Emily could actually feel at the moment. Emily just felt so numb after everything that has happened in the last couple of hours. It was like the death of her best friend was her demise. She didn't feel any hope for the future nor did she feel like her usual strong self. It was like her soul left her body when it took the selfless Bennett witch's.

"Hey," the soft voice of the younger Salvatore uttered as he silently walked up to the human girl. Stefan gently placed his hand onto Emily's shoulder and gave it a squeeze before he handed the human girl a glass of bourbon as he murmured, "here you go." The green eyed vampire wasn't exactly sure what he could say to Emily to make her feel better since she hadn't really reacted to any of his words, so the next best thing was alcohol as Stefan hoped it would help calm down Emily enough to fall asleep.

The Gilbert girl didn't even turn around at her boyfriend's voice. She just kept her green irises glued to the fire as she silently wrapped her fingers around the crystal glass of alcohol when Stefan placed it onto her palm. Emily then clutched the glass between both of her hands in a tight grasp before she shakily brought the glass to her lips and downed every drop of the bourbon like it was her lifeline.

The Salvatore vampire released a small sigh as he watched the numb and emotionless human girl before he gently placed his hand onto her upper arm, where Stefan realized that she was extremely warm. Stefan couldn't help but frown as he realized that Emily had to be in pain from the heat of the fire but she wasn't showing it. The Salvatore vampire wanted to move her to a safer distance but he felt that Emily would start sobbing hysterically again if he moved her and Stefan wanted to keep her calm. So, he instead just began to rub his cold hands down Emily's burning arms as he tried to ease the pain that she wouldn't show while he softly asked to hopefully get her to open up, "how are you feeling?"

Emily, however, didn't respond at first like the vampire had hoped. The human girl only continued to stare at the roaring fire before she finally mumbled the first statement since they had left Mystic Falls High School, "I don't feel anything." It was then like, once again, a dam was left opened when Emily uttered that small sentence because the next thing the human girl knew, she was mumbling words while her heart pounded in her chest and tears tripped down her neck, "it's all my fault. I should have stayed with Bonnie. I should of tried harder. I should of fought harder. I-I failed her. I w-was supposed to keep Bonnie safe and I couldn't even do that."

The Salvatore vampire quickly vamp sped in front of the sobbing human girl when she began to blame herself and lifted her from the chair in front of the fire before he sat down on the couch a few feet away and placed Emily onto his lap. Stefan protectively wrapped his arms around the human girl's waist and held her close to his chest while he softly assured her, "hey, hey, hey. This is not your fault." The green eyed vampire pushed Emily's brown hair behind her ear and wiped her tears away as he shook his head before he told her while he rubbed the side of her cheek, "this was all Klaus. We had no idea that he would do this. There was nothing we could do, baby. You can't blame yourself."

The sudden sound of the front door of the Salvatore boarding house loudly opening, however, stopped the human girl from saying anything back to her boyfriend as she swiftly sat up in Stefan's arms and saw it was the older Salvatore and her twin sister. Emily's anger immediately came back when she saw the vampire couple, so she got out of fetal position in her boyfriend's warm embrace before she walked up to the vampires. The human girl glared at the older Salvatore before she interrogated, "where is Bonnie?" However, when Damon didn't say anything, Emily harshly and frantically punched her fists onto his chest while she yelled out, "what did you do to her!?"

The older Salvatore completely ignored the human girl that was front of him as he looked over Emily's shoulder and towards his brother before he wondered with annoyance ringing throughout his voice while he pointed down towards the hysterical doppelganger, "will you please calm her down?"

A growl immediately escaped from Emily's lips before she pushed Damon with all her might and yelled, "don't ignore my question, you ass!" The Gilbert girl pushed her palms against the vampire's chest once again as she continued to yell, "Bonnie is my best friend and I deserve to know, dammit!"

Damon rolled his blue eyes at the persistent human girl before he looked down into her crazed green irises and slowly ordered, "please calm down." The Salvatore vampire huffed out a sigh when Emily continued to hit him instead of listening before he swiftly grabbed her wrists and pushed the human girl off of him. Damon then walked over to his alcohol table and began to pour himself a much needed drink as he stated, "Bonnie is right where she needs to be."

The Gilbert girl watched Damon walk away from her with tears streaming down her face and her brows furrowed as she didn't understand what he meant by that before she swiftly moved her burning gaze onto the other person that she was angry at - her twin sister. "You knew she was going to push herself over the edge, didn't you?" Emily interrogated while her silent tears dripped down her cheeks and neck while she stared directly at her sister.

Elena silently nodded her head while she bit down her bottom lip and tears slowly poured out of her brown eyes. "Yes, I did," the Gilbert vampire confessed in a broken whisper. The Gilbert vampire hated seeing her twin sister like this but it was necessary for Klaus to think Bonnie is dead. Elena knew everything would be okay once she or Damon explained what was going on but the Gilbert vampire wanted Emily to let it all out of her system as the human girl needed to release all that pent up emotion.

Emily shook her head with a humorless chuckle before she mumbled in disbelief, "and you did nothing to stop her." The human girl took a step closer to her sister with a glare shining throughout her green eyes before she angrily exclaimed, "I can't believe you just let our best friend, our childhood friend, die like you didn't even give a damn about her." Emily just couldn't handle her anger towards what her sister did, so without the human girl even realizing it, she raised her right hand and slapped the side of Elena's face before she whispered with tears in her green eyes, "how could you?"

The Gilbert vampire tried her best to not let her sister's anger affect her as she knew Emily just needed to let it all out. So, Elena didn't react to the slap to the face or the broken words from her twin sister. Instead, the Gilbert vampire stared into Emily's teary eyes with her brown ones also filled with unshed tears before she whispered, "I am so sorry, Emmie." Elena then glanced over to Damon to see if it was time to tell them the truth before she told her sister when Damon nodded his head, "I'm sorry we had to lie to you - to the both of you."

The human doppelganger took a step back from her twin sister with her brows furrowed while she tried to get control of her loud breathing and pounding heart. Emily then glanced between Elena and Damon once she was in control of her emotions before she slowly and confusingly questioned with a deep frown across her lips, "lied about what?"

"Klaus wasn't going to stop until he knew Bonnie was dead," Damon stated after he took a sip of his bourbon and began to walk towards his brother, girlfriend, and the human doppelganger. "We weren't prepared for Klaus to be using Alaric's body and there was no way that we could of stopped him, so we had to come with another plan. Klaus needed to believe that Bonnie was dead," the older Salvatore explained to the clueless couple before he moved to stand directly in front of the human girl. Damon then placed his hand to the side of his lips before he whispered with a small smirk, "a little secret, princess - Bonnie did a spell and she's very much alive."

Emily's green eyes widened along with unconsciously linking her fingers with Stefan's at this new information while she glanced between her twin sister and the older Salvatore. "What?" The human girl gaped in shock. Emily hurriedly glanced between Elena and Damon before she asked with hope entering her voice for the first time in a while, "Bonnie's okay?"

"Yep," Damon mumbled before he swiftly downed the rest of his bourbon. "The good witch of the East is alive," the older Salvatore exclaimed with a large smirk playing on his lips and sarcastically tipped his invisible hat before he silently headed up the staircase.

"I'll give you guys some time alone," the younger Salvatore whispered to his girlfriend after the living room in the boarding house grew silent before he placed a gentle kiss onto Emily's temple while he cradled her head. Stefan held the human girl like that for a moment as he offered one last bit of comfort before he headed upstairs to have a little chat with his brother and give the sisters some space to talk.

Emily gave Stefan a small smile to show her thanks for taking care of her during these last couple of hours before she watched her boyfriend walk up the staircase. The human girl then turned and faced her twin sister with a hopeful smile as she asked, "so, is it true? Bonnie's really okay?"

The Gilbert vampire nodded her head with a small but sad smile for all the pain that their plan had caused before she uttered, "come on." Elena grabbed ahold of her sister's hand and pulled Emily into the dining room - where she had left her laptop this afternoon. The two sisters then took a seat at the table before Elena quickly began to log into her laptop and pulled up the Skype page. Elena shot her twin sister a grin before she pushed the Bennett witch's contact information and waited for the call to be answered.

"BONNIE!" The human doppelganger couldn't help but immediately shout as soon as she saw her best friend's face pop up onto Elena's laptop screen with a grin spread widely across her lips. Emily felt like she was heaven right now by seeing Bonnie after witnessing her die right in front of her. It made Emily feel, in that moment, that everything would be okay now that she knew that she didn't actually lose her best friend. It gave Emily that hope again that she had thought she lost.

"Oh, it's so good to see you," the Bennett witch murmured as tears poured out of her brown eyes. Bonnie gave the human girl a bright smile while she wiped the salty liquid from her irises so she could see Emily before she sobered up and apologized for what happened tonight, "I am so, so sorry, Emmie." The Bennett witch glanced over to the Gilbert vampire with a thankful expression before Bonnie told the human girl, "I made Elena and Damon promise to not say anything to you, so please don't be mad at them."

Emily gave the Bennett witch a small nod before she turned her gaze onto her twin sister - who had tears in her eyes. The human girl shook her head with a small smile before she swiftly pulled Elena into a tight hug. "It's okay," Emily assured her twin sister before she murmured, "I understand now." The human girl then pulled away after a moment and wiped Elena's tears before she apologized with a teasing smirk, "I'm sorry for slapping you."

The Gilbert vampire shook her head with a chuckle before she lightly shrugged her shoulders with a small smile. "I kind of deserved it for making you think I would do that to our best friend," Elena stated as she honestly didn't take the slap to the face with offence since Emily was emotional and pained at the thought that Bonnie was actually dead.

Emily pointed her finger at her twin sister with a cheeky grin before she commented, "I was impressed, though." The Gilbert girl bumped her right shoulder with Elena's left one before she joked, "you're actually getting better at lying." The three girls then immediately laughed at the human girl's joke and the truth of her statement before Emily faced the Bennett witch with a small smile. "Honestly, though, I'm glad you're okay, Bon Bon," the Gilbert girl expressed her feelings before she begged, "but please never die again."

The Bennett witch let out a heavy chuckle at the human girl while she swiftly wiped away the fresh round of tears, once again, from her face before she stated, "I'll try not to."

The human girl grinned into the small camera on her twin sister's laptop while she stared at their very alive best friend. "God," Emily mumbled before she commented, "it's so good to see those beautiful brown eyes open again." The Petrova doppelganger then looked at the Bennett witch for a moment as she took in her features before the human girl expressed, "I missed you so much, Bon Bon."

The Bennett witch gave the human girl a bright smile and stated, "I missed you, too." A frown then lifted onto Bonnie's face while she watched Emily wipe away a few tears as she felt like she needed to apologize again before Bonnie murmured, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the plan tonight, but Klaus needed to believe your reaction for it to work."

Emily carelessly waved her hand to show that it didn't bother her anymore before the human girl promised, "really, Bonnie, we're good." The human girl gave her best friend an assuring smile and stated, "I'm just happy you're alive right now and everything else is just water underneath the bridge."

Bonnie let out a thankful sigh before she murmured, "okay, good. That's good." The Bennett witch then shot the human girl a wide and happy smile as she was glad that Emily wasn't mad at her before Bonnie suddenly did something that she wasn't expecting - she let out loud and exhausted yawn.

The Gilbert twins both chuckled at their obviously sleepy best friend before Emily told the Bennett witch as she knew her best friend had to be exhausted after going against the hybrid, "you should probably get some rest, Bonnie." The human girl then shot her best friend a teasing smile before she stated, "you did die tonight."

Bonnie playfully rolled her brown eyes in false annoyance before she nodded her head with another loud yawn. "Yeah, I know," the Bennett witch mumbled before she pointed at the human girl and stated, "you should get some sleep, too." Bonnie could only imagine how exhausted Emily was slowly feeling after all that adrenaline.

The human doppelganger rolled her green eyes right back at her best friend before she mumbled, "yes, mother." The three teenagers immediately laughed at Emily's statement for a few minutes before Emily stared at the Bennett witch with a soft smile. "I love you so much, Bon Bon," the human girl expressed before she uttered, "good night."

Bonnie placed her fingertips against her lips before she moved them in front of the small webcam as she gave the human girl a virtual kiss. "I love you, too," the Bennett witch murmured before she told Emily, "good night. I'll talk to you soon."

The Gilbert girl blew a kiss right back to her best friend and gave Bonnie one last smile before she stood up from the dining room table with her own yawn. However, before Emily could move away from the table, Elena informed her, "I gotta ask Bonnie if they need anything while she and Jer are at the witch house real quick."

Emily nodded her head in understanding as she figured Bonnie would be staying there so Klaus wouldn't see her. "I'll see you soon," the human girl told the Bennett witch a small smile and a wave of her hand before she took her exit out of the dining room. The Gilbert girl then walked through the living room to go to sleep but quickly paused when she noticed the older Salvatore drinking a glass of bourbon by the fire.

The human doppelganger stood there for a moment as she stared at Damon's back before she rolled her green eyes as she knew that she owed the vampire an apology, so Emily poured her a glass of bourbon before she went and sat in the chair that was beside Damon. The Gilbert girl didn't say anything right away, though, when she took a seat. She instead stared at the flames while she took a sip of her bourbon. However, when Emily felt Damon's stare, the human girl let out a sigh before she apologized in a mumble, "I'm sorry for beating you up today." Emily then glanced over to Damon with a small smile as she praised him, "and thank you for helping and keeping Bonnie safe from her actual death and from Klaus."

The older Salvatore nodded his head as he silently accepted the praise before he stated, "it was the witch's idea, anyway." Damon lightly shrugged his shoulders as he took a gulp of the amber liquid before he muttered, "I just followed along." The human girl and the vampire then sat there in silence for a few minutes while they drank their bourbon before Damon glanced over to Emily and wondered with a raised eyebrow, "so, are we still good or did I get put on your hit list again?"

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but let out a loud chuckle as she shook her head. "Nah, we're good, Salvatore," the human girl murmured. Emily then shot Damon a small smirk before she teasingly commented as she recalled their conversation at the decade dance, "we're still besties or whatever the hell you called us."

Damon immediately rolled his blue eyes at the human girl while he took a sip of his bourbon before he glanced down at the amber colored liquid with an idea. The Salvatore vampire then held his crystal glass between the two chairs that he and Emily were occupying before he stated, "I think we're more bourbon buddies. I'll let vampire barbie hold that other title."

Emily couldn't help but chuckle, once again, at the fact that Damon was releasing his previous title of _'bestie'_ that he had used a couple of hours ago to Caroline. The Gilbert girl then shot the Salvatore vampire a wide grin and bumped her crystal glass with Damon's as she exclaimed as she agreed with their friendship that seems to be surrounded by alcohol since they made up, "you're damn right."

The newly formed _'bourbon buddies'_ gave one another a small nod before they both turned and faced the blazing fire while they enjoyed their glasses of bourbon with content smiles playing on their lips at the fact that everything was currently okay as no one was dead, so that was always a plus in their book. However, the one thought that plagued Emily's mind as they sat their in silence was that she was never going to let what happened to Bonnie tonight happen to anyone else that she loves. The human doppelganger swore as she relaxed her body in the comfortable chair and enjoyed the taste of bourbon on her tongue that she was going to take a visit to the basement once everyone was asleep. Emily gave her family and friends a chance for their plan, but now it was her turn and that all started with waking up a certain original.


	61. The One With The Undaggered Original

A bright but cautious pair of green eyes that belonged to Emily Gilbert slowly sneaked open after a couple of hours of sleeping. The human doppelganger slowly turned her body and looked at the alarm clock on Stefan's bedside table and saw that it was just turning five in the morning. _Thank God I didn't oversleep,_ Emily praised herself as she needed to make a clean escape without her boyfriend, sister, or her sister's boyfriend catching her when she was going to do something that they would definitely not like.

Emily slowly turned her body onto her back so she was flat on the comfortable king sized bed as she began her plan before she softly lifted up her boyfriend's arm that was settled lowly on her waist. The Gilbert girl felt herself flinch every single time that she heard Stefan make some type of noise or move before she let out a silent sigh of relief after she quickly slipped out of the bed and noticed Stefan cuddled up to her pillow thinking it was her.

Emily, any other time, would take the time to coo over her cute boyfriend or even take a picture for blackmail later on but the human girl knew that she needed to hurry up before someone woke up since she was staying in a house full vampires with extremely good hearing. So, instead of watching her usually stressed out boyfriend peacefully sleep, Emily tip-toed out of Stefan's bedroom as quietly as she could before she walked across the hallway to her bedroom.

The Gilbert girl didn't even bother closing the door behind her as she knew that she needed to be fast. Emily only hurriedly walked to her closet and pulled out a simple pair of black leggings, a grey sweater, and her signature leather jacket. The human doppelganger didn't really care what she looked like at the moment, so she quickly slipped on her comfortable outfit along with a pair of Nike running shoes and grabbed her black purse that she had stashed Darina's journal in before she fast walked right out of her bedroom.

Emily carefully tip-toed as best as she could in her old sneakers while she walked down the staircase of the boarding house before she headed towards her destination in the basement. The Gilbert girl couldn't help but release a sigh of relief once she was standing in front of the steel door to the cell with no one hearing her. _Half way done with my mission,_ Emily thought to herself before she slowly opened the heavy door of the cell and made her way inside to get the answers and help that she needed.

The human doppelganger couldn't help but lose her breath, though, as soon as her green eyes went to the small cot in the cell and saw Elijah's temporarily dead body. Emily had, sadly, seen many dead vampires in her day like Vicki and Lexi but, for some reason, seeing Elijah like that gave Emily an uneasy chill down her spine. The Gilbert girl figured it had something to do with her doppelganger connection with the people in Darina's past but she didn't have time to think about it right now.

Instead, Emily cautiously and slowly walked up to Elijah's temporarily dead body on the cot. The Gilbert girl stared down at the original's body for a few seconds with a frown playing on her lips before she shook herself out of her frozen state. Emily then focused her green eyes solely onto the dagger in Elijah's chest before she wrapped her hands around the handle and pulled as hard as she could.

It took a few tries but after the third yank, the dagger finally and thankfully flew out of Elijah's chest - which ultimately caused for Emily to fall flat on her ass. The human girl huffed out a sigh when she felt herself hit the hard and dirty ground before she tiredly lifted her body up. Emily then dusted off the dark dirt from her black leggings before she moved her green eyes back to Elijah's body.

Emily frowned as she stared down at Elijah as she noticed the original's body still looked dead. The human girl honestly didn't know how long it would take for Elijah to wake up from his temporarily death - which made Emily a tad bit nervous. Emily thought that she would wake Elijah and get him out of the boarding house to talk away from her bodyguards, so she definitely didn't take in the account that she would have to wait for him to wake from his slumber.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but begin to pace the small cell in the Salvatore basement after only two minutes of holding the dagger in her hand. The waiting game made Emily anxious and nervous about basically everything that has happened lately as it gave her time to actually think for once. Emily didn't even really have a plan for what she was going to say to Elijah when she only made the decision to wake him up last night after Bonnie was hurt by Klaus.

The human girl was just tired of everyone that she loves getting hurt because of the sacrifice and because of who she is, so Emily knew that Elijah was her only option in protecting them all like he had done before he was daggered. Emily also knew Elijah was the one person that she needed right now because of the letter Katherine sent to her - which was currently resting in her black purse - as the Petrova vampire mentioned that Elijah is the key for her to survive.

Emily honestly didn't know how Elijah was the key to keeping her alive when the last two doppelgangers died with him around but the human girl just felt like she could trust that the original did actually have the answer. The Gilbert girl figured that had something to do with the connection that she always feels around Elijah - thanks to whatever relationship that her doppelganger and the original had together. Emily still didn't understand the whole connection thing but she knew Elijah and Darina obviously cared a lot for one another and Emily figured that was why she trusted and felt something towards the original.

The running thoughtsgoing wild through the human doppelganger's mind, however, was soon interrupted before Emily could think any further about the sacrifice or the doppelganger connection as there was suddenly a loud gasp that definitely didn't come from her. Emily swiftly snapped her head up from the dagger that she was twirling in her hands at the noise before her green eyes immediately widened when she noticed that Elijah was gasping and thrashing around the cot as he began to wake from his temporary death.

The human doppelganger quickly dropped the dagger to the ground before she quickly rushed towards Elijah's body as she could feel that something wasn't right. Emily was honestly a few minutes away from panicking as she didn't know how she was supposed to help. Emily did know how to comfort someone, though, so she tried to do that as she placed her hand down onto Elijah's chest to, hopefully, stop his thrashing around.

Emily released a thankful sigh when the original pointed his brown erratic irises in her direction and stopped moving - except for the loud gasps coming from his mouth. The human girl gave Elijah a small assuring smile as she tried to help him relax from whatever the hell was happening to him. "Elijah," Emily gently murmured as she lightly rubbed his chest before she offered the original some comfort to calm him, "hey, you gotta relax. You're okay."

However, the Gilbert girl didn't get the reaction that she thought she would from her dazzling comforting skills. Instead, Elijah stared directly into her green eyes with his brown irises widened with a mixture of shock and adoration. The original was still gasping for air while his body slowly turned back to its normal color before Elijah opened his mouth and uttered his first words since he had been awake from his temporary death, "Darina!"

* * *

 **ENGLAND 1492**

 _There were people in their finest clothes drinking, laughing, and talking with one another inside of a large mansion as a party was underway like always when the sun would disappear from the day and the bright moon would rise. However, this wasn't just any ordinary party that the citizens of England would have for the chance to dance, eat, and drink together. No, it was a birthday celebration for a very important man._

 _The human people in the mansion, however, didn't know that the birthday man could kill them without a second thought expect for one by the name of Trevor. The man or vampire had been looking out for the man of the hour while he mingled with the locals of England before he found one of the men that he had been waiting on. Trevor quickly excused himself from a woman that he was politely speaking to before he headed straight towards the much older vampire._

 _"Ah, good evening, Trevor," the long haired vampire murmured once he recognized the face as one of his men coming towards him. "I am pleased you could join us," Elijah politely uttered in his usual calm and steady voice with a small nod of his head as he stared across at the young vampire._

 _Trevor gave the older vampire a small, boyish grin before he stated, "I could not miss the birthday celebration."_

 _Elijah shook his head in agreement before he uttered as he remembered the promise Trevor had made a few hours earlier, "no, considering the gifts you claim to bear." The older vampire twitched his head to the side with a gaze of curiousness in honey brown eyes before he inquired, "where are these mystery sisters of which you speak?"_

 _The younger vampire gave his elder a wide grin, once again, at the mention of the present that he had brought with him tonight. Trevor turned his body to the side and held out his hand before he murmured, "right this way." The two vampires then moved their way through the roaring party for a minute or two until Trevor and Elijah came to a stop in front of three women. Trevor lightly placed his hand onto the two sisters's shoulders as he politely uttered to get their attention, "ladies, I hope you don't mind if we interrupt for a moment."_

 _The young girl with the bright green eyes was the first one to say anything as she gave the man who she had been lately accustomed to a small smile before she told him, "of course not, Trevor. You know we adore your company." The young girl, Darina, then turned her attention onto the man that she hadn't met and gave him a soft smile before she politely murmured, "hello, sir."_

 _There was a small awkward silence that followed straight after Darina greeted the man before the aforementioned girl bumped her hip into her twin sister's and gave her a pointed look. Katherine, the younger sister, looked at Darina with an annoyed eye roll as she didn't even want to be here tonight before she finally faced the unknown man. "Hello," Katherine politely uttered with a fake smile plastered on her lips to please her sister since Darina thinks being kind was something that they needed to do to survive outside of their home country._

 _However, the older vampire, Elijah, didn't notice the silent bickering going on between the two young girls and the scolding from the older woman behind them. Instead, the original felt frozen in his place as he glanced between the sisters. Elijah was in such a shocked state at the fact that the young girl with the brown eyes looked exactly like Tatia Petrova - the girl he used to love. The doppelganger, however, wasn't all that shocked the original. It was the beauty and angelic aura that the green eyed girl was giving off. Elijah felt like he was stuck in a trance with the young girl and it made Elijah feel something that had been unknown to him for centuries._

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

"Oh, crap!" Emily mumbled to herself with her green eyes widened once she realized that Elijah thought that he was looking at her doppelganger right now. "Please do not attack me," the human girl mumbled as she didn't know how the original was going to react when he thought that he was gazing at someone who had died and who he obviously cared about.

Emily knew that she really needed Elijah to calm down right now since he was dreaming or in a trance along with the fact that the three vampires in the boarding house could here him, so the human girl decided to convince the original that she wasn't who he thought she was. "Elijah," the Gilbert girl shouted in a whisper as she bent over the small cot and locked her green eyes with Elijah's brown ones before she quickly told him, "it's me, Emily. You're in the boarding house."

However, once again, Emily didn't get the reaction that she thought she would from her comforting skills as the original instantly began to panic even more than he already was. "Shit," the human girl swore as she realized Elijah was basically having a vampire panic attack right now, so she quickly gripped onto his cold hand to hopefully calm him down. "Hey, it's alright," Emily softly exclaimed as she squeezed his hand before she continued to get him out of his panicking, "come on, Elijah. You're okay."

The original vampire couldn't even hear a word that was coming out of the girl in front of him as he could feel his mind switching back and forth between two images of the same person and he didn't know which one was real. It made Elijah feel confused and feel a lot of pain by looking at someone that he has loved for centuries and someone that he had missed every single day of his life. "Oh, my God," Elijah couldn't help but gasp out as he could feel himself being pulled into another memory of the young girl in front of him.

* * *

 **ENGLAND 1492**

 _Elijah briefly shook his head after a moment as he realized that he had been staring at the two young girls longer than he should have. The original gave each girl a small smile before he focused onto the brown eyed girl and apologized for his actions, "forgive me. You remind me of someone." Elijah then moved his gaze over to the green eyed girl with a soft smile playing on his lips before he continued with his apology, "and you, my lady, are just such a beautiful surprise."_

 _The young vampire, Trevor, cleared his throat after a minute or so to gain his elder's attention from the green eyed human girl before he introduced his present to the original as he pointed to each person, "Lord Elijah, I would like you to meet the twins; Darina and Katerina, along with their friend, Maria."_

 _The Radkova witch didn't like the vibe that she was getting off of the man in front of her. She could tell that he was a vampire like Trevor and Rose-Marie, so Maria made a mental note to keep an extra eye on the man if he was going to be around the Petrova sisters. However, Mia did know that she had to be polite while they were in England, so the Radkova witch curtsied in front of the man that was obviously important before she quickly took her protective stance behind the twin girls._

 _Elijah gave the older woman a small nod to show his appreciation before he moved on to the girl that looked like Tatia Petrova as he held out his hand. The younger sister, Katerina, immediately placed her hand into the man's like the polite girl that she was not and shook it. Katerina then took a step back to curtsy like Maria had done before she politely uttered to please her sister, who had scolded her earlier for her rude behavior, "pleasure, my Lord."_

 _Elijah, once again, nodded his head with a polite smile and uttered, "as well as it is mine, Katerina." The original vampire then quickly moved his brown eyes to the one person that he could stare at forever once the younger girl, Katerina, took another step back and the green eyed beauty took her place._

 _Darina softly placed her hand into Elijah's rough one with a small smile playing on her lips and a light blush playing on her cheeks. The green eyed girl stared directly into the man's memorizing brown irises for a few moments as she couldn't help but instantly feel a new emotion that she had never experienced before she murmured, "it's an honor to make your acquaintance, Lord Elijah."_

 _Elijah slowly brought the brunette girl's hand up to his mouth as he continued to hold eye contact with her before the brown eyed supernatural being placed a gentle kiss onto the human girl's warm skin. "Please, Darina," the original vampire uttered with a soft smile playing on his lips before he requested, "call me Elijah."_

* * *

 **SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE**

The human doppelganger sighed in relief when the original vampire's head softly landed onto the cot instead of him continuing to stare at her like she hung the sun and the moon. Emily honestly didn't know and couldn't even imagine how Elijah was feeling right now, so she just continued to offer her comfort as she squeezed Elijah's hand to hopefully calm him down. The human girl prayed that her comforting skills would actually work this time as she sat on the edge of the cot so they could hurry and get out of the boarding house before they got caught by her bodyguards and ruin her whole plan.

However, the calmness and Emily's prayer, sadly, didn't get much further than a minute or two because suddenly the original vampire's body began to spasm all over the cot while Elijah started to loudly gasp again - which ultimately pushed the human girl off of the cot and onto the dirty ground. "I can't - I can't breathe!" The original vampire exclaimed as he grabbed at his chest in pain. Elijah moved his frantic eyes up to Emily once she pulled herself up from the ground before he hurriedly asked, "what's happening to me?"

The human doppelganger, though, didn't even get the chance to open her mouth to try to explain what was going on, even though she was completely clueless to what was happening, before Elijah swiftly tossed himself out of the cot and rushed over to the door. However, the original was so disoriented that he couldn't even make it out of the cell before he ran into the doorway.

Emily quickly jogged up to the original vampire when she noticed that he was basically about to fall on his ass - like she had already done twice this morning. "Hey, you need to relax," the human doppelganger quietly mumbled as she wrapped her arms tightly around Elijah's waist to hold him up. _Thank you, cheerleading,_ Emily mentally praised while she held the original up as she knew that she would be on the ground with Elijah if she didn't practice her balance and build muscle over the years thanks to her co-captain position.

"I can't..." Elijah began as he leaned his head against the human girl's collarbone while he started to say he couldn't breathe before he froze when he finally realized what was happening to him. "I can't be in this house," the original vampire quickly told Emily as he remembered experiencing this feeling once before in his vampire life.

Emily's green eyes immediately widened as the pieces were finally placed together. _Duh, dumbass,_ the human girl scolded herself as she completely forgot about that. "Crap!" Emily voiced her surprise to the original before she explained what happened, "I forgot we changed the ownership of the house." The human doppelganger then quickly wrapped her arm around Elijah's waist, after she swiftly grabbed her purse and the dagger, and uttered as she rushed him out of the basement, "I have to get you out of here."

However, while Emily tried to help Elijah out of the house that he couldn't be inside as fast as she could, it wasn't as fast as the original could handle since once they reached the foyer of the boarding house, Elijah instantly began to slam into different walls before he finally vamp sped outside of the house - where he immediately began to get his breathing back.

The human doppelganger let out a thankful sigh when she noticed that the original was standing outside - well, more like bent over as he tried to gain his breathing. Emily was glad that Elijah had made it, though. She was also pleased that she couldn't hear any of the other vampires in boarding house moving around after all the noise the original had made.

It took a few minutes of Elijah bent over his knees as he tried to breathe normally and the human doppelganger nervously glancing at the original and at the staircase before Elijah finally stood up straight and went to enter the boarding house. Elijah couldn't help but roll his brown eyes in annoyance, though, when he remembered that he wasn't invited in anymore. The original settled on resting his hands on either side of the doorway since he couldn't enter before he interrogated Emily with anger in his voice, "what happened?" The last thing Elijah could remember happening was talking to the human girl at the Gilbert lake house - where he made another deal with the doppelganger.

Emily quickly placed her finger to her slightly chapped lips as soon as she heard Elijah's gravel and loud voice before she nervously took another glance up to the staircase. The last thing in the world the human girl wanted to happen was to get caught by the three protective vampires when she already went through all this trouble, so Emily held up her point finger to tell Elijah to wait a second before she turned around. The Gilbert girl then quickly jogged up to the small table by the door and went to grab the keys to her Honda.

However, while Emily touched the coldness of her keys, she paused suddenly as she had another idea. The human girl knew Elijah was probably weak right now from not having any blood for awhile, so Emily changed her mind and swiftly grabbed the keys to Damon's Camaro since she knew he had a stash of blood bags hidden in his vehicle. _Please don't kill me, Damon,_ the human girl prayed as she quickly jogged back up to Elijah before she stepped out into the sunning but chilly air of Virginia and closed the front door behind them.

The human girl and the original vampire walked in silence for a few minutes as they moved down the long driveway towards the light blue vehicle before Emily explained what happened when Elijah continued to look over at her, "you're not exactly supposed to be awake." Emily didn't explain anymore than that as she opened up the passenger door for the exhausted vampire and let him inside. The human girl waited until Elijah was in and closed the door before she walked to the back of the Camaro and popped open the trunk. _Thank you, Damon,_ the doppelganger praised when she saw a container of blood bags in the back of the trunk.

Emily swiftly grabbed two blood bags from the Salvatore's stash and quietly closed the trunk before she hurriedly rushed into the drivers seat of the Camaro. "Drink," the Gilbert girl commanded to the vampire once she closed the door to the vehicle and handed Elijah the blood bags. Emily waited until the original began to drink the blood and he began to get even more of his color back before she released a sigh and continued to explain why he was awake right now, "listen, I know things didn't exactly go to plan the last time we saw each other but things changed and we have a lot to discuss."

Elijah turned his head and looked at the human girl with a raised eyebrow after he had drained the first blood bag. The original found it amusing that the doppelganger was still trying to make deals when the last one that he tried to make caused his death. "And why shouldn't I take you away right now, so I know for sure your bodyguards don't go and pull another trick again?" Elijah inquired with a tilt of his head as he was really tempted to just take Emily away from Mystic Falls and away from everyone who keeps interrupting his plan.

The human doppelganger bit down on her bottom lip as she stared across at the vampire before she broke their locked gaze and placed her hand into the black purse that was resting on her thighs. Emily reached around for a few seconds before she felt her fingers touch a cold piece of metal before she pulled it out and showed Elijah what she had - the dagger. The Gilbert girl held out of the weapon to the original as she murmured, "let this be a peace offering."

Emily waited until the original vampire slowly grasped the dagger in his hand before she shrugged her shoulders as she gazed at the Salvatore boarding house. "You're right, though," the human girl mumbled as she turned her green eyes back onto Elijah before she explained her thoughts, "you have every right to do what you think is right by taking me away when everyone I have cared about has tried to kill you." Emily gave the original vampire a small smile before she begged, "but please let's have a talk first before you make your final decision."

Elijah gazed down at the familiar dagger in his hands for a few moments before he connected his brown eyes with Emily's soft green ones with a small sigh. The original vampire knew he could trust the human girl, so he decided to listen to what she had to say before he took her with him as he was actually curious to what Emily had to talk about without her protective bodyguards. Finally, after a minute or so of a tense atmosphere in the Camaro, Elijah nodded his head and murmured, "fine, let's talk."

Emily couldn't help but release a sigh of relief at the fact that Elijah wasn't going to just take her away without listening to her first. It was the only thing that she had left with Klaus hurting her loved ones and him actually being here in Mystic Falls for the sacrifice, so Emily was glad that her plan wasn't ruined before she even got the chance to get Elijah's help like Katherine had told her in the letter.

The Gilbert girl took a deep breath now that she knew that she was going to get the opportunity to speak to the original before she started up the car. Emily bit down on her bottom lip while she waited until the engine to start as she gazed up at the Salvatore boarding house. The human girl knew that everyone that was currently sleeping inside were going to be pissed at her but Emily knew this was the only way that she was going to be able to protect them all.

Meanwhile, as the Gilbert girl left the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house with the now undaggered original vampire by her side and traveled through the small town of Mystic Falls for about twenty or so minutes, back at the boarding house, the younger Salvatore was slowly beginning to wake up from his slumber like he usually does everyday at six in the morning for school.

Stefan went through his usual process as he sluggishly woke himself up from his comfortable sleep before he reached his hand out to touch his girlfriend. However, though, when the Salvatore vampire didn't feel Emily's warm and smooth skin next to him, he instantly sat up in his bed in panic. Stefan didn't like not knowing where the human girl was, especially lately, so the younger Salvatore swiftly vamp sped out of his bed and hurriedly rushed to Emily's bedroom in the boarding house.

Stefan threw open the door once he reached Emily's bedroom before his frantic green eyes immediately began to look for the human girl. However, the younger Salvatore, sadly, couldn't find the human girl in the room. Stefan couldn't help but frown as he was slowly going crazy from where Emily could be. The green eyed vampire shook his head as he knew that he needed to focus before he quickly headed out of the bedroom and began his search downstairs.

"Emily!" The Salvatore vampire shouted once he reached the foyer of the boarding house before he began to look into each room. "Babe! Are you here?" Stefan continued to call out with his brows furrowed. Stefan knew that he couldn't panic just yet, so he decided to try the last place that he hadn't looked - the kitchen. _Maybe she's making coffee,_ the Salvatore vampire tried to convince himself as he headed towards that direction.

However, instead of finding his beautiful and tired girlfriend in the kitchen, Stefan spotted the newswoman and their recently made friend - Andie Star. The Salvatore vampire huffed out a sigh when he couldn't find his girlfriend anywhere before he decided to ask the human woman. "Hey, Andie," Stefan greeted before he inquired as he anxiously crossed his arms over his white tank top, "have you seen Emily this morning?"

Andie glanced up from her cell phone before her brows instantly furrowed at the question as she hadn't heard from the Gilbert girl since a couple of days ago during a lunch date that she had with Emily and Jenna. The human woman shook her head before she murmured, "I just got in a few minutes ago."

Stefan only had the chance to nod his head in understanding while his worrying started to rise for his missing girlfriend before his brother and his girlfriend entered the kitchen. "Hey, Andie," the older Salvatore greeted the woman when he noticed her by the kitchen island before he wondered in confusion as he didn't remember Andie calling for anything lately, "what are you doing here this early?"

The newswoman shot the vampire couple an excited grin before she told Damon, "I dug around and did some research with my connections." Andie grabbed her purse from the kitchen island and looked around for a moment before she pulled out a folder. "This was all I could find on the new arrivals in Mystic Falls," the human woman began once she handed the folder over to the blue eyed vampire before she continued with a small pout and a small shrug, "but I couldn't find anything on a Klaus but that's understandable since he's the biggest bad guy around."

The Gilbert vampire gave the newswoman a look of appreciation with a small smile before she voiced her praise, "thank you for trying, Andie." Elena hadn't even been sure that they would find anything when they had asked Andie to look into anyone new in Mystic Falls to track down Klaus, but she was still thankful all the same.

Elena moved closer to her boyfriend as she looked over Damon's shoulder to see what Andie had found. However, Elena couldn't help but to be deflate when there wasn't anything on Klaus like the newswoman mentioned since Klaus is the biggest bad guy there is - which wasn't wrong since he did go after Bonnie last night. The only thing that the Gilbert vampire could see in the research Andie had done was three locations that someone had recently moved into.

Elena knew that it wasn't much but she was still thankful - even though she didn't really like the fact that they only got this information because Damon compelled the human woman to look for information for them. However, the Gilbert vampire just had to remind herself that it was to keep her sister safe and alive to know where Klaus is. It wasn't like Damon was hurting Andie. It was just a little compulsion without allowing the human woman to remember what she hears about the supernatural world. _It's to keep her safe as well_ , Elena reminded herself as she pushed away the guilt that she felt for using Andie, someone they had befriended lately, for their own personal gain.

Andie gave the teenage vampire a large grin before she exclaimed, "it's not a problem, my sweet." The human woman's brown eyes then quickly widened as she remembered what she had also brought with her this morning before she gaped, "oh!" Andie pointed over to the kitchen counter before she told Elena, "I picked up you and Emily some coffee on my way over."

The Gilbert vampire shot the newswoman another thankful smile and grabbed the to-go cup from a familiar coffee shop in the Town Square as she was glad to have some caffeine this early in the morning. However, after Elena took a sip of the heavenly drink, she couldn't help but frown when she didn't see her twin sister. "Hey," Elena mumbled before she wondered, "where is Emmie, anyway?" The Gilbert vampire figured her twin sister would have already been down here in the kitchen at the smell of the coffee since Emily basically has a hound dog's nose for finding caffeine.

"That's what I've been wondering," the younger Salvatore vampire mumbled with his arms crossed over his white tank top with his worrying getting worse by the second. "She wasn't in bed when I woke up this morning and I can't find her anywhere," Stefan told his girlfriend's twin sister - who was also starting to look nervous and anxious like he felt.

The newswoman began to pack up her tan purse after she had looked at her watch and realized that she needed to head to work. However, when she heard the concern in the teenagers's voices, Andie looked at the brown and green eyed vampires before she lightly suggested, "I can look in the Town Square before I head down to the station to see if I can find her."

Elena couldn't help but release a small sigh of relief at the offer from the human woman before she showed her praise as she uttered, "that would be great. Thank you, Andie." The young vampire shot the newswoman another smile before she requested, "if you see Emmie anywhere, please give me a call."

Andie nodded her head in understanding before she assured the younger Gilbert twin with a soft smile, "you'll be my first call if I do." The newswoman then quickly gave the two other vampires, the Salvatore brothers, a grin along with a slight wave of her hand and exclaimed before she strutted out of the kitchen and out of the boarding house, "let me know if you guys need anything else."

The frustrated Stefan didn't even give the human woman another glance when no one knew where Emily was as he swiftly grabbed his cell phone from the sweatpants that he was wearing before he quickly dialed his girlfriend's number by heart. The younger Salvatore nervously began to pace the kitchen as he waited to hear the smooth melody of Emily's voice before Stefan instantly released a heavy sigh when the call went straight to voicemail.

Stefan waited until he heard the beeping sound before he recorded his message while he continued to anxiously pace the length of the kitchen, "hey, baby." The Salvatore vampire released another sigh before he continued as if he was talking to his girlfriend, "where are you? No one knows where you're at and I'm starting to worry." Stefan anxiously bit down on his bottom lip for a moment as he just prayed to hear Emily's voice before he murmured, "please give me a call as soon as you get this. I love you."

The younger Salvatore couldn't help but release another heavy sigh once he ended the call to his girlfriend and gazed down at his lockscreen - which was a picture of Emily. The green eyed vampire honestly felt like he was going crazy with worrying about where the human girl could be. It wasn't like Emily to not tell anyone, not even her twin sister, where she was going. Emily would at least leave a text message or a note, so Stefan felt something was definitely off.

Stefan wasn't just going to sit and wait for something to happen, though, so he thought about last night and everything that happened. He remembered coming back from the dance after they dealt with Klaus and the Gilbert twins talked with the very much alive Bonnie. Stefan also remembered Emily and Damon talking for a couple of hours before she finally came to bed. So, with the realization that Damon was the last one to talk to his girlfriend, Stefan looked to his brother before he inquired, "did Emily say anything last night when you guys were hanging out?"

The older Salvatore vampire shook his head and mumbled, "nope," before he grabbed the missing human girl's coffee since she probably wouldn't end up drinking it. Damon shrugged his shoulders when his girlfriend and brother shot him a glare before he explained what he and the human girl did last night, "we just talked, made up, and did a little drinking."

Stefan huffed out a sigh when he realized his brother was going to be no help whatsoever before he moved his green irises onto his girlfriend's twin sister. "What about you, Elena?" The younger Salvatore inquired as he anxiously tapped his bare foot against the cold marble floor of the kitchen before he continued his interrogation, "do you know where she could have gone this early?"

The Gilbert vampire bit down on her bottom lip as she thought over Stefan's question about where her twin sister could have gone after their stressful night that they all experienced only less than a day ago before Elena's brown eyes immediately widened. "Oh, please tell me you didn't," Elena mumbled to herself before she swiftly vamp sped down to the basement. Elena knew if she actually did know her twin sister then she was going to be, sadly, right about what Emily had done.

The Salvatore brothers glanced at one another in confusion when the young vampire had only mumbled to herself before she left. Stefan was worried to what Elena had realized and Damon was mainly just curious, so the two brothers followed Elena's scent - which lead them down to the basement. The Salvatore brothers cautiously stood behind Elena to see what she had figured out before they immediately noticed the missing original.

"Oh, yes she did," Damon muttered with a shake of her head as he ended his girlfriend's previous statement about what the human girl had done. "She has officially gone crazy," the older Salvatore mumbled as they all stared with a mix of shock, anger, and anxiousness into the space of where Elijah, the dangerous original vampire, should be. However, above all, the one thought that was running through the three vampires's minds was ~ _what have you done, Emily Gilbert?_


	62. The One With Maria's Plan

Emily had endlessly drove around the quite town of Mystic Falls for about thirty minutes since she wasn't sure where she could take Elijah that her protective bodyguards wouldn't come to once they realized that she was missing along with the supposed-to-be-dead original. However, finally, the human girl came to the conclusion to just park in the woods by the falls since no one usually comes out this far - well, except for parties but it was too early for a party to be happening this morning, so the human doppelganger figured it was the perfect place.

The Gilbert girl was currently resting against the hood of Damon's blue Camaro while she cautiously watched the original vampire as he finished up the second blood bag that she had gave him from Damon's secret stash. Emily waited until the blood bag was empty before she spoke up for the first time in over half an hour as she asked, "how are you feeling?" The human girl could only imagine how hungry the original must be after being dead for a while, so she offered, "do you need more blood?"

Elijah lightly waved his hand before he assured the human girl as he pushed the empty blood bag into the pocket of his ruined suit, "I'm fine." The original vampire reached inside his other pocket before he grabbed the dagger and pulled it out. Elijah silently twirled it around his fingers as he took a couple of slow steps towards Emily before he inquired, "where did you find this?"

Emily crossed her arms over her grey sweater and leather jacket as she hugged herself away from the chilly air before she released a small sigh and told Elijah how they came to possess the dagger, "mine and Elena's biological father, John, was the one who gave it to Damon." The human girl lightly shrugged her shoulders as she continued from what her biological father had told her, "John thought if he gave it to Damon, then he could get rid of the both of you."

Emily rolled her green eyes at just the thought of how her biological had explained his way of keeping her safe which meant killing her sister's boyfriend and her boyfriend's brother along the way. "He thought he was helping," the Gilbert girl commented with annoyance in her voice. Emily glared at nothing in particular as it still annoyed her that John thought killing the original would keep her alive when Elijah was the key to her safety.

Emily decided to change the direction of the conversation as she remembered the letter that she had, so she shook her head to get rid of the annoyance for her biological father before she told Elijah, "alright, enough about that. We need to have a talk that is way over due." The Gilbert girl hopped off the hood of Damon's car before she stated with a serious expression stoned into her face, "we need to work together."

The original vampire stared across at the human girl in amusement as he crossed his arms over his ruined suit with his fingers still clasped around the ancient dagger. Elijah twitched his head to the side as he continued to stare at Emily for a minute or so more before he asked the doppelganger with amusement dripping from his voice, "when did you get put in charge, Miss Emily?"

The Gilbert girl copied the original vampire's stance as she crossed her arms over her chest before she answered his question with zero humor in her voice to let Elijah know that she was being absolutely serious right now, "the second Klaus thought it would be a good idea to try to kill my best friend." It had been the last straw for Emily - when Klaus actually targeted someone that she loves - so she wasn't just going stand by and let the hybrid hurt the people who mean everything to her.

The woods by the falls was silent for a couple of minutes as Emily and Elijah just continued to stare at one another before the human girl felt like she needed to apologize and clear the air. "I am sorry for what happened last time we talked, Elijah," the human doppelganger murmured about what happened at the lake house. Emily shook her head with a heavy sigh before she explained why she did what she did, "my family and friends were never going to agree with accepting your help when they all thought they could save me on their own."

"I was willing to give them a chance because I know they just want to do what they thought was best," Emily softly murmured as she thought about all of her loved ones. The human girl briefly closed her green eyes as she remembered what happened last night before she stated with a thick and emotional voice, "but after what Klaus did to Bonnie last night, I couldn't just sit back."

Emily released an exhausted sigh when Elijah continued to just stare at her instead of saying anything. The Gilbert girl felt like she was getting nowhere the original, so she decided to mention the one thing that she knew would grab Elijah's attention. "Look," the human girl began as she took a step closer to Elijah before she stated, "I know you have all the answers I need and I know you are the key to keeping me alive."

The original vampire twitched his head to the side with interest shining throughout his honey brown eyes when he heard the confidence in the human girl's voice about how he was the key. "And how did you figure that one out?" Elijah curiously inquired.

Emily stared across at the original vampire for a moment before she uttered one single name that would help the vampire understand what she was talking about, "Katherine." However, though, before Emily could even bring out the letter that the Petrova vampire had left her, the human girl was soon interrupted when her cell phone began to ring.

"I'm sorry. I'll only be a second," the Gilbert girl quickly apologized to the original before she pulled out her cell phone out of her jacket pocket. Emily glanced down at her screen before she released a heavy sigh when she realized that her protective bodyguards had already realized that she was missing.

The human doppelganger didn't even get the chance to greet her boyfriend or try to make up an excuse for why she wasn't at the boarding house when she accepted the call before the loud and worried voice of the younger Salvatore quickly fired off questions at rapid speed, "where are you? Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but roll her green eyes at her obviously worried boyfriend. Emily loved how much Stefan cares about her but right now, it didn't exactly help her with her mission of stopping Klaus when her protective bodyguards wouldn't even let her make her own choices. "I'm fine, babe," Emily assured her boyfriend to help ease his mind for now.

The Salvatore vampire released a small breath of relief after knowing that the human girl was at least safe right now. However, the fact that his girlfriend was with the original vampire didn't exactly get rid of all of his worries, so he continued his questioning as he quickly asked, "where's Elijah?"

The human doppelganger glanced up from her Nike sneakers that she was using to kick the fall leaves and over to the original vampire across from her. Emily gave the original a small nod before she told her boyfriend, "he's with me."

"Where?" The Salvatore vampire hurriedly asked as he quickly stood up from the couch in the living room of the boarding house. "I'm on my way," Stefan told the human girl, without even knowing a location yet, as he couldn't just let his girlfriend stay with the original vampire any longer when he could hurt her or take her away from him.

Emily squeezed her green eyes shut as she hated not being able to make Stefan feel better but she just had to remember that she was doing this for him and everyone else who she loved. "I'm sorry," the Gilbert girl softly apologized before she told her boyfriend, "but this is something that I need to do alone."

"No, no, no," Stefan hurriedly uttered when he realized that the human girl wasn't going to tell her where she was with the original. "Listen to me," the Salvatore vampire commanded as he anxiously began to pace the living room in the boarding house before he quickly uttered to, hopefully, convince the human girl that this was a bad idea, "he can't be trusted. He'll use you to get to Klaus."

The Gilbert girl released a small sigh as she felt like she was having this conversation more than she should. "I know you guys don't trust him but I do, Stef," the human doppelganger told the Salvatore vampire like she had uttered many times before. Emily shook her head, even though she knew Stefan couldn't see her, before she softly murmured, "I need to work out some things and I can't do that with you or Lena breathing down my neck."

Emily hated being rude like that - especially when she loved how her twin sister and boyfriend cared about her - but she knew that it had to be done. The human girl wasn't just going to go back to the boarding house because they didn't like her plan. No one was stopping her when Klaus had already attacked one of her best friends.

"You can't do this alone, Emily," the Salvatore vampire told his girlfriend as he anxiously ran his fingers through his brunette hair. "Elijah is dangerous," Stefan continued as he tried to convince the human girl to just end this. The green eyed vampire released a heavy sigh as he tried to calm down before he stated in a soft voice, "something could happen to you, Emily, and I can't protect you if I don't know where you are."

The Gilbert girl turned her back on the original vampire when she could hear the raw emotion in Stefan's voice before she softly murmured, "I know." Emily briefly closed her green irises to get control of her emotions as she hated doing this to the Salvatore vampire before she told her boyfriend, "I can protect myself, Stef. I just need to talk with Elijah."

Emily released a small sigh when she heard the frustrated sounds of Stefan kicking something and loudly pacing before she softly promised, "I'll be home as soon as I'm finished." The Gilbert girl bit down on her bottom lip for a moment as she wanted to comfort her boyfriend but she knew that she needed to go, so she softly murmured and begged, "I love you and please make sure that Elena nor Damon tries to get in the middle of this." However, when Emily only could hear silence with a hint of heavy breathing, the human girl added as she needed Stefan to understand why she was doing this, "please, trust that I know what I'm doing."

The phone call between the human girl and the Salvatore vampire was silent for a minute or two before Stefan released a heavy sigh. "I don't like it but I do trust you," the green eyed vampire assured his girlfriend as he could hear the sadness in her last statement. Stefan anxiously ran his fingers through his hair from the fact that he couldn't do anything right now before he begged, "j-just call me if something goes wrong, alright? I love you so much, baby."

A soft smile pulled onto the Gilbert girl's lips when she heard Stefan say that he loved her - which helped her mood greatly - before she assured him, "I will." Emily then said a quick goodbye to her boyfriend before she ended the call. The human girl went to put her cell phone into her jacket pocket but paused when she noticed Elijah holding out his hand.

The Gilbert girl released a small sigh as she realized that the original vampire wanted her cell phone. Emily understood why, though, since she had three angry and protective vampires at home who would probably try to convince her to come back or yell at her for doing something this stupid, so the brunette girl decided to not argue with the original. Instead, Emily reached over and placed her cell phone into the palm of Elijah's hand.

The original vampire gave the human doppelganger a small nod to show his thanks before he placed the device into the pocket of his ruined suit - not the one with the empty blood bag. Elijah couldn't help but look down at his bloody and holey suit while he was doing so in disgust. The original silently shook his head before he glanced up to the human girl and inquired, "would you happen to know a tailor?"

Emily let out a small chuckle in amusement as she had seen the look of disgust on the original's face from the condition of his suit before she assured the vampire, "I'm sure Mrs. Lockwood has something." The Gilbert girl figured since the mayor was dead and Mrs. Lockwood would have some spare suits in the house - along with the fact that it was the perfect place to have a much needed chat with the original.

The human doppelganger nodded her head back towards Damon's blue Camaro before she turned around and headed to the drivers seat. The Gilbert girl waited until Elijah was in the passenger seat before she started up the vehicle and headed towards the Lockwood mansion. Emily aimlessly tapped her point finger against the steering wheel as she drove through the quiet town of Mystic Falls.

Emily wanted to continue their talk from earlier about Katherine before they had been interrupted by her cell phone but the human girl figured that the conversation could wait until they were at the Lockwood mansion as she knew it was going to be a long talk. So instead, the Gilbert girl took a quick glance over to Elijah before she informed him, "Klaus finally showed himself last night."

The original vampire slowly turned his head so he was looking at the side of the human doppelganger's face before he released a silent sigh. "So he's actually here?" Elijah questioned as he remembered how Emily mentioned that Klaus had tried to kill her best friend - the Bennett witch.

Emily nodded her head before she mumbled with a tone of bitterness in her voice, "yeah, he is." The Gilbert girl released a heavy sigh as she remembered what happened last night before she explained to the original about what happened, "we didn't know at first until he revealed himself while in Alaric's body."

Elijah released an emotionless chuckle before he commented with his own tone of bitterness, "of course he has." The original vampire stayed silent for a moment before he continued when he noticed the confused expression on the human doppelganger's face, "it was one of his favorite tricks."

The Gilbert girl remembered the time when the original vampire told her how he used to be in Klaus' inner circle so she inquired, "do you know what his next move is going to be, then?" Emily took another quick glance over to Elijah before she stated, "it seems like you are the only one around that knows anything about him."

The original vampire silently nodded his head and muttered as he affirmed what Emily thought, "yes, I do." Elijah released a heavy sigh as he recalled the past with the hybrid before he was swiftly pulled into an old memory and he began to describe how close he really was to Klaus to the human doppelganger.

* * *

 **ENGLAND 1492**

 _The party was still in full swing as the vampire, Elijah, walked through all of the laughing and smiling human residents with the twin sisters, Katerina and Darina, along with the older woman, Maria, following closely behind like a protective angel. They were enjoying the festivities of the party as well before the younger twin grew curious about something. "So, where is this mysterious host I've heard so much about?" Katerina inquired as she glanced up to the tall man._

 _"Yes," Darina murmured as she was also curious like her sister was since they still haven't spotted the birthday man before she commented politely with her signature soft smile playing on her lips, "Trevor has spoke great things about Mr. Mystery."_

 _The original vampire released a small chuckle before he told the two sisters, "fashionably late." Elijah leaned his body towards the green eyed human on his left before he whispered, "he likes to make an entrance." The original vampire then straightened up his body and tried to find the man of the hour before he finally spotted Klaus slowly walking down the large staircase. "Ah, there he is now," Elijah murmured as he pointed towards the hybrid._

 _The younger twin was the one who was most curious about the man of the party, so Katerina quickly searched around the room for someone that she hadn't seen before. However, before Katerina could finally spot the face of Klaus through the back of the room, she was surprised when she noticed a very attractive man standing in front of her._

 _Elijah quietly chuckled when he noticed the younger girl jump at the arrival of Klaus before he faced the three females beside her and began, "Darina, Katerina, Maria." The brown eyed vampire then pointed towards the guest of honor before he continued, "may I introduce you to Lord Niklaus."_

 _The older sister was the first one to act when she had noticed the starstruck expression on Katerina's face as she took a step forward before she held onto her dress and curtsied. "It is nice to finally meet the gracious host," Darina politely uttered with one of her bright smiles adoring her lips._

 _Klaus nodded his head as he accepted the praise and gave the young human a small smile before he told Darina, "thank you for joining us this evening." The hybrid then quickly turned his attention onto the one that gained his affections the moment that he saw her - Katerina. The blue eyed man softly grabbed ahold of Katerina's hand and kissed the back of it before he exclaimed with a wide grin, "Niklaus is the name my father gave me. Please call me Klaus."_

* * *

 **LOCKWOOD MANSION**

It took only a couple of minutes after the original vampire's story about the small detail of how well he knew the hybrid before the human doppelganger pulled in front of the very large white house that is the Lockwood household. Emily and Elijah both silently exited out of the blue Camaro before they walked up the brick stairs. The human girl was the one who rang the doorbell before they patiently waited for the Lockwood woman to greet them.

The aforementioned woman happened to be close to the front door so it only took Carol a minute in a half to open the door. "Emily, darling," the Lockwood woman exclaimed when she noticed her son's best friend. Carol gave the young girl a bright smile before she murmured, "it's so good to see you." However, though, before the older woman could ask Emily what she was doing here this early in the morning, Carol finally noticed Elijah and his ruined clothes. "Oh, my!" Carol gasped before she asked in concern, "what happened?"

The original vampire glanced down at his suit with disgust, once again, before Elijah explained to the older woman in the simplest of forms, "I've had a bit of an incident, Carol." The honey brown eyed vampire gave the mayor a friendly smile before he murmured, "I'm hoping you could help."

The Lockwood woman shot the brunette man a small, apologetic smile as she did want to help him out but she was already running late when she should have left the house over five minutes ago. "I would love to," Carol began before she told Elijah, "but I'm on my way to a meeting, so I -"

However, though, before the Lockwood woman could even finish her sentence, the original vampire interrupted the mayor as he moved closer to the edge of the front door. Elijah gave the older woman friendly smile before he connected their eyes together and compelled Carol, "it won't take but a minute of your time."

The mayor of Mystic Falls immediately smiled brightly at the brunette man in front of her before she agreed in a murmur, thanks to the compulsion from the original vampire, "of course. Anything you need."

Elijah gave the older woman a polite smile when the mayor took a step back and allowed him and the human doppelganger to enter the Lockwood mansion before he murmured, "thank you." The original vampire followed after the woman until they were standing right by the staircase before Elijah uttered as he glanced down at his ruined suit, "well first things first. I'm going to need a change of clothing."

Carol silently nodded her head in understanding before she suggested, "well, we can try one of my husband's suits." The newest mayor pointed her right hand up towards the second layer of the large house as she commented, "I haven't had the chance to box them up yet."

The original vampire gave the Lockwood woman another smile as he commented in agreement, "wonderful."

"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood," the human doppelganger quickly added as she showed her praise to her best friend's mother before she watched the mayor walk up the staircase. Emily waited until she couldn't see the brunette woman any longer before she turned her attention onto Elijah with a raised eyebrow. "You know you could have just asked," the green eyed girl stated before she teased, "I am the darling child after all."

The original vampire and the human doppelganger shared a quick chuckle together for a moment before the foyer of the Lockwood mansion grew silent. There was something else that Emily was curious about, so she twitched her head to the side before she inquired, "how did you know she wasn't on vervain?" The human girl shook her head with a low whistle before she murmured, "that could have backfired on you."

Elijah nodded his head in agreement before he explained, "it could have but I got her off it." The original vampire paused as he shot Emily a small smirk before he continued, "right before your bodyguards killed me. Twice." Elijah gave the frozen girl a small, amused smile and murmured, "now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be down in a moment," before the original vampire headed upstairs to finally get out of his ruined suit.

The Gilbert girl shook her head with a heavy sigh once the original vampire was out of sight. Emily did feel bad about having killed Elijah when she had always believed that he could help her but there had been no way around it when her family and friends were all against the idea of Elijah helping. However, Emily knew there wasn't anything that she could do now, so she decided to busy herself as she waited for Elijah.

The human doppelganger glanced around the empty Lockwood mansion for a moment from her stance by the stairs before Emily headed into the kitchen. _I need my morning coffee,_ Emily thought since she didn't have the chance to have any this morning. The human girl immediately smiled happily when she saw there was still some in the coffee machine, so she quickly poured her a glass with a plain white mug before she mixed in a bit of sugar and milk.

Emily took a large gulp of the heavenly mixture before she released sigh of relief now that she had some caffeine in her system. "That's the spot," the human girl murmured to herself after she took another gulp of the warm coffee before she slowly made her way back towards the staircase. However, though, when Emily passed the living room, she couldn't help but notice a decanter of bourbon sitting on the small table by the couch.

The Gilbert girl glanced up to the staircase for a second but when she didn't hear anyone coming, Emily grabbed the decanter before she poured a little bit of the bourbon into her coffee. "I'm probably going to need it," the human doppelganger mumbled as she could only imagine what she and Elijah would need to talk about.

Emily released a heavy sigh as she walked over to a large window that overlooked the famous Lockwood rose garden with the thought of everything that has happened lately and will happen. The human girl felt like she was just mentally exhausted times a trillion after what happened last night with Bonnie. The last thing she wanted was someone to get hurt because Klaus wanted her. That was the main reason why she woke Elijah up from his temporarily death. Emily couldn't stand the thought of someone who she cares about getting injured. It absolutely crushes her soul to know that Klaus was only doing that to get to her, so Emily knew her last chance in protecting her loved ones was Elijah from what she read from Katherine.

The human doppelganger's running and anxious thoughts were soon interrupted when she heard a pair of shoes lightly hitting the wooden staircase of the Lockwood mansion. Emily swiftly turned away from the rose garden when she heard the arrival of someone before she lightly smiled when she saw it was the original vampire. The Gilbert girl silently crossed the living room until she was standing in front of the now well dressed vampire before she complimented, "you look very Elijah-like."

The aforementioned original vampire let out a small chuckle as he stared down into Emily's green eyes with a slight smile pulling on his lips before he murmured in amusement, "thank you." Elijah then swiftly grew serious before the human girl could even blink as he moved towards the couch in the living room and took a guess as he uttered, "I assume that the Martin witches are no longer with us."

Emily shook her head as she settled herself onto a leather chair across from the original vampire before she mumbled, "nope." The human girl placed her warm concoction of coffee and bourbon onto her left knee before she explained with a emotionless chuckle, "papa Martin sorta went crazy and tried to kill me after he realized you weren't around anymore."

The original vampire nodded his head once as he murmured, "ah." Elijah figured something like that would have happened once he disappeared thanks to his unfortunate death since Jonas had only ever talked about getting his daughter back. "And how about Katerina?" The original vampire continued after a moment as he tried to figure out all what happened after his death, "she would have been released from my compulsion when I died."

The Gilbert girl bit down on her bottom lip before she stated, "Klaus has her." Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders as she remembered what the doppelganger had written in the letter about how she didn't know if they would ever see each other again now that Klaus has her before she commented, "but I think she may be dead."

Elijah let a half smirk lift onto his lips as he murmured, "I doubt that." The original vampire slightly shook his head as he explained, "not Klaus' style." Elijah leaned back onto the couch before he added when he noticed the confused expression on the human doppelganger's face, "death would be too easy for Katerina after what she did."

Emily couldn't help but furrow her brows as she stared across at the original vampire. "Why go through all the trouble of punishing Katherine when you're real focus has always been about killing Klaus?" The human doppelganger curiously inquired. Emily would think that the whole Katherine problem would be a small achievement verses getting rid of the dangerous hybrid.

"I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay," the original vampire stated with a hint of anger shining throughout his honey brown eyes and his voice. Elijah then cleared his throat to get rid of the pain and anger he felt towards Katherine from what happened back then before he softly murmured as he was pulled into another old memory, "there was a time... I'd have done anything for Klaus."

* * *

 **ENGLAND 1492**

 _The party was still in full swing for the guest of honor; Lord Niklaus. However, the birthday man was currently occupied with the newest arrivals in England; Darina, Maria, and most importantly - Katerina. The three women and the two original vampires were slowly strolling through the roaring party before Klaus glanced down to the woman beside him before he inquired, "from where have you and your sister come, Katerina?"_

 _The youngest twin couldn't help the small blush that rose onto her cheeks from the attractive man beside her. Katerina had never really got much attention from men when she was growing up in her homeland, so she was quite nervous around Klaus. The brown eyed girl took a quick glance over to her sister for help but when Darina nodded her head to tell her to speak, Katerina stuttered out, "w-we're new to town, my lord."_

 _Darina, the always protective sister, squeezed Katerina's hand before she shot the guest of honor a polite smile. "We came from Bulgaria, my lord," the oldest twin murmured as she helped out her sister. Darina knew that they needed to keep a solid story for coming to England since Katerina was disowned by their father for having a child. Darina wanted to keep her younger twin safe and help her start her new life, so she would gladly answer every question in the world for Katerina._

 _The brown eyed original vampire couldn't help but want to speak directly to the oldest sister since the moment he saw her, so Elijah settled his gaze onto Darina before he commented with a soft smile playing on his lips, "your homeland is quite beautiful if I do say myself."_

 _Darina's attention was quickly switched onto the original vampire on her left side instead of on her sister as a bright smile immediately pulled onto her lips at the compliment about her homeland. "Thank you, Elijah," the green eyed girl gently murmured. Darina took great pride in her home of Bulgaria, so it touched her very much to hear someone compliment her homeland._

 _While the oldest twin sister and the brown eyed original vampire continued to gaze at one another with smiles shining across their faces, the hybrid shot the younger girl a slight smirk as he planned his surprise. Klaus took a step closer to the young girl before he murmured in her mother tongue, "zdravei, Katerina."_

 _The younger twin was instantly surprised, in the greatest way, when she heard the familiar and smooth sound of the language from Bulgaria. It also surprised Katerina how much she missed hearing it - other than when she, Maria, and her sister spoke to each other in private. Katerina found happiness when hearing it come from Klaus' mouth as she released a very cheerful giggle as she stared across at the attractive man before she softly complimented, "very good."_

 _The hybrid grinned right across at the smiling younger girl when she finally opened up from her shy self. Klaus continued to stare at the human for a minute or two with the same smile shining across their faces before Klaus turned his attention onto Elijah and Darina. "Do you mind brother?" Klaus inquired before he asked the older sister, "would you mind if I stole a moment of your sister's time?"_

 _While the oldest Petrova girl shook her head and shot her twin a small smile as Darina wanted her sister to feel a sense of normalcy again after losing her child, the brown eyed original vampire told his brother as he shook his head, "no, not at all." Elijah glanced down at the girl beside him, the older sister, before he softly murmured, "I think I will have something that will hold all of my attention." The original vampire kept his gaze locked onto Darina as they continued to smile at one another before he murmured to the hybrid, "happy birthday, brother."_

* * *

 **LOCKWOOD MANSION**

The original vampire had watched and waited for the human doppelganger to speak after he had explained why he would do anything for Klaus. However, though, when a whole three minutes had passed and the Gilbert girl still hadn't spoke, Elijah lightly cleared his throat before he stated a small amused smile playing on his lips, "Klaus is my brother."

Emily looked over to the original vampire instead of gazing into her now empty coffee and bourbon mug before she mumbled, "oh, I heard you." The brunette girl shook her head in disbelief as she tried to wrap her mind around what Elijah had just told her before she simply muttered, "holy crap." The thought of Elijah and Klaus being siblings had just never crossed Emily's mind.

Emily felt like everything that they thought they knew about Klaus was not even close to being right. She honestly didn't know which way was up at this point, so the human girl figured she would start at the beginning and work her way up until things started to make sense again. Emily stayed silent for a couple of minutes as she tried to remember all of what Rose and Katherine had told her before the Gilbert girl uttered with a raised eyebrow, "I'm guessing the originals aren't just a special group of vampires. It's a family of originals, right?"

The original vampire gave the human girl a small smile as he nodded his head and murmured, "nicely deduced." Elijah slowly stood up from the couch and walked over to a mirror with a gold trimming surrounding it before he fixed his suit while he explained to the human doppelganger, "my father was a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe. Our mother bore seven children."

The Gilbert girl placed her empty mug down onto the coffee table in front of her before she swiftly stood up from the leather chair. Emily felt like she was hanging by a leaf as she tried to understand the information Elijah was telling her. "I know normal vampires are all humans once upon of time," the Gilbert girl commented before she inquired, "but is that the same for originals? Was your family human at some point?"

Elijah slowly turned his body around once he was pleased with his suit before he faced the human girl with a small nod of his head. "Our whole family was," the original vampire affirmed what the human girl thought. Elijah released a small sigh at the thought of the history of his family before he stated, "our origin as vampires is a very long story, Emily. But the one thing you need to know is that we are the oldest vampires in the world. We are the original family and from us, all vampires were created."

Emily silently nodded her head in understanding as she remembered Rose mentioning that once upon of time. However, the one thing that the human girl still couldn't wrap her head around was the fact about why Elijah would want to kill the hybrid. Emily couldn't even imagine coming up with a plan to kill Elena or Jeremy. They are her life and it will kill her to do that, so Emily guessed that something bad happened between Klaus and Elijah. "What did Klaus do for you to hate him this badly to want to end his life?" The human doppelganger inquired as she just still didn't understand that aspect after learning that they are brothers.

"Klaus has done many horrible things in our lifetime," Elijah began in a low murmur before he uttered with zero emotion in his voice, "but he crossed the line when he killed the love of my life." The original vampire briefly stared into Emily's bright green eyes that reminded him so much of Darina's before he quickly cleared his throat and moved on away from the subject that he hated speaking about. "Anyways, so as you've seen, nothing call kill an original," Elijah stated as he slowly walked around the living room.

Emily so wanted to go back onto the topic of Darina since she knew that was who Elijah was talking about but she knew this wasn't the time - at least not right now. The Gilbert girl decided that her relationship with the original and the doppelganger connection could wait until she actually learned about how Elijah was going to be able to help. So, instead of asking anything about Darina, the human doppelganger nodded her head to let Elijah know that she was following along.

"Not sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite can kill us," Elijah continued with this story as he tried to not think about Darina. The original vampire continued to slowly walk around the Lockwood mansion with Emily beside him before he stated, "there is only the wood from one tree that could hurt us. A tree my family made sure burned."

"The white ash from the dagger comes from that tree, right?" The human doppelganger curiously inquired as she glanced up into Elijah's honey brown irises. Emily didn't really know all that much about the dagger and ash - besides what she shortly read in Johnathan Gilbert's journal at the lake house. Emily only knew about what happened in the eighteen hundreds - not when the dagger was invented before all the other vampires.

"Yes," Elijah, once again, affirmed what the human girl thought. The original vampire shook his head as he explained why there was something to kill an original to begin with, "the witches wouldn't allow anything truly immortal to walk the Earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance."

"That makes sense," Emily mumbled, mostly to herself, as she knew witches are all about keeping order to the Earth from what she had seen from Bonnie and briefly from Grams. However, though, the thought of witches immediately reminded the human girl about what she had brought with her, so she quickly walked back towards the couch - where she had left her black purse. "Speaking of witches," Emily murmured to the now curious original before she pulled out the lilac envelope and handed it over to Elijah.

Emily waited until the original vampire pulled out the letter from the envelope and began to read it before she stated as she anxiously crossed her arms over her chest, "Katherine mentioned that Maria Radkova has a way to help me and that you are one of the few people who know about the plan." Emily was praying right now that Elijah knew what the hell that she was talking about or everything would be screwed.

Elijah scanned his brown eyes over the short letter before he silently nodded his head. "I do indeed know what Maria had planned out," the original vampire told Emily once he handed over the letter from the Petrova doppelganger. "Maria called to me about sixty or so years after that party when I introduced Klaus to the Petrova twins," Elijah stated before he was immediately pulled into that very memory.

* * *

 **BULGARIA 1552**

 _The original vampire slowly glanced around him in confusion as he stood in the middle of the woods. Elijah only remembered going to his room in France when suddenly he appeared in the middle of nowhere. Elijah knew it had to be some witch wanting his attention, so the original vampire curiously followed a trail of rocks along with the sound of someone coughing._

 _It took Elijah only a few short minutes until he found himself in front of a small and old cottage. The original vampire used is supernatural hearing but when he only heard one, unsteady, heartbeat, Elijah slowly pushed himself into the cottage. Elijah had pictured many things - an angry witch from his past, or even a trap waiting for him - however what he saw was something he did not expect - a very ill Maria Radkova lying on her deathbed._

 _"Maria," the original vampire quietly murmured as he slowly moved further into the cottage. Elijah glanced around the small building with confusion shining throughout his honey brown eyes as he still didn't understand what was going on before he asked the woman, "what am I doing here?"_

 _The old woman in her early eighties gave the original vampire a slight smile from seeing a familiar face from her prime years before she quietly murmured through her chapped lips, "I called because..." However, though, before Maria could even finish a sentence, she was overcome by a heavy cough. The old woman took her time as she tried to gain her breathing before she told the original vampire, "I have a favor I need from you."_

 _Elijah continued to look at the old woman with confusion still shining all over his face - even after Maria had spoken. The original vampire didn't understand why the Radkova witch had called for him after everything that had happened back in the fourteen hundreds. Maria had swore that she would find a way to kill him and Klaus if she ever saw them again after the death of Darina. However, before Elijah could even ask about the favor, the old woman interrupted him when she pointed towards something._

 _Maria waited until the original vampire's brown irises could see through her dark cottage while she continued to shakily point at a small glass vial that held a goldish colored substance. "That is my powers," the old woman told Elijah once she knew that the original vampire was staring at what she was pointing towards._

 _Elijah swiftly turned his head back towards the old woman when he heard what was inside of the vial. "Why are you giving them up?" The original vampire inquired with his brows deeply furrowed. Elijah had only heard of a few instances where a witch would have their powers removed but it was usually when they betrayed their coven._

 _Maria gave the original vampire a smile filled of sadness and equally amount of happiness before she murmured, "I made a promise to Darina over sixty years ago to protect her and I failed." The old woman shook her head before she changed her statement, "we failed to keep her alive." Maria briefly closed her brown eyes when she could feel pain enter her bones before she told the original vampire, "one of the last spells I did, though, was speak to Darina on the other side and this was her one wish. She wants her future doppelganger to be safe from Klaus."_

 _The ill woman glanced over to the vial as she murmured, "and the only way I can actually fulfill that promise is by giving up my powers to the next doppelganger." Maria slowly moved her brown irises back to Elijah before she lightly shrugged her shoulders and explained why she was doing this, "I'm dying as you could tell. I only have a few months left and I want to spend the rest of my days with my grandchildren."_

 _Elijah slowly nodded his head in understanding as he took in the Radkova witch's words before he grew curious. "Do you know when the next doppelganger will appear?" The original vampire inquired. Elijah had only met one other doppelganger - Tatia - but he wasn't sure if there was a rule book in when a certain doppelganger would appear again._

 _The ill woman shook her head with a scratchy and deep sigh before she muttered, "I've been too weak for too long so I couldn't see when the next doppelganger would show." Maria then shot the original vampire a small smile before she continued in a soft voice, "but I trust that you will do what I'm requesting when the time comes - for Darina."_

 _The original vampire briefly glanced away from the ill woman when she mentioned Darina. It was still fresh in Elijah's mind - despite it had been over sixty years since her death. Elijah still loved and cared deeply for the deceased girl, so it still affected him by hearing about her. However, Elijah knew he couldn't think about Darina too much right now and get lost in their happy memories together, so he cleared his throat and looked back over to Maria before he inquired as he focused on why he was here, "how do you know the doppelganger will live?"_

 _The ill woman carefully moved her body so she was more comfortable on her small cot with her frail back leaning against the wall before she began, "the Radkova witches - or you may know us as the Protectors of the Innocence - were one of the first witches and one of the strongest to exist."_

 _Elijah nodded his head as he remembered hearing that name centuries ago. "My mother used to tell my siblings and I the stories of the Protectors of the Innocence," the original vampire commented before he curiously wondered, "were the Protectors of the Innocence apart of their own coven or was it just the Radkova's?" Elijah never really knew the true origin of the Protectors of the Innocence since his mother liked to use darker magic when he was growing up._

 _"The Radkova coven, my ancestors, came up with the idea of the Protectors of the Innocence when they realized there were other creatures in the night," Maria began the story of how the Protectors of the Innocence became to exist. "My mother used to tell me this story when I was a little girl," the ill woman stated before she lightly shook her head and mumbled, "my mind isn't as strong as it used to be but if my memory serves me right, the story was about a small child that was attacked by a werewolf in our village. The Radkova coven felt helpless with the powers that they had and they felt like they needed to do something."_

 _"My ancestors looked through all of their journals and grimoires before they finally found the location of their powers," Maria continued with the story of the Protectors of the Innocence. "Once they found the location, my ancestors visited the village of Душите на Земята - where they learnt everything there was to know about being a witch," the ill woman explained, "the Radkova coven spent three years in the village until they knew every spell and unlocked powers that witches could only dream about having."_

 _"After my ancestors mastered the true form of a witch, they began to travel the world to different covens that would listen and taught them that witches didn't have to stand for something evil," Maria uttered as she explained what happened after her ancestors had trained with the masters of magic, "my ancestors made sure to explain that witches were made to be a safe haven for the people of Earth, so they taught all the covens that they could about their way and trained the ones that believed in their cause to gain powers that no other witch has ever seen before to be able to protect the innocent and keep the Earth balanced."_

 _The original vampire couldn't help but to stand in the middle of the cottage with a surprised expression. Elijah had only known that the Protectors of the Innocence were witches that had more powers than a normal witch and much more stronger. He had never known about how they became to exist so it was quite amazing to hear it from someone that was in the coven that built up the Protectors of the Innocence._

 _Elijah, however, did know that there wasn't a lot of Protectors of the Innocence left alive - thanks to his brother. The brown eyed original remembered right after Darina had died that Klaus sent a message through the supernatural community to get rid of all of the Protectors of the Innocence so what Maria did for Darina could never happen again and stop him from getting rid of his hybrid curse._

 _"You mentioned I would be able to help the new Petrova doppelganger," Elijah stated once he got out of his thoughts before he curiously inquired as he focused back on the reason why he was in front of the ill woman, "how will I be able to help?"_

 _Maria pointed back over to the vial as she explained, "the doppelganger will have to drink that to get my witch powers." The ill woman then raised one of fragile fingers as she uttered, "but for the powers to be activated, the doppelganger will have to die within twenty-four hours of drinking it for the powers to be transferred over." Maria lightly shrugged her shoulders before she suggested, "I believe the sacrifice would be the perfect time to give the doppelganger the vial."_

 _Elijah silently nodded his head as he absorbed the information about how he was supposed to help the future doppelganger. "So, Klaus will think that the sacrifice actually worked with the doppelganger dead?" The original vampire inquired as he made sure that he was understanding the plan as he didn't want to disappoint Darina when he couldn't even keep her alive._

 _"Correct," Maria murmured as she affirmed what the original vampire thought. "Klaus will be long gone by the time the doppelganger wakes," the ill woman explained before she stated, "and when she does wake, she will be the new Radkova witch."_

 _The original vampire stared across at the confident but ill woman as he mentally swore that he was not going to fail. Elijah wanted to at least do something for Darina since he didn't have the chance to protect her sixty years ago. The original vampire made a silent promise to the love of his life that he would do everything he could to protect her doppelganger before Elijah gave the ill woman a strong nod and asked with complete determination, "what do you need me to do?"_

* * *

 **LOCKWOOD MANSION**

"Holy shit," was the only thing that the Gilbert girl could think of to say after she listened to the original vampire's tale. Emily honestly couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that Maria Radkova's way of helping her was to turn her into a witch. That was the last thing on Earth the human girl was expecting. Emily didn't even know how she was supposed to feel or act, so she could only quietly mumble, "wow. A witch."

Elijah silently nodded his head as he let the human girl absorb all of the information that he gave her about Maria's plan to save her. "I know it is a lot to take in but it will work," the original vampire assured the human doppelganger as he could practically see the anxiety running through her mind.

Emily released a humorless chuckle and shook her head as she still tried to understand what the hell was happening right now. The human girl didn't even know how this would all work since she never heard a witch transferring her powers to someone else, so Emily did what she does best and began her interrogation. "How would this go?" Emily inquired with her brows furrowed together, "wouldn't Maria still have to be living to do this?"

Elijah shook his head before he explained what Maria had told them all those years ago, "like I mentioned, Maria gave me the vial that holds her witch powers." The original vampire lightly shrugged his shoulders as he commented, "it's pretty straight forward. You just need to drink the vial within twenty-four hours of the full moon and you'll proceed with the sacrifice like planned."

"Klaus won't be able to tell that something's different about me?" The Gilbert girl inquired as she wanted to make sure that while she was finding a way to keep herself alive that her family and friends would still be safe from Klaus' wrath if something were to go wrong with this plan.

"You will still be human during the whole sacrifice up until Klaus kills you," the honey brown eyed original explained like Maria had told him. "If I know my brother as well as I do, he will be itching to kill once his curse has been lifted and he won't bother checking on you," Elijah uttered as he gave the worried human girl an assuring smile. Elijah had thought of every possibility there could be for something to go wrong and he always had a backup plan for each scenario. He was not going to fail this time around.

Emily slowly nodded her head while she bit down on her bottom lip. The human doppelganger couldn't help but to be still nervous about all of this, though. Emily trusted the original vampire but she was nervous that Klaus could unravel their plan like he did with Darina. "Are you sure Klaus won't figure it out again?" The Gilbert girl inquired as she just needed to be sure.

Elijah gave the human doppelganger a small smile along with a soft chuckle. The original vampire could tell that Emily was still anxious about the plan, so Elijah stood up from the couch and moved to sit on the coffee table in front of the human girl. Elijah lightly placed his hand onto Emily's legging-clad knee and gave it a squeeze before he assured her, "I made a mistake in the past when it came to protecting the Petrova doppelganger, but I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you." Elijah slowly brought his fingers to the human girl's chin and gently rubbed the side of her face before he whispered, "I will make sure you make it out alive if it is the last thing I ever do."

Emily stared directly into the original vampire's honey brown eyes that were completely sincere before she softly murmured, "I trust you." The Gilbert girl knew that it was only because of the doppelganger connection that she had but Emily really did believe that Elijah would get her through the sacrifice.

Emily also knew this would be her only chance to learn about the doppelganger connection now that it was on her mind and from the fact that the original vampire was actually giving her answers instead of brushing them off, so the human girl opened her mouth and began, "you mentioned one time that you would explain it all but what is this doppelganger connection all abou-"

However, though, before the human doppelganger could complete her sentence, she was soon interrupted when she heard her cell phone loudly vibrating in Elijah's jacket pocket now that they were so close together. "Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing," Elijah mumbled as he reached into his clean navy blue suit pocket and pulled out the human girl's device. The original vampire pushed his hand towards Emily as he told her, "answer it before I end up breaking it."

Emily released a small chuckle for the first time all morning as she accepted the cell phone. "I'll make it quick," the Gilbert girl promised as she didn't want to stop talking when she was finally getting answers. Emily glanced down at her device to see who was calling her as she slowly stood up from the leather chair before she immediately furrowed her brows when she saw it was her twin sister. Emily was concerned that it was Elena calling since she figured Stefan would have told her twin that she needed time with Elijah without them bothering her.

Emily quickly accepted the call as she walked towards the window that overlooked the rose garden before she brought her cell phone to her and hurriedly questioned, "Lena, is everything okay?"

"I-It's Jenna," the Gilbert vampire mumbled as she felt her undead heart practically jumping out of her chest.

"Wait, what?" Emily quickly asked in confusion as she didn't understand what was going on. "Elena, what happened?" The human girl continued to ask as her anxiety skyrocketed as the seconds ticked by.

"It was Klaus," the Gilbert vampire hurriedly told her twin sister in a panicking voice. "He showed up at the house in Ric's body," Elena explained before she mumbled, "he told Jenna about everything." The brunette supernatural being shook her head as she anxiously ran her fingers through her thin, long hair before she continued, "I-I don't know what to do, Emmie. I-I don't know how to help Jenna. I'm not like you."

"Hey, hey, hey," the human doppelganger cooed to her twin sister before she softly murmured, "I need you to take a deep breath." Emily knew her twin was freaking out right now with everything going on with the sacrifice and now Jenna - hell, Emily was full on about to have a panic attack at the thought of Klaus targeting another one of her loved ones but she knew that she needed to be strong for people like her sister.

The Gilbert girl waited until she didn't hear Elena's fast breathing before she softly murmured, "I'm already on my way. We'll handle this and we'll get Jenna to understand, alright?" Emily waited until she heard her twin sister mumble a quiet okay before she told Elena, "just make sure Jenna is calm and we'll talk her through it all, I promise."

The human doppelganger released a small sigh when she ended the call and placed her cell phone into her leather jacket. _If it's not one thing, it's another,_ Emily thought bitterly. The Gilbert girl just felt like everything was just piling up one another and made Emily worry for everyone around her. Emily knew Maria's plan would either work or it wouldn't - and she didn't mind which one - but it pained her to know Klaus was targeting her loved ones.

"Is everything alright?" The original vampire inquired as he stared at the practically shaking back of the human doppelganger for about three whole minutes of silence. Elijah had been kind enough to not use his supernatural hearing to give Emily some privacy but now he wished he had.

Emily took a silent deep breath as she bit down on her bottom lip to hold in her emotions before she slowly turned around and faced the original - who was standing directly in front of her. "Klaus went after someone else," the human girl mumbled before she murmured the name of the person who was now caught in the cross hairs, "Jenna." The Gilbert girl shook her head with an exhausted expression covering her face before she told Elijah with an emotionless chuckle, "I need to go handle your brother's mess."

Elijah quickly followed after the human doppelganger as she grabbed her black purse and headed for the front door of the Lockwood mansion. "I can't promise I will be here when you get back if you leave," the original vampire told Emily as he followed closely behind the human girl.

"Please, Elijah," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she turned around and faced the original vampire after she had opened the large wooden door. Emily released a heavy sigh before she stated, "Jenna is one of the most important people in my life. I need to make sure she is okay." The human doppelganger anxiously looked into Elijah's honey brown eyes before she added to hopefully convince the original that she wasn't bailing on him, "I will be back, I promise. We still have a lot to discuss about Maria's plan and don't think I forgot about this connection that you still need to explain."

The original vampire released a small chuckle at the always curious human doppelganger before he slowly nodded his head. "Alright," Elijah murmured in agreement before he stated, "we will continue this conversation when you get back."

The Gilbert girl immediately released a sigh of relief when the original vampire agreed to still be here when she got back. Emily unconsciously reached across and gave Elijah's hand a tight squeeze before she whispered with complete honesty, "thank you, Elijah." The human doppelganger gave the original a small smile as she gave his hand one last squeeze before she swiftly turned around and headed down the stairs of the Lockwood estate.

Emily hurriedly started up Damon's blue Camaro as quickly as she could before she swiftly headed down the road towards the boarding house with her mind filled with so many thoughts that Emily felt like her head was going to explode. It was a lot for the human girl to accept and comprehend.

The whole thing about her being the next Radkova witch was just crazy to even think about. Emily has never even thought about becoming something other than human - even while she's been with her vampire boyfriend. It was a lot to take in right now for the Gilbert girl - especially when she didn't exactly have a choice if she wanted to live through the sacrifice. Emily knew there was always the vampire route but she just couldn't picture herself living that life. Emily didn't think that she would be happy as a vampire.

The human doppelganger knew that the only choice that would make sense for her would be the witch one. However, just the thought I becoming a witch caused Emily's mind turn into scrambled eggs. Emily didn't have a problem with witches. It was just a lot to take in when it never occurred to her that this was how Katherine had tried to help. Emily honestly couldn't even wrap her head around becoming a witch with everything else going on.

The whole ordeal that recently happened with her aunt Jenna and the dangerous hybrid took up most of Emily's thoughts that weren't occupied with turning into a witch. Emily knew that Klaus didn't actually hurt her aunt - Elena would have definitely called her crying - so she knew it wasn't injury-worth serious. The Gilbert girl was still worried, though. The fact that Klaus had told Jenna about vampires was definitely a problem that they didn't need right now.

Emily hated herself that she couldn't be there for her aunt, someone who was like her best friend, when she found out. The human girl could only imagine how stressed and scared Jenna had to be after knowing the existence of vampires - especially when her niece is one. Emily just hoped as she drove towards the Salvatore boarding house that she and Elena could get their aunt to understand what was happening in their not so normal hometown.

The thought of protecting Jenna and making sure that she was safe from Klaus was honestly the only thing on the human doppelganger's mind. Emily knew that she should probably be thinking about Maria's plan and what will happen when she turns into a witch, but Emily only cared about making sure that her aunt was going to be okay. Emily just couldn't find it in herself to be selfish right now with her problems and the sacrifice like Katherine told her to do in the letter when her loved ones are in the middle with a dangerous hybrid.


	63. The One When Jenna Finds Out

Emily didn't waste anytime as soon as she pulled into the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house before she jogged up the large porch and hurriedly pushed open the front door. The human doppelganger didn't get the chance to go searching for her aunt through the boarding house like she had wanted because as soon as she stepped over the threshold, Emily was placed into a tight hug by her twin sister.

"Thank God you're here," the Gilbert vampire mumbled breathlessly into her twin sister's chest with an added sigh of relief. Elena had been riddled with anxiety ever since she and Stefan had went over to the Gilbert house while Damon and Andie had done some research on Klaus - where they had seen the aforementioned hybrid with her aunt and Klaus had exposed hers and the Salvatore brothers secret identities. Elena tightened her hold that she had on her sister's waist as she remembered the terrified look that Jenna had gave her before she mumbled, "everything is all so screwed up, Emmie."

However, though, before the human doppelganger could ask her twin sister about what happened once they pulled away from each other, she was soon stopped when there was suddenly the sound of a swoosh of movement before she felt lips on hers. The younger Salvatore didn't care that he had just possibly ruined a moment between the two Gilbert girls as he pulled his girlfriend into a fierce and passionate kiss that was filled with all of his fears of losing her.

The kissing embrace between the Gilbert girl and the Salvatore vampire only lasted for about a minute or two before Stefan wrapped his arms tightly around Emily's shoulders as he brought her into his chest. Stefan breathed in the human girl's sweet scent that always calms him down before he murmured against Emily's temple, "hi."

It took a few moments for the human doppelganger to gain her barrings after the fast movements from her vampire boyfriend before she tilted her head up and placed a soft kiss onto Stefan's exposed collarbone. Emily knew that the younger Salvatore had been worried about her since she had been with Elijah all morning long, so the human girl stayed inside of his embrace as she gave him the time that he needed to see that she was okay before Emily mumbled back against Stefan's chest, "hi."

However, the calmness between the Gilbert girl and the Salvatore vampire didn't last as long as they would have liked - only about two full minutes - when Emily suddenly remembered what was going on and why she was at the boarding house right now. Emily had to force herself out of Stefan's tight embrace before she linked their fingers together as she knew Stefan just needed her touch right now. The human girl gave her boyfriend's hand a small squeeze before she glanced between the two vampires as she questioned, "where's Jenna?"

The Gilbert vampire released a heavy and emotional sigh before she mumbled as she pointed towards a pair of double doors, "she's in the study." Elena crossed her arms over her navy blue long sleeved shirt as she tiredly shook her head before she told her twin sister, "I tried to calm her down but I don't think it really helped much." The youngest vampire briefly closed her brown eyes as she mumbled with sadness all throughout her voice, "s-she's scared of me and probably hates me now after Klaus told her that I'm a vampire."

Emily released a small sigh as she watched the heartbreaking emotions flicker all over her twin sister's body as Elena tried to hold herself together from falling apart. "I know everything feels like like end of the Earth right now," the human girl stated before she gave Elena a soft smile and added, "but we're going to fix this like we always do. This is just a small setback, alright?"

Emily knew that their world was slowly cracking - even though she did try to assure her twin sister that everything would be okay. The human doppelganger wasn't even sure that everything would be okay but she knew that she needed to be the positive one and believe that they could fix everything like the whole sacrifice and Jenna situation since Elena looked like she was reaching her breaking point at this rate.

It just made Emily so upset that her aunt found out about the supernatural world from Klaus of all people. Emily would have liked to have kept her aunt out of their dangerous world forever but, sadly, she didn't get that option anymore. And to make matters even worse, if that was even possible, the hybrid told the strawberry blonde that one of her nieces is a vampire as well. Emily could only imagine what her aunt was going through right now.

The Gilbert vampire silently nodded her head as she trusted that her twin sister could figure this all out like Emily is always good at doing. Elena knew if anyone could talk Jenna through the supernatural world, it would most definitely be the last human Petrova doppelganger. "I-I just don't want her to hate me," Elena mumbled after a moment as that was what she was most afraid of happening ever since Klaus had exposed who she really is to her aunt Jenna.

"I'm like ninety-six percent sure that Jenna doesn't hate you," Emily assured her twin sister with a hint of joking in her voice as she tried to ease the tension before she stated in a serious voice when her sister didn't crack a smile like she usually would, "she's probably still scared after finding out that vampires are real."

The Gilbert girl shot her twin sister a pointed look as she recalled their own experience of knowing the existence of vampires. It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least with Elena being scared and Emily trying to keep her sister safe when she didn't know if she could trust either of the Salvatore brothers. "You remember what that was like when we first found out," Emily reminded the Gilbert vampire before she stated, "it's a lot to take in at one time."

Emily shot the youngest vampire a soft smile as she tried to help her sister calm down from her emotions before the human girl gently uttered some last minute comfort as she knew that she needed to speak to their aunt as soon as she could since there was an original waiting for her back at the Lockwood mansion, "we'll get through this, I promise."

The human doppelganger watched her twin sister's features soften by a tiny bit like she had hoped for from her assuring words before Emily turned her body around so she was back into her boyfriend's loving arms. Emily stood up on her tippy toes and placed a soft kiss onto Stefan's lips before she reminded the green eyed Salvatore, "I love you." The Gilbert girl knew that Stefan needed all the assurance that he could get right now with everything going to hell, so she hoped it helped Stefan relax his mind while she tried to handle this shit storm that the hybrid caused.

Emily gave her vampire boyfriend one last peck on the lips before she, once again, forced herself from Stefan's tight embrace and walked over to her twin sister. The human doppelganger squeezed the youngest vampire's shoulder as she stared into Elena's saddened brown eyes before she softly murmured, "everything's going to be okay." Emily then gave the two vampires one last assuring smile before she slowly headed towards the double doors of the study to confront their problem of the day.

Emily only took a short pause once she reached the doorknob as she took a deep breath and prepared herself for the emotional roller coaster that she was about to go through before she silently entered the study. "Hey, Jennie," the Gilbert girl softly greeted her aunt after she had closed the doors behind her before she cautiously approached her aunt as she tried to not frighten Jenna after what she had to experience with the dangerous hybrid.

The strawberry blonde woman slowly and shakily lifted her head from her hands from her spot on the leather couch before she stared at her second niece with tears shining throughout her hazel irises. Jenna stared across at the green eyed girl for a moment before she finally opened her mouth to say something but the only thing that would come out of the emotional woman's mouth was a loud and painful sob.

Emily's heart immediately broke at the sight of her usually confident and strong aunt. "Oh, Jenna," the human doppelganger mumbled in sadness before she walked over to the leather couch and took a seat beside her aunt - where she instantly pulled the sobbing strawberry blonde into her arms. "I'm so sorry," Emily apologized against her aunt's temple as she rocked Jenna back and forth.

The human doppelganger felt like this was her fault as she never ever wanted Jenna to have to go through the stress of knowing about vampires or any other supernatural creature for that matter. "I wish I could have protected you better," Emily mumbled as she squeezed her green irises closed as she believed that she could have done something, anything to stop this mess that Klaus created from happening. _Maybe if I would have went home last night or if I didn't try to see what Elijah knew..._ Emily mentally scolded herself as she went through all the things that she could have done differently to stop the pain that her aunt was now going through.

The strawberry blonde woman immediately let out a strangle of cries as she tightened her hold around Emily's waist before she muttered against her niece's leather jacket with a sniffle of tears falling down her warm and reddened cheeks, "I-I'm the one that's supposed to be protecting you guys."

Emily gently shook her head against her aunt's temple before she murmured, "this was on us - on me." The human doppelganger stroked the length of Jenna's strawberry blonde hair as she stated with sadness and disappointment trailing through her voice, "I didn't want you to find out about vampires and have you put into any danger. I didn't want you to get hurt. I didn't want any of this for you."

Emily hated that this was what her aunt's life was coming to. The only thing that the Sommers woman should worry about is her assignments from college and if she should order tacos or make lasagna for dinner. It definitely shouldn't be whether a vampire is going to kill her the next time that she leaves the house. Emily hated that Jeremy had to deal with this, too, now it was even worse when Jenna had been in the dark for so long.

Jenna immediately shivered when her oldest niece mentioned the word 'vampires' before she instantly tightened her hold onto Emily's waist once more. "V-Vampires are r-real," the strawberry blonde stuttered out as she squeezed her hazel eyes closed while she tried to forget what happened less than an hour ago with Alaric - or with this Klaus guy that Elena had tried to explain to her.

Emily slowly pulled herself out of Jenna's tight embrace at the mention of vampires as she remembered why she was comforting her aunt right now. The Gilbert girl grabbed ahold of one of Jenna's hand to offer her aunt some type of comfort as she gazed into her aunt's hazel irises before she murmured, "I know, I know." Emily rubbed the top of her aunt's hand with the pad of her thumb before she began, "I know Elena tried to explain everything to you, but..."

However, though, before the Gilbert girl could even begin to explain the supernatural world to Jenna like she had attended to do so, the strawberry blonde woman tightly squeezed her hazel eyes closed as she hurriedly shook her head before she whispered at the mention of her other niece, "I-I can't be around her. S-She's a vampire."

Emily couldn't help but to furrow her brows at her aunt's words - one because it saddened her to know that Jenna was thinking that and two because Emily knew her twin sister was most likely listening in to their conversation right now. "Elena is still the same girl that you watched grow up, Jenna," the human doppelganger immediately defended her twin sister to her aunt as she hoped and prayed that she could get her aunt to understand that she didn't need to be afraid of Elena.

"Not a single thing has changed about Elena except for her diet," Emily told her aunt before she joked to, hopefully, ease a little bit of the tension, "she'll still eat what fast food you will pick up for dinner." The Gilbert girl released a small sigh when Jenna only squeezed her hand before Emily continued to defend her twin, "Elena is still the same loving and smiling girl that he saw today, yesterday, and everyday before that."

The human doppelganger stared at the side of the strawberry blonde woman's face for a moment before she lightly shook her head and stated with complete confidence in her voice, "you don't have to be afraid of Elena - nor Stefan and Damon." The Gilbert girl shot her aunt a small smile as she reminded Jenna, "they are good and you know that deep down in your heart."

Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders as she stated, "not all vampires are bad." The human girl knew that she needed to make sure that her aunt understood what she was saying, so she lost her smile and stared directly into her aunt's hazel eyes as she added, "but the ones like Klaus are the ones that you need to be worried about and always on guard around. Those are the ones that I've been trying to protect you from."

Emily let the information settle into her aunt's mind for a moment before she gave Jenna's hand a small squeeze to gain her attention back after about a minute or so had passed. "Trust me when I say, you do not have to be afraid of Elena," the human doppelganger reminded her aunt once more as she needed Jenna to understand that.

Emily had seen what her best friend, Caroline Forbes, had gone through with the sheriff when she found out that Caroline was a vampire and the human girl did not want Elena have to go through that with Jenna. It was the worse outcome possible, so if Emily could somehow convince the strawberry blonde that Elena was still the same girl then she would do whatever she could.

Jenna shook her head as she mumbled while she stared at her and Emily's connected hands, "I don't know what to believe anymore." The strawberry blonde released a humorless laugh as she stated, "I thought I knew what was real but apparently I was wrong." Jenna looked up at her oldest niece after a moment of silence had passed between them before she asked with tears in her hazel eyes, "how am I supposed to trust her?"

Emily immediately knew that her aunt was talking Elena without even have to say her name. The Gilbert girl gave Jenna a small smile as she squeezed her aunt's hand before she gently uttered, "just like you have been doing." Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders when Jenna gave her a disbelief look before she murmured, "everything's just still fresh in your mind after finding out about vampires. It'll take time like it did with all of us but you will come to understand everything and you'll see that Elena is still the same girl that you've loved all our lives."

The strawberry blonde, once again, shook her head as she still couldn't believe the situation that she found herself in. "I-I just don't understand anything," Jenna confessed before she told her oldest niece with disappointment and shame in her voice from not giving Elena a chance, "E-Elena tried to explain it... But I literally closed the door in her face." Jenna had just been so scared around Elena after Alaric or Klaus told her that her niece that she had been taking care of was an evil creature in the night that she didn't even give the young vampire a chance to explain anything.

"I know," Emily softly uttered before she told her aunt as she gave Jenna's hand another squeeze, "but, hey, it's alright." The Gilbert girl could tell that her aunt felt bad about how she reacted around Elena, so she informed the strawberry blonde, "Elena knows that you're just handling things your own way." Emily shot the strawberry blonde a small smile before she assured her, "don't worry, she's not mad at you. Elena just wants you to know that she's here for you."

Emily knew that her aunt was confused about everything since Elena hadn't had the chance to really explain anything so the human doppelganger offered, "and if you want, I can explain anything and everything to you." The Gilbert girl lightly shook her head as she stated, "I don't want there to be anymore lies in our family." The biggest issue in their family had always been the supernatural world but now that Jenna was involved, Emily figured there was no reason to lie anymore as she wanted to make sure her aunt was always prepared.

Jenna looked up into her oldest niece's kind and soft green eyes at the suggestion for a few moments as she weighed her options before she finally nodded her head with a heavy sigh. "I know I'll probably regret this with a years worth of nightmares but I-I think I need to know about everything." Jenna knew - even though she didn't know what she was walking into - it would be better to know everything there was to know about vampires and whatever else her nieces and nephew were hiding from her.

Emily shot her aunt an assuring smile and squeezed her hand as she silently tried to tell the strawberry blonde that everything would be okay. "Alright," the Gilbert girl sighed before she began the story of vampires, "so, the origin of vampires all began with a family called the originals..." Emily then told her aunt everything that she knew about vampires starting with the pieces of information about the originals that she had gotten from Rose, Katherine, Darina, and Elijah before she moved on to the topic of doppelgangers.

The topic of doppelgangers took the Gilbert girl awhile to explain and a bit longer for Jenna to understand with knowing that there had been a girl with her youngest niece's face walking around Mystic Falls and that Emily used to have a doppelganger as well. Jenna had always thought doppelganger was a made up tale, so it was definitely shocking to know that she had spoken to her niece's doppelganger when she thought it had been Elena.

The human Petrova doppelganger then moved onto the topic of the Salvatore brothers and their life here in Mystic Falls through the years from the eighteen hundreds until now. Emily spoke about the arrival of Katherine Pierce or Katerina Petrova - along with the brief knowledge that she had on Darina and the sisters' history in Bulgaria and England. Emily also mentioned the first Founder's Ball and what happened the night that the Salvatore brothers turned into vampires and how the brothers thought that Katherine had died in the fire and the history of the Fell church/tomb.

Emily then moved on as she told her aunt about Katherine's second arrival in Mystic Falls when she turned Caroline and Elena into vampires along with the death of Mason Lockwood. That was another topic that took longer than Emily had thought it would. The Gilbert girl always got emotional when she spoke about the Lockwood, so she knew it shouldn't be that surprising when she was still so heartbroken over his death.

The mention of Mason Lockwood also brought up the existence of werewolves - and where werewolves were, Emily also had to explain the existence of witches. Emily didn't really know all that much about how werewolves and witches became to exist but she felt like it was something that she had to explain to Jenna so she wouldn't be surprised in the future whenever she would be around Tyler or Bonnie or any other supernatural creature.

Emily then moved onto the smaller details like the other vampires that they had dealt with in the past before the feared hybrid showed up in the picture. It all seemed unimportant to the human doppelganger now that she said it out loud to her aunt, though, since Klaus had been their biggest and toughest challenge to date.

Finally, Emily moved onto their current situation with the feared hybrid and the sacrifice. However, though, the Gilbert girl slowly came to a stop when she was barely beginning to explain the whole sacrifice situation as she could see the stress in her aunt's hazel irises. Emily didn't want to completely fry Jenna's mind and ruin all of the progress that she made with centuries of knowledge about vampires and any other supernatural creatures. So, instead of explaining all that she knew about the sacrifice, Emily squeezed her aunt's hand before she murmured, "I think we should take a break for now."

The emotional strawberry blonde woman took a shakily deep breath before she simply nodded her head in exhaustion from everything that she had learned in just a few short hours. Jenna's mind hadn't even completely put together everything that Emily had told her just yet, so she knew that her oldest niece was right. Jenna knew if she was ever going to be okay again then it would probably be best to rest for a little while as she tried to absorb all this information about things that she would have never imagined would be real.

Emily gave her aunt's hand one last squeeze once she agreed to resting before she slowly released Jenna's limb and placed the strawberry blonde's legs onto the leather couch while Jenna moved her head to lean against a throw pillow on the armrest of the couch. The Gilbert girl grabbed a gray blanket that was on the back of the couch once her aunt was situated before she tossed it across Jenna's body.

"You're safe, Jenna," the human doppelganger softly whispered against her aunt's temple after she had placed a gentle and comforting kiss onto the strawberry blonde's forehead. "Everything is going to be just fine," Emily murmured before she told Jenna as she smoothed out the blanket across her aunt's body, "you just rest now, alright?"

The human Petrova doppelganger watched as Jenna slowly nodded her head in agreement before Emily moved to stand up. However, though, before Emily could move too far from the leather couch, Jenna hurriedly grabbed onto the Gilbert girl's hand with her frantic hazel irises widened. "I-I don't want to be alone," Jenna mumbled in fright as she was too scared to be alone after just finding out about the existence of vampires, witches, doppelgangers, and werewolves.

Emily gave her aunt a relaxed and calm smile before she softly murmured in understanding, "of course." The Gilbert girl rejoined her aunt as she sat on the hardwood floors on her knees before she grabbed ahold of her aunt's hand. Emily then began to hum a small tune that her mother used to sing to her, Elena, and Jeremy all throughout their childhood when they would have problems falling asleep.

It only took a few minutes of the Gilbert girl singing the soft tune before she watched as Jenna's hazel irises slowly closed. Emily stayed in her position on the hardwood floors for an extra three minutes until she was sure that Jenna was dead to the world and wouldn't be waking up anytime soon before Emily gently placed Jenna's hand onto the couch and slowly stood up from the ground.

Emily continued to watch her aunt for one more minute once she was standing up as she wanted to make sure that her aunt was going to be okay before she quietly turned around and took her exit out of the study at the Salvatore boarding house when Jenna looked at peace. The human doppelganger didn't make a peep until she had closed the double doors behind her and released an exhausted sigh from her trip through memory lane along with the fact that Jenna was officially dragged into their supernatural world.

Emily briefly squeezed her green eyes shut while she silently leaned her head back against the two doors behind her as she thought about the danger that they were putting Jenna in. The human doppelganger knew there was noway around it unless she wanted her aunt to end up dead but Emily just really wished that Jenna didn't have to worry about the stress of being involved in this life.

The Gilbert girl swiftly shook her head after a moment as she pushed herself out of her thoughts. Emily knew there was no reason to dwell on it now after Klaus did what he did, so Emily took a deep breath as she reminded herself that she just had to protect Jenna like she had been doing for her family before she slowly opened up her green eyes - where she instantly spotted her boyfriend and sister both standing a few feet away from her with tears in their eyes.

The two vampires and the human doppelganger stayed silent for about two minutes or so before the younger Salvatore was the first one to move as he closed the distance between Emily and himself. Stefan lightly placed his right hand onto the brunette girl's cheek and rubbed her smooth skin with the rough pad of his thumb before he softly asked, "how are you doing?"

Emily turned her head slightly to the side as she pushed her face further into the Salvatore vampire's cool hand as she tried to absorb all the comfort that she could from her boyfriend. The Gilbert girl stood like that for a moment or two before she finally pulled away and lightly shrugged her shoulders. "I'm fine," Emily mumbled as she answered Stefan's question before she stated, "I'm more worried for Jenna."

The Salvatore vampire silently nodded his head as he aimlessly played with the small fingers on Emily's left hand as he took in his girlfriend's words before he curiously wondered about the strawberry blonde woman, "and how is she doing?" Stefan could only imagine what was going through Jenna's mind right now after finding out about all of the things that has happened in their small town lately and the dangers that follow.

"I'm not sure," Emily mumbled with another shrug of her shoulders before she released another heavy sigh and stated, "I think she's just trying to understand it all right now. It's a lot to take in, so I don't expect her to be fine anytime soon." The Gilbert girl released a humorless laugh as she shook her head before she muttered bitterly, "I haven't even gotten to the juicy parts yet." It was true, though. Emily had barely started to touch the subject of the sacrifice and her possible death. _I might need to bring a few bottles of wine before I tell Jenna about that story,_ the Gilbert girl thought to herself as she knew it was going to be a rough topic.

The Salvatore vampire silently nodded his head as he watched the sadness basically pour out of his girlfriend's facial features before he leaned his temple onto Emily's as he tried to show her some type of comfort during this difficult time. "We'll figure this out, I promise," Stefan assured his girlfriend before he placed a soft kiss onto Emily's forehead. "We'll keep Jenna safe," Stefan continued once he pulled his lips from the human girl's warm skin as he tried to stop any of the worries that Emily had, "I know you never wanted her to find out about all of this but I promise I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you and everyone stays safe."

Emily couldn't help the breath of relief that escaped through her lips by just hearing the Salvatore vampire say that. It helped calm Emily's erratic heart by a little bit as she only cared about making sure that Jenna didn't get hurt now that she's involved in this life. "Thank you," the human doppelganger showed her praise in a quiet whisper before she showed her gratitude by placing a kiss onto her boyfriend's soft lips. Emily just hoped that she - and everyone - would be able to keep her aunt safe from the dangers of being involved in the supernatural world and most importantly from Klaus going back after her.

The couple of the Gilbert girl and the Salvatore vampire silently migrated into each other's arms for an embrace that was filled with nothing but their love and the fears of what they would go through together. However, the tranquility between the couple didn't last as long as they would have hoped as the silent Gilbert vampire spoke up for the first time since Emily had spoken to their aunt. "Does...Does she hate me?" Elena nervously asked her twin sister as she anxiously played with her fingertips.

Emily's heart immediately broke at the sight of her sister and her sister's words. "Oh, Elena," the human doppelganger sighed out before she gave Stefan's waist a small squeeze as she walked around him. Emily walked up to her twin sister before she instantly wrapped Elena protectively in her arms as if she was trying to squeeze all of the bad thoughts away.

The Gilbert girl had one arm wrapped around Elena's skull and the other over the vampire's shoulders before Emily assured her twin sister, "Jenna could never hate you." Emily gave the youngest vampire's shoulder a short squeeze when she could feel her sister quiver in her arms before Emily continued to explain, "she just didn't know what to think. She's scared, yes, but she couldn't and would never hate you." Emily placed a comforting kiss onto her sister's temple before she stated, "it'll take time and I know it'll suck but she'll talk to you when she's ready, alright?"

The Gilbert vampire released a small sigh into her sister's neck as she nodded her head. Elena was still worried about how her aunt would be around her - despite Emily's comforting words. It did help a little bit, though. It reminded Elena that everything wasn't just going to go back to normal like in some cheesy family movie. Elena was just afraid that Jenna would end up hating her how the Sheriff was around Caroline. The Gilbert vampire didn't know what she would do if she didn't have her aunt by her side.

"Everything's just so screwed up," Elena told her twin sister in a mumble after a moment of silence had passed between them while she tightened her hold onto Emily's waist.

"I know," Emily mumbled back before she slowly pulled away from her sister's tight embrace. The Gilbert girl placed her hands onto Elena's cheeks with a soft smile adoring her face before she promised, "but we'll fix this, too, like we've fixed everything else." Emily shot her sister one last comforting smile before she took a step back and faced both of the vampires with a slight nervousness to her green eyes to what she was about to tell them. "And to fix this..." Emily mumbled before she stated in a smaller voice, "I need to go."

The foyer of the Salvatore boarding house was only silent for about a half of a minute before Stefan hurriedly asked in confusion, "wait, what?" The green eyed vampire took a quick glance over to Elena to make sure that she had heard the same thing before he faced his girlfriend and continued to confusingly ask, "what are you talking about?"

Emily released a small sigh as she knew that they weren't going to be happy with her choice before she confessed to the two very puzzled vampires, "I need to get back to Elijah."

The Gilbert vampire instantly shook her head as she exclaimed, "uh, I don't think so!" There was no way that Elena was just going to let her twin sister go back to that original with everything going on with Jenna thanks to Klaus. Besides, Emily was their only way for Jenna to speak to them right now since she didn't feel comfortable around vampires yet - along with the fact that Elena wasn't exactly trusting of Elijah anymore.

"Elena's right," the Salvatore vampire stated before he slowly walked up to his girlfriend. Stefan grabbed ahold of the human girl's hand with both of his and brought them to his chest before he murmured with strong emotions clouding his green irises, "we just got you back. I can't and I won't lose you." Stefan had been a nervous wreck ever since that phone call with Emily this morning when he found out that she was with Elijah. Stefan didn't think he could handle it a second time if Emily left with the original - especially when he had her wrapped in his arms.

Emily released a heavy sigh as she stared at the two vampires who didn't want her to leave the boarding house. The Gilbert girl knew this would end up happening since it was the reason why she didn't tell anyone that she was going to wake Elijah in the first place. Emily knew that they had stopped trusting the original a long time ago but Emily wasn't going to let them stop her when she was so close to getting on the answers that she had been wanting for so long.

The human Petrova doppelganger gave her vampire boyfriend's hand the tightest squeeze that she could offer before she glanced between her boyfriend and twin sister. "I have to go back to Elijah," the Gilbert finally told them after she had gave each vampire a look filled with determination and pleading for them to let her go, "I made a promise and you guys know I never break my promises."

The foyer in the Salvatore boarding house was silent for a full tense two minutes while the three teenagers stared at one another before Stefan quietly murmured in agreement, "okay." The Salvatore vampire was completely against the idea of Emily going back to Elijah - despite what he had just uttered. Stefan knew there was a list of possible bad things that could happen while Emily was alone with the original but there was just one thing stopping him from locking in her in his arms and never letting go.

It was the fact that Stefan trusted the Gilbert girl with his entire being. The Salvatore vampire knew that Emily wouldn't be going back to Elijah if she didn't think it was safe. Stefan trusted that Emily knew what she was doing, so - despite his fears of what the original vampire could do to his girlfriend - he was willing to accept what the Gilbert girl had to do no matter how much stress that he knew it would put him under.

The green eyed vampire pulled the human girl further into his arms with his hands still holding onto Emily's before he placed a passionate filled kiss onto her soft lips. Stefan slowly pulled away after a full minute of Emily's fast heart rate before he whispered against her lips, "call me if you need me for anything."

Emily immediately nodded her head as she didn't want to worry her boyfriend even more than she probably already was as she whispered right back, "I promise."

However, though, before Emily could seal their deal with another kiss, she was soon interrupted by her twin sister when Elena hurriedly exclaimed, "no! You can't go!" The Gilbert vampire didn't know what the hell Stefan was thinking about agreeing with her sister but she wouldn't. Elena didn't trust Elijah anymore and she was not willing to bet her sister's life as she didn't believe that the original would keep her safe. Elena would rather her twin sister be at the boarding house instead of the chance of the original hurting Emily.

The Gilbert girl released a small and sad sigh as she stared across at her twin sister - who had tears and anger in her brown irises. Emily moved to walk up to the young vampire to try to assure Elena that everything was going to be okay. However, before the human doppelganger could even take a full step, the older Salvatore walked into the foyer with their close friend, Andie Star, walking right behind him.

The blue eyed Salvatore walked up to his girlfriend and tossed his arm over Elena's shoulder before he glanced around the tense foyer. "What's going on here?" Damon wondered before he swiftly pointed towards the human girl, who he hadn't even known was here, and commanded with his blue irises squinted, "and you, give me back my car keys, missy."

While everyone completely ignored Damon's whining about his car keys, the Gilbert vampire told her boyfriend what the issue was with anger and sadness clouding her voice, "she wants to go back to Elijah." The Gilbert vampire wasn't angry at her twin sister like her voice betrayed. Elena was more angry at the situation that they were in. She hated that this what their life has come to and the fact that she hated that her twin sister was still so willing to trust Elijah like this when her life is at stake.

The older Salvatore's body instantly turned rigid at this piece of information before he immediately yelled out, "hell no!" Damon swiftly shook his head as he stared at the human girl before he exclaimed, "no! We just got you back." Damon, despite how he acted sometimes, did truly care about Emily. It wasn't just because she was Elena's sister. Damon had come to truly care about the human girl like if he had a sister of his own, so he didn't want anything to happen to her like he knew would happen if Emily went back to the original, who he didn't even trust.

Emily released another sigh as she realized it was another person who wasn't on board with her plan - but it wasn't like she was expecting anything less when it came to the older Salvatore. The Gilbert girl shook her head as she stared at the blue eyed vampire before she simply told him in a strong and confident, "I'm leaving, Damon."

Emily turned around to finally leave the Salvatore boarding house and get back to Elijah but she was, of course, stopped as Damon vamp sped behind her before he swiftly grabbed ahold of her arm. "You aren't going anywhere," the older Salvatore growled out as he glared down at the human girl.

"Elijah is going to end up hurting you or he's going to take you to Klaus or something worse," the Gilbert vampire told her twin sister as she crossed her arms over her navy blue top. Elena slowly shook her head as she stared into Emily's fierce green eyes before she mumbled her choice in the matter, "I can't let you leave."

Emily ignored her sister's words for the time being as she tried to fight herself out of Damon's grip but it was a little too tight for her human strength. The Gilbert girl knew that she wasn't going to be able to get out the vampire's hold, so she shot Damon a hateful glare before she faced her twin sister to hopefully get Elena to understand her side and why she was doing this.

"Elena, you know why I need to do this," Emily cried out to her twin before she explained, "Klaus is going to hurt everyone we all care about." Emily knew that was the way to her sister's heart as she knew Elena's very protective over her loved ones just like she is. The Gilbert girl glanced at each vampire around the room - plus Andie - before she added, "I know Elijah has another way around this. I trust him."

Damon instantly released a loud and humorless chuckle at the human girl's statement. "You can't trust him!" The older Salvatore shouted in annoyance before he tightened his grip on Emily's upper arm so she won't be able to escape him. "You aren't leaving my sight," the blue eyed vampire growled out before he began to pull Emily towards the living room to babysit the human girl.

"Let me go, you asshat," the human Petrova doppelganger shouted as she quickly tried to pull herself away from Damon's tight grip before she got too far from the front door of the boarding house. Emily knew if she got into the living room then there was noway that she would be able to escape three very protective vampires.

The Gilbert girl continued to struggle for about a minute or so as she dug her sneakers into the hardwood floors while she tried to fight the older Salvatore's tight grip. However, when Emily suddenly released a cry filled with pain, Stefan swiftly vamp sped up to his brother before he grabbed ahold of Damon's shoulder in a strong grip. "Release her right now," the older Salvatore protectively growled out as he couldn't stand the sight or thought of seeing his girlfriend in any type of pain.

Damon looked at his brother like he had officially gone crazy like he had always thought would happen over their years of existence. "You're joking, right?" The older Salvatore questioned with a raised eyebrow. However, when Damon only got a glare from his brother, he glared right back before he angrily shouted with a hint of frustration in voice, "act like a good boyfriend, Stefan, and make her sit her ass down!" Damon was completely done with the couple of Emily and Stefan at this point. He felt like he and Elena were the only ones that were taking everything seriously when it came to the human girl's safety right now.

"I am being a good boyfriend," Stefan stated as he tightened his hold onto Damon's shoulder from that small jab at his and Emily's relationship. Stefan took a deep breath to control his emotions before he told his brother in a calm voice for the reason why he was letting his girlfriend go back to the original, "I'm trusting her. I trust that she knows what she's doing and that she will come back to us."

Stefan felt acid in his mouth as the words came out. It wasn't that Stefan didn't trust Emily - he did - it was just the fact that he was allowing Emily to go back into the original's arms. The younger Salvatore didn't know what it was but he hated when Elijah was around the human girl. Elijah just gave off this bad vibe that always tightened Stefan's throat when he saw the original look at his girlfriend. However, Stefan trusted Emily one hundred percent, so he knew that he had to hold his tongue and wait for Emily on the sidelines whenever she's ready to be rescued - even though he knew Emily never did need saving.

The foyer of the Salvatore boarding house grew tense with silence for a few minutes as Emily and Damon glared at one another with Stefan glaring at his brother and Elena expressionless before the youngest vampire's shoulders slowly relaxed and released a heavy sigh when she realized that her twin sister was right. Elena knew if anyone could find another way around the sacrifice, then it would be the strong and confident Emily Gilbert.

However, the reason why Elena had previously been against her twin sister going back to Elijah was because she was just scared to lose her twin sister. Elena was scared that after the shit storm that Klaus had created by exposing the supernatural world to Jenna that somehow he would ruin another important person in her life - her twin sister.

"Let her go, Damon," the Gilbert vampire finally commanded in a whisper to her boyfriend as she stared directly into her twin sister's green irises with a look of understanding in her brown ones. Elena, even though she didn't like the fact that her sister would be going back to Elijah, trusted that Emily knew what she was doing and why she was going back.

The older Salvatore swiftly moved his blue irises over to his girlfriend with his eyes widened in shock to what he just heard come out of Elena's mouth. "You too?" Damon asked with an irritated growl before he snapped as he pointed at the human girl, "this is your sister, Elena!" The Salvatore vampire shook his head in disbelief that everyone was okay with Emily going back to the original before he continued with his rant as he shouted, "Elijah could hurt her or take her to Klaus for all we know!"

The Gilbert vampire slowly shook her head while she anxiously bit down on her bottom lip from getting yelled at by her boyfriend for the first time in their relationship. Elena took a deep breath to calm her nerves before she murmured, "I trust Emily." The Gilbert vampire slightly shrugged her shoulders as she told her boyfriend, "and if she says that she has to go back Elijah, then we'll see her when she comes home."

Elena, like Stefan, absolutely hated the idea of watching her sister walk through the front door and go back to the original. However, she knew that she needed to trust that Emily knew what she was doing - along with the fact that they were supposed to be not completely controlling over the human doppelganger's life anymore. Elena knew that if she was in her sister's situation right now then she would do everything in her power to protect her family and friends just like Emily was trying to do.

A loud growl rippled through the older Salvatore vampire's chest at the fact that it was now one against three. Damon was absolutely pissed that everyone was willing to let Emily go back to the original that he didn't notice that he tightened his hand around the human girl's upper arm and that Emily's arm was beginning to turn white as a ghost.

"D-Damon," the nervous voice of Mystic Falls' famous news reporter mumbled before she suggested to the angry vampire as she could tell that the Gilbert girl was in pain from the way that her face was scrunched up, "m-maybe you should let her go."

"Stay out of this, Andie," the older Salvatore snapped at the news reporter before he, once again, tightened his grip around Emily's upper arm, and began to pull her towards the living room like he had been trying to do to keep her under his watch for now on since he was the only one with actual brain cells today.

"Please, Damon," the human Petrova doppelganger begged with tears clouding her green eyes as she hurriedly fought the older vampire's strong grasp. Emily honestly didn't know what to say to convince Damon that she needed to do this, so she just continued to fight the vampire's hand around her arm before she softly murmured as she tried to connect to Damon, "trust me, please. I can handle myself."

Damon stopped pulling onto the Gilbert girl's arm when he could feel the emotions pouring from her words before he stared down into Emily's soft green eyes. The older Salvatore gazed at the young human for a moment or so before he leaned down and placed his forehead on top of Emily's head. "I'm sorry," Damon apologized before he whispered, "but I can't risk it." Damon would rather the Gilbert girl go back to hating him again - even though they barely made up - if it meant that one of the people in his life, who he saw as a friend or a little sister didn't get hurt by going back to the original vampire.

"Damon!" The human Petrova doppelganger snapped in frustration when she realized that she wasn't getting anywhere with the older Salvatore. The Gilbert girl pulled with all her might to get out Damon's tight grasp, once again, before she shouted, "I need to go!" Emily didn't know how long Elijah was willing to wait for her before he thought she was betraying him again and she didn't want to test that right now when she was so close to all the answers that she has been hoping for.

"Dam," the Gilbert vampire softly murmured as she called out to her boyfriend. However, when Damon continued to stare at Emily with an emotionless glare that she knew was hiding his true emotions and worries, Elena walked up to her boyfriend before she wrapped her fingers around Damon's bicep and forced her boyfriend away from her twin sister.

The older Salvatore immediately pushed himself out of Elena's grasp and glared at everyone in the room before he shouted, "don't come crying to me when Emily's dead." Damon then gave the human girl one last look that was filled with his worry for her safety before he swiftly stormed out of the room as he grumbled about stupid originals - Damon's words.

The foyer at the Salvatore boarding house instantly became dead silent after the oldest vampire's temper tantrum before Elena quietly mumbled, "he's just angry right now." The Gilbert vampire looked into her twin sister's green eyes as she stated with a small shake of her head, "he didn't mean any of that."

Emily gave her twin sister a tiny smile before she softly murmured back, "I know." The Gilbert girl didn't take what Damon said to heart. She knew he was just angry like her sister said and the fact that he's never been the best at showing how he really feels. Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders before she added with a small chuckle, "it's just how he shows he cares, I know." The human doppelganger gave Elena an assuring grin as she teasingly told her sister, "You don't have to worry. I don't hate him again."

The Gilbert vampire ignored her twin sister's teasing as she defended her hothead of a boyfriend, "it's just hard for him to understand why you're so willing to go back to Elijah." It had taken Elena herself a little while to understand why her sister was going back to the original but she and Emily thought a lot alike, so she knew why better than Damon could ever understand. They were both about protecting their loved ones and that was exactly what Emily was trying to do by going back to Elijah. The Gilbert vampire just reminded herself to keep a careful eye on her twin and the original more often since she wasn't willing to trust original again just yet.

"I know," Emily softly told her twin sister. The human girl walked up to the youngest vampire before she gave Elena's hand a small squeeze and added in the same soft tone, "it's okay." Emily honestly didn't take what Damon had said about her to heart but she knew Elena was just worried - probably about everything at this point.

The Gilbert girl stared at her vampire twin sister for a few more moments as she made sure that her sister could see that she wasn't upset by Damon's words before she slowly glanced between the two vampires and the news reporter. Emily released a small sigh before she uttered the words that everyone was dreading, "I...I should probably get going."

The words had barely escaped the human girl's mouth before Elena had vamp sped straight into her twin sister's arms for a tight and emotional hug. "Please be careful," the Gilbert vampire pleaded with unshed tears shining throughout her brown eyes. "I can't lose you," Elena softly added as she squeezed her twin sister's waist as if she afraid to let go.

"You won't," Emily immediately promised as she knew how worried that her twin sister could get before she hugged the youngest vampire back but not as tightly since she was the human one. The Gilbert sisters stayed in that position for a few moments of peacefulness before Emily pulled away with a playful glint to her green irises. "Keep our boy calm while I'm gone," the human girl teased her sister about her temper-filled boyfriend with a small wink.

Elena released a small chuckle for the first time all day before she told her twin sister with amusement shining throughout her voice from the idea of controlling the older Salvatore, "I'll try." The Gilbert vampire gazed at Emily with a soft smile as if she was trying to remember all of her sister's facial features before she leaned down and placed a feather-like kiss onto Emily's forehead. "I love you," Elena whispered to her twin before she vamp sped away to find her very angry boyfriend. The Gilbert vampire knew that if she didn't force herself to leave her sister's side then she would end up locking Emily up like Cinderella to protect her.

Emily couldn't help but to release her own chuckle when she realized that her sister wasn't in front of her anymore. "I love you, too!" The human doppelganger shouted throughout the Salvatore boarding house since the youngest vampire didn't give her a chance to say it back. Emily glanced back towards the last two people in the room once the house grew silent - where she noticed Andie walking up to her.

"You doing alright, sweetheart?" The famous Mystic Falls news reporter softly asked as she rubbed the spot on Emily's arm from where the older Salvatore had grabbed her.

Emily shot the older woman a small smile before she stated, "I'm fine." The Gilbert girl then twitched her head to the side when she noticed that Andie looked like she was supposed to be on live TV at the moment by her makeup and tailored clothing before she curiously wondered, "you heading out to work?"

Andie nodded her head before she explained why she was at the boarding house, "I was here dropping off some files this morning when the guys realized that you were missing." The news reporter lightly shrugged her shoulders as she added, "I came back an hour ago to see how you were doing before I head back to the studio."

Emily smiled at the newswoman before she murmured, "that's nice of you, Andie." The Gilbert girl appreciated that the older woman had stopped by to check on her. It only been a few weeks since Jenna had introduced the newswoman to their group of supernatural beings and she was practically family now. "Thank you," Emily showed her praise for Andie before she uttered with a small shake of her head, "but I'm doing fine."

The newswoman shot the teenage girl a wide grin before she commented as she rubbed across the human girl's arm, "I'm glad, sweetheart." However, while Andie was rubbing across Emily's arm, she caught the time on her silver watch and realized that her break was over with. "I should really get going," Andie stated as she gave Emily an apologetic smile before she told the young girl, "but give me a call if you need anything."

"I will," the Gilbert girl promised with another smile before she waved at the newswoman as she stated, "I'll see you later."

"Alright," Andie murmured as she was glad that the teenage girl would give her a call if she needed anything later on before she murmured, "bye." The newswoman gave the couple of Emily and Stefan another smile and murmured, "stay safe," before she quickly jogged her way out of the Salvatore boarding house.

Emily waited until the front door of the boarding house was closed by the newswoman before she turned around and faced her boyfriend. The human girl and the Salvatore vampire stared at one another for a minute or so as they migrated towards each other before Emily asked as she gently played with the tip of Stefan's fingertips, "you doing okay?"

Emily knew that the younger Salvatore was worried about her and the situation that she found herself - even though he didn't argue with her choice of going back to Elijah. The Gilbert girl couldn't help but to be worried about her boyfriend when she was the one hanging around an original as she didn't like when he was anxious about her safety, so Emily hoped that she could help ease the stress that the vampire feels before she had to leave the boarding house.

The Salvatore vampire slowly slipped his fingers through Emily's until their hands were locked together before he whispered with a hint of amusement in his voice, "I should be the one asking you that."

Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders before she joked like she usually does when she's in a tough situation, "I'm used to walking into danger." The Gilbert girl shot her boyfriend a small smile when Stefan playfully glared her before she asked in a serious voice as she was worried about him, "how are you doing?" Emily knew how much stress the vampire always put on himself whenever the new baddie comes to Mystic Falls from trying to protect her so she wanted to make sure that her boyfriend was alright.

Stefan gave the hand of his girlfriend's that he was holding a tight-but-not-too-tight squeeze while he trailed his free hand softly across the human girl's cheek as if he was observing her beauty like a French painting before he murmured with his green eyes locked with Emily's bright ones, "I'll feel much better once you are back in my arms."

The Gilbert girl squeezed her boyfriend's hand back with a soft smile playing on her lips before she murmured, "well, I should get going then, so I can make that come true." Emily shot the Salvatore vampire one last smile as she gazed at his soft and relaxed features before she forced her body away from Stefan's and turned to leave the boarding house.

However, though, before Emily could even twist her body fully around and take one step, the Salvatore vampire quickly called out, "wait!" There really was no point in Stefan calling out to the human girl before he swiftly and softly grabbed ahold of Emily's arm and pulled her into a tight embrace as he whispered, "just wait." Stefan just couldn't let the Gilbert girl walk away from him just yet when he barely even gotten to see her with everything going on. The Salvatore vampire needed a few moments with the love of his life before he could let her go back to the original if only to feel her calm heartbeat against his chest.

Stefan held his girlfriend tightly in his arms for a full three minutes as he listened to her breathing and absorbed her sweet scent that always reminded the vampire of fresh strawberries before he mumbled against Emily's temple, "be careful with Elijah." The Salvatore vampire pulled away just a little bit so he could look into his favorite pair of eyes before he continued, "I know you think you can trust him but just keep your guard up."

Emily immediately nodded her head as she stared into Stefan's forest green irises before she placed her head back against his cool chest and murmured in agreement, "I will." The Gilbert girl knew that the younger Salvatore, like everyone else, didn't trust the original. However, Emily appreciated that Stefan was willing to trust her and her judgement to go back to Elijah when he could have made her stay at the boarding house like Damon had wanted. It meant a lot to Emily because it meant that the younger Salvatore was letting her make her own decisions and isn't trying to control her life like she had always wanted from the supernatural beings that were trying to protect her.

The Salvatore vampire instantly breathed out a small sigh of relief as it felt good to actually hear those words out loud - that Emily was going to be careful and cautious around the original. Stefan pulled the human girl back into his tight embrace for another minute or so before he spoke up once more. "If anything happens, call me," the Salvatore vampire requested before he released a small chuckle and added, "hell, shout out for me and I'll still come find you. Always." Stefan placed a kiss onto Emily's temple before he repeated in a soft whisper, "always."

"I will," the Gilbert girl immediately promised once more as she tried to wash away her boyfriend's worries. Emily looked up into the vampire's green eyes before she stated to assure her boyfriend, "but everything is going to be okay." The human doppelganger nodded her head as she added, "I'll be okay."

The Gilbert girl kept her green irises locked with the Salvatore vampire's darker ones for about a minute or so before she whispered, "the Lockwood's." The human Petrova doppelganger watched as many emotions flickered across Stefan's face from confusion to understanding before they settled on surprise with his green eyes widened. Emily couldn't help but chuckle in amusement before she grew serious as she explained with a small shrug of her shoulders, "I know you won't come because you trust me but I want you to know where I will be."

Emily knew that she could trust her boyfriend with her location - unlike her sister and Damon, who would come storming in and take her away if they knew where she would be going to meet with the original. The Gilbert girl also told the younger Salvatore her location was because she wanted to help ease his worrying that she knew that was going through his mind right now.

"Thank you," Stefan softly whispered as he gazed into his girlfriend's bright green eyes. It meant the absolute world to the Salvatore vampire that Emily was willing to trust him with her location. Stefan knew that the human girl didn't have to and he knew that she did it for his sake, so he was extremely grateful as it helped calm his anxiety by knowing where she was going to be with the original.

The Gilbert girl nodded her head with a small smile playing on her lips. "Of course," Emily murmured before she loosely wrapped her arms around the Salvatore vampire's neck and pulled him into a passionate and meaningful kiss. "I love you," the human doppelganger murmured against Stefan's lips once she pulled away from their loving embrace before she promised, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Stefan subconsciously tightened his hold on his girlfriend's waist at the mention of her leaving but didn't comment on it. Instead, the Salvatore vampire placed a soft kiss onto Emily's lips before he murmured back, "I love you, too, always."

Emily couldn't help the wide smile that lifted onto her lips as she always loved hearing the vampire utter those three little words to her. "Always," the Gilbert girl whispered right back against Stefan's lips before she placed one last kiss onto her boyfriend's mouth. Emily shot the Salvatore vampire a small but emotional filled smile once she pulled away before she forced herself out of Stefan's warm embrace and headed out of the Salvatore boarding house.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but release a heavy sigh once she was standing in the cool air right outside the boarding house and she was all alone. Emily hadn't really had the chance to realize how she was feeling about everything that was going on with the Jenna situation of talking her aunt through the supernatural history. It wasn't only that that Emily hadn't absorbed, either. It was also the fact that Damon was pissed at her and her twin wasn't exactly happy with her decision to go back to the original - even though she agreed and saw why she was doing this.

However, Emily knew that everything that had to deal with her family and the older Salvatore would have to be put on the back burner for now as she thought about Elijah. The human Petrova doppelganger knew that she needed to focus back onto the original as she headed to Damon's car. Emily needed to know more about Klaus, the sacrifice, and Darina - and she wasn't going to stop until she got all the answers to survive the dangerous hybrid.

* * *

 _Guysssss, while I was writing this chapter, I came up with a scene for during the sacrifice. You might hate who I have decided to kill in the sacrifice but I feel like it's important to Emily's journey of becoming a Radkova witch and the true cruelty of life._

 _xoxo_


	64. The 1 With The Connection & The Apology

Emily Gilbert took a deep and slow breath with her fingers wrapped around the cold doorknob at the Lockwood mansion as she prepared herself for the information that the original could tell her - which would probably change her whole life. The human girl stood there for almost three minutes before she forced the door open as she knew that this wasn't the time to be afraid. Emily knew that she needed to be strong and brave - like she had been doing since she found out about vampires - and ready herself to protect her family and friends against Klaus.

 _That's easier said then done,_ Emily told herself with a roll of her green eyes as she silently stepped over the threshold of the Lockwood mansion, _I'm going to be a witch for crying out loud!_

The Gilbert girl soon came to a stop when she spotted Elijah standing in front of her favorite painting in the whole Lockwood mansion. It was an image of a small girl with brown hair standing alone on top of a hill as she looked down at her city below shining in lights. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Emily couldn't help but ask the original of his opinion as she slowly moved to stand beside him while her green eyes stayed locked on the painting.

"It reminds me of myself," Emily commented as, for the moment, she forgot about Klaus and the terror that he will bring along with the fact that she was going to become the next Radkova witch. The human doppelganger crossed her arms over her leather jacket before she continued in a soft voice as she spoke of her feelings, "it's how I feel lately - like I have the whole world on my shoulders and if I make one step out of line then it will just all fall apart."

The honey eyed original slowly moved his head to the side to gaze down at the Gilbert girl with a soft expression adoring his face from her honest words. "You will not be alone in this," Elijah assured the human girl in a gentle voice as he laid his large hand onto her shoulder. "You, my dear, will be the end of Klaus," the original promised with a slight smile to his face, "he will not know what hit him once he realizes there is one last Radkova witch."

Emily couldn't help the small smile that slowly pulled onto her lips from the original's assuring words. It helped the human girl feel slightly better and more confident - which she figured had something to do with the doppelganger connection - but she would ask about that later. Right now, Emily wanted to know what she was walking into by Elijah mentioning her looming witch status.

"So..." Emily drawled out as she walked away from the painting with the original vampire following right beside her before she led them back to the couches in the living room. "This whole witch thing," the human doppelganger mumbled as she took a seat onto the mayor's leather chair with Elijah sitting across from her before she inquired, "what's going to happen to me?"

Emily honestly was quite nervous and afraid - even though she would never admit that out loud. The thought of becoming a witch scared the Petrova doppelganger when she had been a human all her life. Emily felt a bit anxious that it was going to end up changing who she was. The human girl had watched and heard stories about how people changed once they became vampires, so Emily guessed that she was afraid that she wouldn't be the same person anymore.

 _Maybe I'll became a complete psychopath like the Wicked Witch of the West,_ the human girl sarcastically thought of the possibilities of what it would mean to be a witch when it wasn't in her blood to be flowing with magic. It just sounded wrong in the order of life to gain these powers when she wasn't from a witchy family like Bonnie.

"I mean, I know what's going to happen," the human Petrova doppelganger continued as she lightly rolled her green eyes before she explained her questioning with a slight nervous tick to her right eyebrow, "is it like going to hurt me? Dying, I mean." Emily released a small sigh before she uttered, "I mean... You mentioned that I would die during the sacrifice but is it going to stick because I don't want to risk drinking Maria's mojo if I end up really dying and I won't be able to protect my family and friends."

Elijah let a small, amused smile slowly rise onto his lips before he leaned forward and gently in a feather-like touch placed his hand onto Emily's bouncing knee to help calm the human girl's nerves and let her know that she wasn't alone. "You will die, yes," the original vampire began to explain once he could see that Emily was slowly calming down from his touch before Elijah assured her, "but you will wake within twenty-four to seventy-two hours after the sacrifice."

Emily slowly nodded her head as she bit down on her bottom lip before she realized what exactly Elijah had said. "And what if I don't wake up between those three days?" The Gilbert girl quietly asked as if she was afraid of the answer.

The original vampire silently stared across at the human girl, who reminded him so much of his Darina, for a moment before he released a small sigh and mumbled as he lightly shook his head, "I-I'm not sure. This has never happened before." Elijah didn't let that thought dwell in the nervous Emily's mind for long, though, as he quickly reached over and grabbed her hand. "If, by the off chance that you are still out after the expired time, you will be dead," Elijah gently explained before he gave Emily's hand a light squeeze and promised, "but Maria said this would work and believe her. The Radkova witches are the alphas when it comes to magic, so if she says you'll come back, then I know you will, Emily."

The human Petrova doppelganger and potential Radkova witch briefly closed her green eyes as she tried to absorb the information that would ultimately kill her or make her a supernatural being. However, the one thing that continued to plaque Emily's mind the most as she thought about what this would mean, was the future of her family and friends. Emily was willing to put her trust into Maria - partly because Elijah and Katherine believed her - plus it was their last option. Emily was all over this plan but she was worried about the people that she loved if this didn't work out like they want.

"You have to promise me something, Elijah," the Gilbert girl practically begged in desperation as she knew that she needed to make sure that her family and friends were safe no matter the outcome of the sacrifice.

Elijah furrowed his brows as he stared across at the deadly serious human girl - someone way different than the girl had been shaking with nerves a second ago. "What is it?" The original vampire gently questioned as he gave Emily's hand, that he was will holding, a small squeeze.

"If I'm still dead after the three days," Emily began with complete determination in her voice before she requested as she stared into Elijah's honey brown eyes with her serious green ones, "you have to protect my loved ones." The Gilbert girl lightly shook her head as she explained, "I'm trusting that you and Maria know what you're talking about, but if it doesn't work, I need someone to protect the people I am so willing to die for. I need to know they will be taken care of and will be save from Klaus when this is all over with."

Elijah nodded his head in understanding for what the human girl was asking of him. He found it quite honorable that Emily was still dead set on protecting her people - even after death if she did not survive. "You have my word, Emily," the original promised as he tried to ease one of her current worries as he gave her hand another comforting squeeze, "if this doesn't go our way, I will make sure Klaus doesn't touch a single hair on your loved ones' head."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help the loud sigh of relief that escaped through her lips from Elijah's promise as that was one of her biggest fears about everything that was going on. Emily only cared about protecting the people that she cared for - staying alive was honestly just a plus in her book.

"Alright," Emily murmured after a full minute of silence had passed as she felt like she could finally relax as she leaned her back into the cool leather chair. The Gilbert girl took one last breath of relief as she tried to calm her mind before she focused her gaze back onto Elijah. "So, can you explain more about how this will all go down?" The human doppelganger requested before she added, "like after the seventy-two hours."

The original vampire nodded his head at the human girl's request before he also leaned back on the leather couch as he began. "It will be just like a vampire transition - except for the drinking human blood part," Elijah explained, "you'll wake up between those seventy-two hours feeling stronger than ever from Maria's magic running through your veins."

Emily couldn't help but feel a little nervous, once again, from that aspect of the plan. "I would have to use Maria's magic?" The Gilbert girl anxiously questioned as she didn't know if she was down for being a witch. It just felt weird to Emily. She didn't even know the first thing about being a witch and now suddenly she would have all of this power. Emily guessed she was just afraid that something bad would end up happening or she would screw up from having Maria's magic in her.

"That was one of the requirements from Maria, yes," the original stated as he nodded his head once before he explained why the human girl would need to use her new magic, "Maria wanted to make sure that the next Petrova doppelganger would become the strongest witch in existence and for the next Radkova witch, you, to continue to spread the word and knowledge of the Protectors of the Innocence."

Emily's green irises instantly widened at the original vampire's words. "Wow," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she leaned further into the leather chair with her head leaning against the head rest and her eyes towards the white ceiling. "That's a lot to take in," Emily mumbled as she felt like she was in complete shock that she would not only become a witch - but the strongest one in existence.

Emily hadn't really put much thought in the fact that she would actually have to use the powers from Maria Radkova. The human doppelganger had just thought she would just have the powers and push them to the back of her mind, not that she actively had to use them. Emily honestly felt quite anxious and terrified that she would have to learn to use these powers and become some strong witch. Emily wasn't sure that she was meant for that.

"Hey, it's going to be alright," the original vampire quickly assured the human girl as he could see how strung up Emily was becoming again about becoming a witch. Elijah leaned over and gave Emily's hand another squeeze as he suggested, "if you want, once we have dealt with my brother, I can show and teach you everything I know about perfecting your magic and learning to be in control of your powers."

"I must tell you, though," Elijah softly began after the human girl had agreed to his suggestion before he stated, "this isn't going to be a cakewalk. You're experience is going to be different from your friend - Miss Bennett." The original vampire wanted Emily to be well informed to what would happen to her, so he explained, "you will be way stronger and it will be difficult for you to control your powers as a first time witch."

"There hasn't been a lot of instances where a human gained magic but the ones that did, usually had a difficult time with dealing with the power," Elijah continued as he stated, "like sometimes new witches would cause natural disasters or their powers would start to go out of control or even they would get too wrapped into the power which have caused some of them to become hungry for more power. Sometimes it can be too much for the witch and it caused them to be, essentially, an emotionless vampire."

Emily couldn't help the loud groan that slipped through her lips as she, once again, threw her head back on the leather chair in the Lockwood mansion. "You are so not making me feel better right now, Lijah," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she squeezed her green eyes shut. Elijah's words had made Emily's fear of who she would become after the sacrifice even worse. Emily was afraid that she was going to become one of those witches that Elijah mentioned. She hated the idea that she could become someone that no one could recognize and absolutely terrified her that she wouldn't be the same girl again.

"Hey, there is no need to fret," the original vampire softly assured the human girl as he placed a comforting hand onto her black leggings clad knee. "Maria left her grimoire for you along with a guide to help you understand your new powers, so you will not be alone nor in the dark in this," Elijah told the Gilbert girl before he added, "and I will also help in anyway I can." The original vampire shot the human girl a small smile before he stated to hopefully calm Emily's nerves, "let's get through the sacrifice first before we start worrying about that."

Emily stared across into the original's soft, honey colored eyes for a moment before she finally nodded her head. "Yeah, you're right," the human girl muttered with a heavy sigh before she stated in agreement, "let's survive first before she start worrying about witchy powers." The Gilbert girl took a deep breath as she briefly closed her eyes to calm her nerves before she asked as she focused back onto her current issue, "so, how do we go about doing this? How am I supposed to drink some magical vial that is like hundreds of years old?"

"I will need to go pick up Maria's vial that is located in Rome along with the grimoire and a few journals in Seoul that Maria wanted you to have for after the sacrifice," the original vampire explained.

The Gilbert girl furrowed her brows at the fact that the supplies were so far away. "Will you have them in time for the sacrifice?" Emily anxiously asked as she wanted to be totally prepared for the sacrifice. They couldn't take the chance in anything going wrong or everything would just be for nothing and Klaus would win.

Elijah nodded his head and uttered as he smoothly stood up from the leather couch, "I will." The original vampire silently walked over to the human girl on the chair and held out his hand for her. "But we should be leaving," Elijah stated before he explained, "I have a long journey to make and you need to prepare yourself, mentally and physically, for the sacrifice."

Emily released a heavy sigh before she placed her hand into Elijah's larger one as she silently nodded her head in agreement. The human girl honestly didn't have a response in her as she just tried to wrap her mind around everything that she learned and everything that would soon happen as they took their exit out of the Lockwood mansion.

Emily couldn't help but feel a series of nerves and anxieties as she and Elijah entered the older Salvatore's blue Camaro. The Gilbert girl, no matter how much the original tried to assure her, felt nervous about the sacrifice and what would happen after it was all over. Emily still couldn't exactly wrap her mind around the fact that she, a human doppelganger, would become the strongest witch in existence. It was too crazy for Emily to even imagine right now.

The blue Camaro that belonged to Damon Salvatore was silent for a few minutes as Emily drove them back to the boarding house as they were both wrapped in their own minds. However, Emily didn't want to focus her mind on her witchy status as it made her too anxious, so the human girl decided that she would take this time, their only time before everything would become too crazy, to ask this one thing. "So..." Emily began as she took a quick glance at the original beside her before she innocently questioned, "what is this doppelganger connection I hear so much about?"

Elijah released a small, amused chuckle as he knew this conversation would have picked up sooner or later since the human girl had been interrupted earlier by his brother going after Emily's aunt - along with all the other times Emily had tried to ask him about it in the past. However, Elijah knew this was finally the time to tell the human girl, so he lightly cleared his throat before he began to explain what Emily had always felt, "it's a connection that you share from Darina's own memories. It only happened with you because Darina had the Radkova powers in her system when Klaus killed her, so it, essentially, transferred over to the next doppelganger."

Emily slowly nodded her head in understanding as she continued to drive through Mystic Falls. But once they reached a red light, the human girl moved her green irises over to the original vampire with a raise of her right eyebrow before Emily questioned in disbelief, "so, you're trying to tell me that I have always been a Radkova witch?"

Elijah moved his head up and down with a small smile playing on his lips from how shocked the human girl was expressing all across her face. "Precisely," the original vampire affirmed what Emily thought before he explained, "back when Maria was trying to save Davina, she infused Davina's blood with hers to give Davina a little extra strength for the sacrifice." Elijah lightly shrugged his shoulders with a bitter smile on his face before he added, "but it didn't exactly work out the way Maria had wished."

Emily could tell it was still a touchy subject for the original about Darina's death and they couldn't save her, so the human girl decided to focus more onto the connection then the sacrifice aspect. "Why do I always feel like I can trust you, though?" Emily curiously wondered, "and why do I actually like Katherine when I know I shouldn't?"

Elijah released a small chuckle before he stated as if it would explain everything, "it's that connection you share." The original vampire lightly shook his head before he stated as he gave Emily a real answer, "I'm not sure why it happens but I believe it's because of the magic inside of you that also has Darina's blood mixed in, so you feel what she felt when you meet the same people." Elijah paused for a moment but when he noticed Emily's furrowed brows, he continued to explain, "for instance, Darina loved and adored Katerina more than anything, so that is why you feel safe and actually believe anything that comes out of her mouth because that's how Darina felt as well."

Emily quietly hummed to herself as the connection was slowly beginning to make sense to her and why she felt a certain way with a few vampires. However, the human girl was curious about one thing, so she voiced her wonderment as she asked the original, "and you? Why do I feel like I can trust you?" Emily ignored the warmness to her cheeks along to what she was admitting as she also added, "and why do I sometimes get nervous when we're too close to each other?"

Elijah released an amused chuckle and let a small smirk rise onto his lips at the human girl's confession before he stated after a moment of watching Emily's reddened cheeks, "Darina and I were very much in love. We had only known one another for a few shorts weeks but she was my world." The original sat in silence for a moment as he thought about what Emily felt before he commented, "I believe what you are experiencing with me is the beginning of what Darina may have left. Like I said, though, this doppelganger connection is something that no one has ever seen before, so I'm not exactly sure."

Emily nodded her head as she could see how that could be true for her. It definitely wasn't the craziest thing that she has ever heard and definitely sounded plausible in her case. However, as Emily thought over what Darina had felt for the original, she couldn't help but glance over to Elijah as she questioned with an amused smile playing on her lips, "I'm not gonna want to start kissing you, am I?" Emily shook her head as she joked, "I mean, you're a great guy in all but I'm in love with Stefan."

The original vampire released a heavy chuckle at the human girl as he shook his head in disagreement. "I think Darina's past feelings just lead into that direction, so it doesn't have to mean love," Elijah explained his opinion of what their own connection could mean, "it could just be in a friendly or caring way like as close confidants or friends."

The Gilbert girl released a teasing breath of relief before she took a quick glance over to the original with an amusing smirk. "Well, that's good to know," Emily joked even though she had been slightly nervous about what her and Elijah had meant over the past couple of weeks of knowing the original.

"Have you've been worried you would fall for me?" The original vampire teased the human doppelganger right back with an amused smile playing on his lips.

Emily playfully slapped her right hand onto Elijah's upper arm before she muttered with a tint of embarrassed in her voice, "yes." The Gilbert girl avoided Elijah's grinning face as she quickly defended herself, "it's new to me to feel like that towards someone." Emily shook her head as she wanted to get away from this conversation as quickly as possible, so she questioned, "anyways, moving on from that... What does it feel like for you?" Emily added so the original could understand what she meant, "because I know Katherine has treated me like a sister with making sure I was safe and okay all the time."

"It's just something that we, Katerina and I, can feel since we both were so close to Darina," the original vampire begin to explain what he felt for the human girl, "we can feel how pure and kind you are like Darina was, so it just makes us want to keep you safe like we tried to do for Darina." The original placed his hand onto his chest as he stated, "for me, though, it's like an instinct to want to protect you. I just want you safe and be able to live your life in happiness the way that you wish to. I see you as a close friend of mine."

The Gilbert girl nodded her head in understanding before she glanced over to the original with a wide smirk. "Aw," the human doppelganger cooed before she teased Elijah as she gave the vampire's upper arm a playful squeeze, "I like you, too." Emily just felt this sense of calmness in her now that she knew what she felt about the original. Emily honestly had been nervous that she would end up falling for Elijah but she was glad that wasn't the case and she could just be herself around him.

Elijah playfully rolled his brown eyes at the human girl in the drivers seat but he didn't say anything. Instead he and the human girl shared a series of chuckles together as they both felt more relaxed now that everything was out in the open. It was as if they were old friends.

However, the calmness between the Gilbert girl and the original vampire immediately became thick with tension as Emily slowly pulled in front of the Salvatore boarding house. "Well, this should be fun," Emily sarcastically uttered as she pulled the blue Camaro in front of the boarding house before she and Elijah silently headed to the front door.

Emily walked straight through the door without knocking - because what's the point when she basically lived there already. But before Emily could see her probably frustrated bodyguards, so she was stopped when the original behind her cleared his throat. The Gilbert girl looked at Elijah in confusion for a second before she immediately rolled her green eyes.

"Duh," Emily muttered as she had totally forgot that the vampire needed to be invited in again after his death. The Gilbert girl fixed her expression a second later as she shot the original a wide, amused smirk. "Elijah, my bestie," the human doppelganger began before she told the vampire with a bright smile shining proudly across her lips, "you may come in."

Elijah shook his head with an amused chuckle as he stepped over the threshold after being invited back into the Salvatore boarding house. "Why thank you," the original vampire playfully praised the brunette girl in the same manner she had used before Elijah lightly placed his hand onto Emily's back and lead her towards the living room, where he could hear the three bodyguards hurriedly arguing with one another.

The Gilbert girl took a deep breath when she and Elijah were just outside the living room as she prepared herself what was about to happen - probably with a lot of arguing from Damon - from her choice in trusting the original. The human doppelganger gave Elijah an assuring nod after a solid three minutes once she was ready enough to face her vampire bodyguards before she and Elijah finally entered the living room, where Emily's three protective bodyguards instantly turned and faced Emily and the original beside her.

The first vampire in the living room to move happened to be Emily's boyfriend as Stefan vamp sped up to her before he pulled the human girl into a tight hug - along with pulling her away from Elijah. The younger Salvatore stroked the right side of Emily's face as he silently looked down her body for any signs that she had been harmed. However, when Stefan couldn't find a single mark on her body, the green eyed vampire placed a soft kiss onto Emily's lips as he tried to make his body relax now that he had the love of his life back in his arms.

The moment between the human and the vampire couple was way too soon interrupted for Stefan's opinion as the angry voice of his brother interrupted his moment with Emily as Damon growled towards the human girl while he practically glared daggers at the original, "now you've invited him in?"

Emily released a heavy sigh as she knew someone - most likely Damon - would start the yelling sooner rather than later. The Gilbert girl had expecting it, so she wasn't surprised or shaken by Damon's yelling. Instead, Emily stepped away from her boyfriend, with Stefan's arm wrapped protectively around her waist, before she stared over at the older Salvatore with her own glare. "Yes, Damon," the human doppelganger muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance before she explained, "Elijah has another way to protect me in the sacrifice."

The blue eyed vampire gazed across at the Gilbert girl for a silent and tense moment before slowly moved his bright but angry irises over to the original and sarcastically asked, "really?" Damon honestly didn't give a single care to what Elijah promised to Emily. He still wasn't going to trust anything he had to say when his girlfriend's sister and one of his friends' life was on the line.

"Yes," Elijah uttered as he nodded his head. "The three of you will come to no harm at my hands," the original promised as he glanced between the two brothers and the Gilbert vampire before he requested, "I only ask for one thing in return, though."

"What is it?" Elena curiously inquired as she also moved closer to her twin sister and grabbed ahold of Emily's hand that was down by her side as she, like the younger Salvatore, felt like she needed to be touching Emily now that she was back to help remind herself to relax and that her sister was safe again.

"An apology," the original vampire simply requested.

The older Salvatore instantly screwed up his with an expression mixed with confusion and disgust before he questioned as he if the original request was a foreign concept, "a what?"

However, before the original vampire could repeat himself, the younger Salvatore immediately turned his attention onto Elijah, who stood only a few spaces to Emily's left before he apologized like the original wanted. "I am sorry for the part that I played in your death," Stefan stated as he subconsciously squeezed Emily's hand, the one that Elena wasn't currently holding, before he explained, "I was protecting Emily and I will always do everything in my power to keep her safe."

Elijah stared across the second youngest vampire in the room for a moment before he murmured with a look of understanding displayed across his face as he, too, would do everything he could to protect the human Petrova doppelganger, "I understand."

The Gilbert vampire realized that it was her turn to apologize when the original's light brown irises locked onto her like an assassin finding their target. Elena briefly closed her eyes as she took a deep breath before she focused onto Elijah. "I'm sorry that we killed you," the Gilbert vampire began her honest apology before she took a soft glance over to her twin sister as she continued to speak to the original, "this may not help my cause, but I would do it again in a heart beat. Emily is my sister, my twin, and I will always protect her first."

Elena released a heavy sigh as she forced her brown eyes off of the human Petrova doppelganger and back over to the original vampire before she stated, "I don't trust you, but Emily does. So, if she says you know a way to keep her alive, then I believe in you, too." The Gilbert girl felt anxious about putting her trust in Elijah but, like she said, she trusted that Emily knew what she was doing and she would always follow her twin into the deepest ends of the Earth.

Elijah nodded his head only once at the youngest vampire's apology. "I appreciate your honesty, Elena," the original commented as he accepted her words - despite the fact that the Gilbert vampire uttered that she would kill him again if she got the chance.

The living room in the Salvatore boarding house soon grew tense in silence as everyone's eyes slowly drifted over to the last vampire, who had yet to apologize to the original. However, when Damon stubbornly stood there after a full three minutes of nothing but awkward quietness, the Gilbert girl released a heavy sigh before she softly told the older Salvatore, "there's nothing you can do to stop this, Damon. The sacrifice will happen no matter what we do. We just need to be prepared for it - which we are." Emily gave the the blue eyed vampire a small smile as she knew Damon was just worried before she explained that they were ready, "Bonnie's loaded with power to kill Klaus and Elijah has a plan to save me from completely dying."

The older Salvatore stared across at the Gilbert girl with a hint of gentleness to his currently hard and angry blue irises as he felt anxious for Emily and her safety. However, Damon didn't say that out loud, though. Instead, he slowly moved his eyes over to the original before he questioned, "is that true?"

Elijah nodded his head before he calmly uttered as he affirmed what the older Salvatore thought, "yes, it is."

Once Damon got the original's answer, something that he didn't even care to hear, he moved his blue irises back to the human doppelganger before he interrogated in a frustrated and angry tone, "and you trust him? You are actually going to put your life on the line because some original says all the words you wanna hear?"

The Gilbert girl, once again, released another heavy sigh as she could tell that Damon still wasn't willing to trust Elijah nor anything he had to say along with the fact the older Salvatore was also scared - even though he would never speak his feelings out loud. "Yes, Damon," the human doppelganger uttered as she tried to assure the blue eyed vampire, "he knows what's he talking about. It's not lies. Elijah has a way to protect me like we have always wanted."

Damon immediately shook his head in disbelief before he slowly glanced at each face around the living room - Emily's confident one, Stefan's trusting one, and Elena's hopeful one. "You are all crazy if you think he'll keep Emily alive," Damon growled out as he angrily pointed at the original and snapped before he stormed out of the room, "you can all go to hell."

The older Salvatore was completely and utterly pissed that Emily was being so trusting with the original when it was her life on the line. Damon cared about the human girl like the little sister he never got to have, so Damon felt like he was frustrated that the human girl wasn't listening to him about how this was going to backfire on her and they would probably lose her forever.

"H-He's just worried about you," the Gilbert vampire softly told her twin sister as she gave Emily's hand a small squeeze once her very angry boyfriend stomped up the staircase. Elena completely understood Damon's anger as she had felt the same way when Emily had told her that she was trusting the original. The Gilbert vampire had been feeling a lot of emotions since then like how she felt worried and nervous about her twin hanging around Elijah along with feeling angry and conflicted for that same reason as she didn't even trust Elijah to begin with.

However, ultimately, the Gilbert vampire only wanted what was best for Emily and if her twin sister thought that putting all of her trust in the original to keep her alive, then Elena guessed she would do the same.

Emily gave her sister's hand a squeeze right back as she shot Elena an assuring smile. "It's okay," the Gilbert girl murmured, "I get it." Emily honestly did. She knew that they all would feel a range of emotions from her trusting Elijah - someone that they had already killed and basically betrayed. Emily was expecting for her protective bodyguards to be angry, so she didn't take offense that Damon was pissed. She just wished he would understand why she had to do this, though.

The Gilbert vampire released a small sigh as she was glad that Emily wasn't angry at the older Salvatore or even hated him again - especially when they just became friends again. Elena had only wanted them to get along as her two favorite people, so she was afraid Damon's attitude towards the original's plan would have ruined that. "I'm going to go make sure he's okay," Elena murmured as she gave her twin sister's hand one last squeeze before she headed upstairs to check on her hot-headed boyfriend.

The living room in the Salvatore boarding house grew silent once the Gilbert vampire had left for a minute or so before the original lightly cleared his throat. Elijah, once he had Emily's attention on him, told the human girl as he slowly walked backwards to where the foyer was, "I will be back tomorrow morning with the supplies for the sacrifice."

Emily took a few steps towards the original, who had came to a stop at the edge of the living room, before she shot Elijah a thankful smile to show her gratitude for what he was doing for her along with the information that he had gave her today. "Thank you, Lijah," the Gilbert girl vocally showed her praise before she murmured out a goodbye, "I guess we'll see you soon."

Elijah nodded his head as he promised, "you will." The original vampire then stretched out his arm and gave Emily's hand a small squeeze to assure her that everything was going to be okay as he could practically smell the nervousness coming off of her. Elijah shot the human girl one last soft smile before he silently turned around and took his exit out of the Salvatore boarding house.

"What was that about?" Stefan instantly questioned with his brows furrowed once the front door had been slammed shut and the original had left before he swiftly pulled Emily tightly into his chest with a tint of jealousy to his voice - something that the Salvatore vampire would never admit to anyone.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help the amused chuckle that escaped through her lips when she looked up to her boyfriend and saw the green eyed monster clearly displayed in Stefan's eyes. "What was what about?" Emily teasingly questioned as if she had no clue what the Salvatore vampire was going on about.

Stefan playfully rolled his green eyes at his girlfriend as he knew the human girl was teasing him. The Salvatore vampire didn't comment on it, though. Instead, Stefan tightened his arms around Emily's waist before he questioned with a slight pout to his pink lips, "what's with the touching my girlfriend?"

A wide smirk slowly pulled up onto the human Petrova doppelganger's face from how cute her boyfriend looked as he pouted at her. "Aw," Emily couldn't help but coo as she reached up and pinched the Salvatore vampire's cheeks before she teasing inquired, "is my baby jealous of a little ole original?"

Stefan grabbed ahold of the human girl's right wrist that was holding his face while he stared deep into Emily's sparkling green irises. "I'm not jealous, I'm protective," the Salvatore vampire partly lied with a complete straight face before he slowly leaned down and placed a passionate kiss onto Emily's warm lips.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but grin all throughout the kiss - partly from seeing Stefan getting jealous and partly because he was denying it. The loving embrace between the human and vampire couple lasted for a couple of minutes as both Emily and Stefan felt so at home in each other's arms. Emily, once she could feel all the tension melt away from Stefan's body against hers, slowly pulled away before she murmured as she knew her bodyguards would want to know what Elijah told her, "come on. I have some stories to tell you guys."

However, though, when the Gilbert girl went to walk away to go get her twin sister and her boyfriend's brother for story time, Emily was instantly stopped by the tight grip that Stefan had on her waist. "Give me a second," the younger Salvatore murmured as he pulled the human girl further into his chest.

Emily furrowed her brows in confusion as she glanced up to her boyfriend, who's temple was leaning on her forehead. The human girl had figured that her protective bodyguards were dying to know about what the original had told her, so she was definitely lost at the moment. "What is it?" Emily questioned as she voiced her puzzlement.

The green eyed vampire tightened his arms around Emily's waist before he slowly leaned his head down until his face was pressed into the human girl's collarbone. "I just need to know you're here," Stefan softly murmured after a full minute had passed as he listened to the calm heartbeat that always soothed him.

The Gilbert girl's heart instantly softened at Stefan's almost broken and vulnerable words. "Take all the time you need," Emily gently murmured back as she began to rub her fingers through the Salvatore vampire's messy brunette hair at the base of his neck. "I'm right here," the human girl assured her boyfriend as she tried to get rid of Stefan's stress.

"You're the best thing that has ever happened to me," the Salvatore vampire confessed after a full six minutes had passed between him and Emily as he held her close and breathed in her sweet scent. "You're my world and I will lose my mind if something like the sacrifice takes you away from me," Stefan continued as he stared deeply into Emily's green irises that always made him feel at home. The Salvatore vampire lightly shook his head before he added, "and I absolutely hate that you are trusting Elijah with your life."

The human Petrova doppelganger immediately opened her mouth to defend herself but Stefan quickly uttered as he gently rubbed the side of Emily's face, "but I trust you." The green eyed vampire placed a soft kiss onto the human girl's lips and one on her forehead before he murmured against her warm skin, "and if you think that he can save you, then I'm on board."

Emily couldn't help the heavy sigh of relief that escaped through her lips and simultaneously relaxed her whole body from knowing Stefan wasn't going to fight her on this. "Thank you," the Gilbert girl murmured as she showed her praise before she buried her face into the Salvatore vampire's chest. Emily was extremely grateful that Stefan was willing to give Elijah's plan a chance. She knew everyone was on the fence, so she was happy that she would at least have Stefan on her side during all of this.

"I just want you to be safe," Stefan softly murmured as he pulled the human girl even closer into his chest so each part of their bodies were pressed against one another. The younger Salvatore closed his green irises as he leaned his head onto Emily's temple as he absorbed the comfort of having her in his arms before he whispered, "I love you."

The Gilbert girl instantly smiled against Stefan's brown Henley as she tightened her arms around her boyfriend's midsection. "I love you, too," Emily whispered right back before she promised, "and I'm not going anywhere." Emily may be nervous out of her mind about what could happen tomorrow and what it could mean for her in being the strongest witch in existence but as Emily was in the comfort of Stefan's arms, she couldn't find herself to care at the moment.

* * *

 _Okay, so everyone knows I'm going to temporarily kill off a main character. Well, my plan for after I finish season 2 is to have a storyline between the two seasons before it picks back up at Emily and Elena's birthday. I already have fourteen chapters planned for it. I hope you enjoy the journey!_


	65. The One With The Vial

"Tonight is the full moon," Elijah stated the obvious to the Gilbert siblings and the younger Salvatore at the boarding house after only hours ago of the original making a quick stop in London, England and Seoul, South Korea to pick up the things that the human girl would need for the sacrifice. "We should assume that Klaus is prepared to break the curse," Elijah added. If Elijah knew his brother as well as he did, he knew Klaus wouldn't wait for another full moon to come around after all the centuries of trying to free himself of his curse.

"We found out a while back that the Sun and the Moon curse was fake," Stefan told the original from what they had learned from Darina's journal before he stated as he hoped Elijah would tell them more about the whole sacrifice and why it was even happening, "that it's actually just a curse placed on Klaus."

Elijah silently nodded his head as he affirmed what they already thought before the original further explained about the curse, "Klaus is a vampire born of a werewolf bloodline. The curse has kept his werewolf aspect from manifesting." Elijah glanced at the three faces around the room as he told the group the bad news, "but if he breaks it, he'll be a true hybrid."

The living room of the Salvatore boarding house grew silent after Elijah's words were spoken as Stefan and Elena both took a nervous glance at the human girl while Emily slowly exhaled as she stared at Elijah as she had already knew that this would happen. However, before anyone could say anymore, though, they were soon interrupted as the missing vampire stomped his way into the living room.

"Then why are we letting him break the curse?" The frustrated Damon Salvatore interrogated as he finally exited out of his bedroom after hearing the original go on and on. The blue eyed vampire released a loud huff as he took a seat on the couch beside his girlfriend before he tossed his arm over Elena's shoulder and muttered with a careless shrug, "we can kill him today - with Bonnie."

The two younger vampires in the living room, Stefan and Elena, both glared over at the older Salvatore's suggestion. While Stefan warned his brother as he uttered, "Damon," the Gilbert vampire hurriedly shook her head and exclaimed, "no. No way."

Emily rolled her green irises at the older Salvatore before she assured everyone in the room, "don't worry, guys. Bonnie isn't going to do that." The Gilbert girl shook her head before she also turned a hard glare over to Damon as she muttered, "I'm not gonna allow Bonnie to die for me."

Damon rose an eyebrow at the human doppelganger with an expression filled with half annoyance and half amusement. "But you're willing to die for us?" The older Salvatore interrogated in a hard voice, "how is that fair? How is that any better?"

The Gilbert girl released a heavy sigh as she realized, once again, she was getting nowhere with the blue eyed vampire. "This is my battle, Damon," the human doppelganger stated the obvious as she stared directly at the older Salvatore, "Klaus wants me and me only." Emily lightly shook her head before she added, "I'm not willing to let any of you guys die when you wouldn't be in this position if I wasn't the doppelganger."

Damon rolled his blue eyes at the human girl's explanation before he angrily began, "oh, give me a bre-"

However, before the older Salvatore could continue to argue with the human Petrova doppelganger, the younger brother interrupted Damon. The green eyed vampire couldn't even fathom the idea of his girlfriend dying as it made his insides turn in all of the wrong ways. "All right," Stefan mumbled as he subconsciously tightened the hand that he had on Emily's thigh before he asked the original, "how do we break this curse?"

"Well," Elijah began as he stood up from the leather chair that he had been sitting in before he explained how the sacrifice would work, "the ritual itself is relatively straightforward." The original moved his right hand in a circular motion as he pointed at each person in the room while he added, "the ingredients, so to speak, you already know."

Stefan nodded his head as they already knew that part. "The moonstone," the younger Salvatore mentioned the milky rock that they had spent weeks keeping out of Katherine's hand and weeks keeping it safe.

Elijah pointed over at the green eyed vampire as to tell Stefan that he was on the right track before he added what else his brother would need to break his curse, "a witch will channel the power of the full moon to release the spell that's bound within the stone." The original vampire released a small sigh before he also added, "after that, Klaus, being both werewolf and vampire, will sacrifice one of each."

Emily furrowed her brows slightly as she listened to the original explain the process of the sacrifice. "And where do I fit into this equation?" The Gilbert girl inquired as she and Elijah didn't really talk about the aspect of how things were going to take place.

Elijah gave the human doppelganger a small but comforting smile before he stated, "the final part of the ritual." The original vampire then silently moved over to the grand piano - where he had laid the supplies down when he had first arrived at the Salvatore boarding house. Elijah picked up a small black box that was only big enough to fit in the palm of his hand before he headed back to the group of vampires and the human doppelganger.

"Klaus must drink the blood of the doppelganger," Elijah began as he stared down at the small box before he focused his brown irises back onto Emily with sadness swirling around his orbs from the memory of the last doppelganger he watched die as he softly finished his sentence, "to the point of your death."

The vampire couple of Elena and Damon immediately turned their blue and brown eyes over to the human girl with worry displayed all across their tense bodies from this piece of information. Meanwhile, Stefan had placed his temple onto Emily's brown pea coat covered shoulder as he released a shaky deep breath.

Emily couldn't help but release a small sigh when she could practically feel her boyfriend shaking against her body. It absolutely crushed the human girl as she hated seeing Stefan like this. Emily honestly didn't know how she was supposed to comfort the green eyed vampire when there was nothing they could do to stop the sacrifice. So, instead, Emily did the one thing that she could as she softly ran her fingers through Stefan's brunette hair while she whispered soothingly every few seconds, "it's going to be alright. I love you. I'm not going anywhere. I got you."

Once the Gilbert girl couldn't feel Stefan's body shaking against her own, she moved her hand to link their fingers together before she finally placed her attention back onto the original. Emily watched as the original opened up the small black box before he pulled out the way to her safety - a small, golden vial of Radkova powers.

"What's that?" The Gilbert vampire questioned in confusion as she stared at the small glass container in the original's hand that reminded her of pixie dust or the magic wishing dust from 13 Going On 30.

"This is Maria's - the last Radkova witch's - powers," the original vampire explained as he stared at the contents of the glass vial. "Maria made a promise to Darina to protect the next doppelganger," Elijah stated as he looked at each face around the living room before he added with a small smile playing on his lips, "I've waited centuries to finally be able to give this to the next Petrova doppelganger and now the time has come."

Elena's brown irises couldn't help but widened at this aspect. "Wait, wait, wait," the Gilbert girl exclaimed as she waved her hand in the air and anxiously moved to the edge of the leather couch. "So, you never done this before?" Elena questioned the original with her brows furrowed together. Elena didn't like the idea that her twin sister would be the first one to experience this since there wasn't any proof that this would even work.

"No, I haven't," Elijah muttered as he nodded his head once and affirmed what the youngest vampire thought. "Emily will be the first in existence to die with magic powers in her system before it will, essentially, resuscitate her within twenty-four to seven-two hours," the original vampire further explained what he had already told the human girl.

Elena thickly swallowed as she glanced over to her twin sister with anxiety swimming through her brown irises. "So," the Gilbert vampire nervously began before she timidly asked as if she was afraid to hear the words out loud, "she's going to be dead?"

Elijah, once again, nodded his head before he assured every nervous vampire in the living room of the Salvatore boarding house as he stared solely at the human girl with a soft expression to hopefully keep her nerves down like he did yesterday, "and then she won't."

The older Salvatore looked at the original vampire with a look of disgust and confusion displayed all across his face. "That's your plan?" Damon interrogated as he glared over at the vial, "a magical witch potion with no expiration date?" The blue eyed vampire shook his head with a humorless chuckle before he focused his eyes onto the human doppelganger. "If you want to come back to life, what about John's ring?" Damon suggested as at least they would know that it would actually work.

The original immediately shook his head and shot down Damon's idea before the human girl could even say anything as Elijah stated, "those rings only work on humans." Elijah pointed over to Emily as he continued, "the doppelganger's a supernatural occurrence, so odds are, the ring won't work on her."

Damon carelessly shrugged his shoulders as he glanced between his girlfriend, his brother, and the human girl in question. "I'll take those odds over your supposedly voodoo magic," the older Salvatore exclaimed as he glared his bright blue irises over to the original before he focused back onto the Gilbert girl. "What if it doesn't work, Emily? What if you actually die?" Damon questioned as he stared at the girl, who he saw as his little, annoying sister.

Emily exhaled a small sigh before she calmly told her protective bodyguards, "I already accepted what could happen to me." It was the truth, too. Emily had previously been afraid of the idea of dying in the sacrifice but now, she was at peace with it if that became her fate. "Besides," Emily continued after a short pause, "I trust Elijah and Maria - and if they say this is going to work, then I believe them." The Gilbert girl glanced at each anxious and nervous face before she stated, "we just gotta trust that I'll come back to life when this is all over with."

The older Salvatore looked at Emily like she had completely gone batshit crazy. Damon knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with the human girl, so he moved his blue irises over to his girlfriend as he hoped she would be able to talk some sense into the doppelganger. "Lena?" The older Salvatore called out to his girlfriend, who was anxiously staring at her twin, before Damon questioned with a raise of his eyebrow, "you got anything you wanna tell your sister? Maybe how stupid she is being?"

Elena released a small sigh and briefly closed her brown eyes as she just tried to just understand this all. It was scary to imagine if her sister did actually die in the sacrifice. Elena trusted her twin sister completely and she would be on board with whatever Emily decided but the young vampire just had to make sure this was what her sister wanted.

"What if you do die, Emily? What if this magic doesn't bring you back?" The Gilbert vampire questioned as she stared at her twin sister with her brows pulled together. Elena hated the idea of trusting Elijah's plan - that had never been done before - but she would if this was really what Emily wanted to do. Elena would gladly follow her sister to the ends of the Earth but she wanted this to be Emily's decision and not because an original and a dead witch was pushing it on her.

Emily shot her worried sister a small smile as she assured Elena as she knew what was running through her sibling's mind, "this is what I want to do." The Gilbert girl glanced between the three worried vampires before she told all of them, "this is our best option, you guys. This is the only way that one else will get hurt." Emily shot the older Salvatore a pointed look as she furthered her point, "Bonnie won't have to use up all her magic and die in process and you guys will be safe as well."

The human Petrova doppelganger took a deep breath as she prepared herself for what she was about to say. "But," Emily began after a moment of silence, "if for some God awful reason that this doesn't work out like we wanted, then I will be dead. Forever." The Gilbert girl gave each vampire a small smile before she told them the brutal truth, "you guys will just have to accept that it's my fate."

Stefan couldn't stand this. He couldn't stand to hear anymore about the love of his life dying, so he didn't. The younger Salvatore didn't give anyone a chance to say anything else on the matter as he shot up from the leather couch and from his spot from beside Emily before he vamped his way up the wooden staircase and away from this Earth-shattering topic.

The Gilbert girl released a heavy sigh once her very human mind connected the dots after she heard the swoosh of her boyfriend leaving and the sounds of his heavy footsteps on the second floor of the boarding house. Emily didn't want the younger Salvatore to feel sad or angry when this could possibly be her last day as a normal person, so the brunette girl moved her gaze over to the original with a small smile before she uttered, "I'll be right back."

Elijah gave the human doppelganger a small nod before he told the Gilbert with a small smile of his own, "take your time." The original knew exactly what the younger Salvatore brother was feeling right now from his own experience of loving and caring for the girl with the same face as Emily Gilbert, so he knew it wasn't easy for Stefan to listen to everything he was saying.

"Thank you," Emily quickly muttered out and gave the original a large smile that showed her praise before she hurriedly jogged her way up the wooden staircase to find her boyfriend. The human doppelganger had immediately went to Stefan's bedroom but when she couldn't find him, Emily began opening random doors as she searched for the brunette vampire.

It took Emily a few tries but after a solid five minutes of opening and shutting doors, the Gilbert girl finally spotted her boyfriend standing in her second bedroom while he held a photo of them together in front of her dresser. Emily felt stupid that this wasn't the second room she looked into, but she didn't comment on it.

Instead, Emily silently walked into her bedroom and stood a few steps behind her boyfriend to see if he would say or do anything. However, though, when Stefan only continued to gaze down at the framed photo in his hands, the Gilbert girl took a deep breath before she mumbled out, "I thought you understood why I needed to do this after last night." Emily had thought that there wouldn't be anymore fighting with Stefan after he had said he was on board with hers and Elijah's plan.

"I did," Stefan quietly mumbled as he gazed down at his and Emily's smiling faces in the photo before he placed it back onto the tall dresser and slowly faced the human girl. "I do," the younger Salvatore corrected himself before he released a heavy sigh as he anxiously ran his fingers through his messy brunette hair. Stefan shook his head as he stared into the human girl's green irises before he continued, "but I just can't and you can't expect me to be okay after hearing over and over again that you will be dead, Emily. I literally can't stomach that thought."

Emily's heart practically broke from the sight of her boyfriend. "Hey, hey, hey," the human girl cooed as she quickly walked closer to the anxiety-ridden vampire before she tightly wrapped her arms around Stefan's waist as she tried to offer him some comfort. "I know it's hard to accept it but I'll come right back," Emily tried to assure her boyfriend, "I'll just be gone for three days or even less before I'll wake back up." The Gilbert girl pulled away slightly from Stefan's embrace before she lightly joked to ease the tension, "you won't even notice that I'm gone."

However, Emily didn't get the reaction that she was hoping for as the Salvatore vampire immediately pushed himself out of the human girl's arms before he questioned with a hint of disgust and anger in his voice, "how can you even joke around right now?" Stefan shook his head as he began to pace the length of Emily's bedroom before he practically screeched, "there's a chance that you won't come back, Emily!" Stefan then briefly closed his eyes as he slowly came to a stop before he mumbled, "and that thought absolutely scares the hell out of me."

The human Petrova doppelganger crossed her arms over her long brown coat as if she was trying to hold all of her cracked and broken pieces together while she watched Stefan with sadness swimming through her green irises. "I know," Emily softly whispered as she knew there was a slim possibility that she wouldn't come back to life after the sacrifice - and she had already accepted that.

The Gilbert girl slowly and cautiously walked closer to Stefan before she quickly pulled him back into her embrace before he had the chance to start his pacing again. Emily gently placed her head onto the vampire's cool chest - something she had come to love about him - before she whispered as she tried to get Stefan along with everyone else to realize that this was their best and only option, "we don't have a choice."

This time, Stefan finally accepted the human girl's embrace as he wrapped his arms around Emily's shoulders and the back of her head. The human and vampire couple stood like that for a few minutes filled with a relaxed silence as they took in the comfort from the other before Stefan slowly pulled back and stared into Emily's green eyes when he thought of a different plan. "What about vampirism?" Stefan timidly questioned as he knew that was always an option that would absolutely work.

Emily's green irises immediately widened at her boyfriend's suggestion before she gaped out, "what?" The Gilbert girl knew how much Stefan disliked being a vampire and how much he hated Damon for turning him into one, so Emily was definitely shocked that Stefan was even suggesting that. And in total honesty, that thought never even crossed Emily's mind. The Gilbert girl figured that had something to do with the fact that she had witchy magic already running through her veins.

"I-If I feed you my blood then we'll know for sure that you'll come back to us, to me," Stefan explained himself with his green eyes slightly widened from wanting to help keep his girlfriend alive while he ran his fingers down the length of Emily's brown coat covered arm. Stefan, even though he hated his vampirism, would gladly turn Emily if that was what she wanted to keep her here with him - and Stefan would gladly stand by her side and do everything in his power to make her happy each and every day of her immortality.

Emily silently stared into her boyfriend's green eyes for a short moment of silence as she thought about becoming a vampire before she finally shook her head. "I-I never thought about the idea of turning into a vampire," the Gilbert girl confessed, "and I don't think I could do it." Emily honestly didn't think she could make it out as a vampire. She didn't know if it was because of the magic already inside of her or because it was her 'destiny' to become the next Radkova witch but Emily just felt deep inside her that she wouldn't be happy as a vampire.

A deep frown immediately pulled onto the Salvatore vampire's face that was filled with nothing but obvious sadness. However, Stefan didn't fight the human girl on the matter. Instead, he slowly nodded his head before he quietly murmured, "it's okay. I understand." Stefan shot his girlfriend a tight smile before he placed a feather-like kiss onto Emily's forehead. Stefan may be upset that the human girl didn't agree to his idea but he would never force Emily into vampirism - even thought it would mean that he knew she would still be alive after the sacrifice.

"I'm sorry, Stef," the Gilbert girl apologized as she stared up into her boyfriend's forest green eyes with unshed tears in her own. Emily couldn't help but feel bad that she completely shut down Stefan's idea when he was only giving her way to survive the sacrifice but Emily just knew that she wouldn't be happy as a vampire.

"No, no," Stefan quickly muttered out before he grabbed both sides of the human girl's face and stared deeply into her green irises. "It's okay, baby," the Salvatore vampire assured his girlfriend before he told Emily, "it was a stupid idea but just know I would never force you into vampirism if it wasn't something you wanted." Stefan shot the Gilbert girl a soft smile before he uttered, "it was just an option that you could have."

Emily couldn't help but to release a heavy sigh before she silently nodded her head with a small smile playing on her lips from the fact that Stefan wasn't forcing her into being a vampire nor was he too upset that she wasn't willing to go through with the transition. The human Petrova doppelganger grabbed one of Stefan's hands on her cheek before she brought it to her chest and gave it a tight squeeze as she tried to assure her boyfriend, "I really do think Elijah's plan is going to work."

Stefan placed his lips against the human girl's temple before he quietly mumbled, "I know you do." The Salvatore vampire kept his lips pressed against Emily's warm skin as he absorbed the comfort that he always felt with the human girl before he muttered with a heavy sigh, "I believe in it, too, but I just needed a moment. There's just so many times that I can hear about you dying before I have to leave."

"I understand," Emily gently murmured as she squeezed her boyfriend's cold hand. "I know it's hard, so take all the time you need," the Gilbert girl told the Salvatore vampire before Emily placed both of her hands on either side of Stefan's neck and brought him down to her level. Emily placed a gentle kiss onto her boyfriend's lips before she rubbed her thumb along his cheek. "I love you and I'm not going anywhere," the Gilbert girl softly promised.

"I love you, too," Stefan whispered as he slowly closed his green eyes and leaned his head down onto Emily's neck as he absorbed her comfort. The Salvatore vampire then opened up his eyes after a solid three minutes of silence had passed between them before he pulled Emily into a passionate kiss that showed his fears along with his love for her.

"I'll be down in a few minutes," the Salvatore vampire promised once he finally pulled his lips away from the human girl's warm ones. Stefan honestly just needed to step back from all things sacrifice for a moment. It made Stefan wanna kidnap the doppelganger and take her to some far away country if it would keep her alive. It was just a lot to handle when his girlfriend was going to die tonight.

The Gilbert girl nodded her head in understanding before she quietly murmured, "okay." Emily gave her boyfriend a small smile before she pulled him into one last kiss that was filled with her emotions of love and confidence in what is going to happen. The human girl leaned her head against Stefan's chest for a moment before she slowly pulled away. "Everything's going to work out," Emily uttered one last comforting sentence before she silently turned around and headed back downstairs as she gave her boyfriend the space and time he needed.

The Gilbert vampire was the first one to turn her head towards the entrance of the living room when she heard her sister's soft footsteps. "You doing okay?" Elena worriedly questioned as she could see Emily's slumped shoulders and, of course, the missing presence of her twin's boyfriend.

Emily released a small sigh before she silently nodded her head and gave her sister a tight smile. "I'm fine," the Gilbert girl told her twin before she made her way over to the original vampire. Emily picked up the small vial of magic powers before she mumbled as she stared down at what would ultimately save her life, "I just wish you guys would understand why I need to do this."

The blue eyed vampire in the living room of the Salvatore boarding house released a loud scoff before he told the human girl, "fat chance, Princess." Damon rolled his bright but annoyed irises as he muttered before he gulped down his bourbon, "you're in the wrong universe if you think any of us will be okay with you dying."

The Gilbert vampire frowned as she looked over to her twin sister. "Why do you have to do this?" Elena questioned as she wanted to understand why Emily needed to do this - even though she absolutely hated the idea of her other half going through all of it.

"I'm the reason that Klaus is even here in Mystic Falls," the human girl stated the obvious, "Klaus is here because of me." Emily lightly shook her head before she stated with that Petrova fire soaring through her voice, "and I will be damned if I let him hurt any person I love and care about because he wants me."

Elena shook her head as she argued with what her twin sister thought, "but it's not. It could of been either of us." The Gilbert vampire pointed at herself as she made her point while she tried to ease this burden that her other half obviously felt, "if Katherine didn't turn me, Klaus could have been here for me."

Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders and muttered, "maybe so." The Gilbert girl then lifted up her point finger as she made her argument, "or maybe it would still be me." Emily handed the vial back over to the silent original as she stated, "I've had the Radkova witch blood in my system since the moment I was born, so maybe this is like destiny that it was always going to be me sacrificed."

Damon released another scoff at the human girl before he exclaimed, "that's horse shit if I ever heard any." The Salvatore vampire rolled his blue eyes as he muttered, "there is no destiny or fate. This is just a shitty situation no matter how you look at it."

"It is," the original vampire agreed with the older Salvatore with a small nod of his head about how this wasn't an ideal situation. Elijah silently rolled the golden vial around his right hand for a quiet moment before he also agreed with the human girl as he shot Emily a small smile, "but I do believe this is your destiny." The original placed the vial down onto the grand piano beside him before he moved to stand directly in front of the human Petrova doppelganger. "This is who you were meant to be," Elijah softly murmured after he gently placed his hand onto Emily's cheek before he rubbed his thumb across her warm skin.

The Gilbert and Salvatore vampire couple couldn't help but glance at one another along with the original and the human girl with their brows furrowed together. "Uh, you do realize she's dating my brother, right?" Damon questioned as he could see how soft Elijah was looking at his brother's girlfriend along with the gentle touches that he definitely shouldn't be showing the Gilbert girl.

However, before anyone else could comment on the moment or Emily could tell Damon and her sister about the connection and that Elijah meant it in a friendly way, they were all too soon interrupted when they all heard the front door of Salvatore boarding house being slammed along with a series of yelling.

Emily glanced over to her twin sister with a confused expression since everyone was in the living room and the younger Salvatore was upstairs. But when the Gilbert girl recognized her aunt's voice, she quickly jogged her way towards the foyer with the three other vampires following closely behind.

What the Gilbert twins, Damon, and Elijah saw surprised them greatly as Jenna, the newly involved resident of Mystic Falls into the hectic supernatural world, held a black crossbow at Alaric, who recently shared a body with the feared hybrid. "Get out!" The Sommers woman continued to shout as she shakily pointed the weapon at the man, who had ruined her innocence about what actually happens in her hometown.

"Jenna, put the crossbow down, okay?" Alaric desperately begged as he kept his hand in front of him to show the strawberry blonde woman that he wasn't going to hurt her. "It's me," the Saltzman man continued as he patted his chest with his right hand as he tried to get through to Jenna that he wasn't who she thought he was.

"Stay away from me," the strawberry blonde woman ordered in a quiet voice as she slowly backed away from the history teacher while she kept the deadly weapon locked onto Alaric's forehead.

The human Petrova doppelganger glanced at the three vampires behind her with her brows pulled together in confusion to what was going on before she took a small step towards Jenna and, supposedly, Alaric. However, Emily only had the chance to take one full step before the newly arrived Stefan wrapped his arm around the human girl's waist while he glared at Alaric - who he thought was still Klaus.

The Gilbert girl glanced back at her boyfriend with a small smile and a small nod of her head as she silently told him that she wouldn't get too close. Emily then focused back onto her aunt and history teacher when Stefan relaxed his arm before she questioned, "Jenna, what's going on?" The human doppelganger glanced at the two adults as she tried to figure out what the hell was going on, "what happened?"

"It's me! It's me, Emily!" The Saltzman man hurriedly exclaimed as he stared at the human girl. "You know me, Emily," the history teacher continued as he tried to get through to at least someone. "I swear, okay?" Alaric promised as he kept his hands raised for everyone to see that he meant no harm before he explained, "he let me go. Klaus let me go."

The two humans and the four vampires all cautiously glanced at one another to see what they were thinking since they didn't know what to believe when Klaus had been tricking them for so long while he hid in the vampire hunter's body. They didn't know if he was lying or not but the older Salvatore was the one to see if Alaric was who he said he is. "Prove it," Damon commanded as he crossed his arms over his black long sleeved shirt as he glared at the human man.

Alaric stared across at the Salvatore vampire for a moment before he released a heavy sigh when he realized that Damon was being serious. "I'm so going to regret this," Alaric mumbled, mostly to himself, before he faced the strawberry blonde woman to prove himself. "Okay, uh, the first night you and I spent together," the Saltzman man began one his embarrassing moments to his girlfriend, her nieces, the Salvatore brothers, and to an original, "Jeremy walked in right when I was about to-"

However, thankfully, before the vampire hunter could put his shame out into the world, the strawberry blonde quickly interrupted Alaric as Jenna practically shouted as she slowly lowered the crossbow down to her side, "okay, okay! It's him!"

The Gilbert twins couldn't help but look at one another with an expression filled with disgust and happiness that Alaric didn't get to finish that sentence as they did not want to be scarred for life from hearing about their aunt and history teacher's sex life.

A little awkward moment of silence settled into the foyer of the Salvatore boarding house for about a solid two minutes after Alaric's almost intimate tale before, thankfully, someone changed the topic. "Why did he let you go?" Stefan inquired as he furrowed his brows at the vampire hunter while he still had his arm protectively wrapped around his girlfriend's slim waist.

"He wanted me to deliver a message," Alaric stated as he stared over at the younger Salvatore before he slowly moved his blue eyes over to the human Petrova doppelganger. The Saltzman man released a heavy sigh before he passed on the message with sorrow leaking throughout his voice, "the sacrifice happens tonight."

Damon, once again, released another scoff for what seemed for the thousandth time before he muttered with a roll his blue eyes, "tell us something we didn't already know." The Salvatore vampire didn't wait for anyone to say anything more before he stomped his way back into the living room to grab another tumbler of bourbon.

The Gilbert girl released a heavy sigh as she watched Damon walk away from them before Emily focused back onto her shaken aunt. Emily gently pried the crossbow from Jenna and handed it off to her boyfriend before she told her aunt, "come on, Jenna." The human Petrova doppelganger looped her arm through the strawberry blonde woman's before she silently pulled Jenna into the living room with everyone else following closely behind. Emily then silently placed Jenna onto one of the couches before she linked their fingers together as to offer her aunt some comfort.

The Salvatore boarding house was silent as everyone got situated around the room before the Gilbert vampire anxiously asked her aunt as she stood in front of the couch that her twin and aunt were sitting on, "d-do you mind if I sit here, Jenna?" The Gilbert vampire had been doing what Emily told her to do by giving Jenna the space and time that she needed to accept that she was a vampire, so Elena wasn't exactly sure where they stood at the moment.

The Sommers woman slowly glanced over to her human niece, who gave her a small encouraging smile, before Jenna focused her hazel eyes back onto her vampire niece. "It's okay," Jenna softly whispered as she patted the seat next to her.

Elena couldn't help but feel this weight that immediately felt lifted from her shoulders at the fact that her aunt was even looking and speaking to her. The Gilbert vampire shot Jenna a small smile before she timidly took a seat on the far end of the couch as she tried to not get too close to her aunt as Elena didn't want to frighten Jenna even more than she already was at this point.

However, Jenna did something that surprised the youngest vampire as the strawberry blonde woman reached over the couch and grabbed ahold of Elena's hand. Jenna gave her vampire niece a small smile as she squeezed Elena's hand to show that she was okay with who she is. The Sommers woman could see, like Emily said she would, that Elena was still that same girl, who she watched grow up. Jenna just knew that she had to get used to the fact that her niece would be drinking blood instead of eating her crappy lasagnas.

The younger Salvatore lightly cleared his throat once everyone was situated in the living room - with him sitting on the arm rest beside Emily, Jenna sitting between her nieces, Damon standing by Elena's head with, of course, his bourbon in hand, Alaric sitting across from them, and, finally, Elijah standing right behind Emily, something Stefan didn't exactly like. "So, you don't remember anything that happened?" Stefan questioned the vampire hunter as they tried to understand what Alaric knew and remembered when Klaus was in his body.

The Saltzman man shook his head as he released a heavy sigh. "No," Alaric mumbled in disappointment before he explained how he felt while the hybrid was in his body, "it's like I blacked out and woke up three days later." The vampire hunter tiredly ran his fingers through his short hair as he was bent over with his elbows resting on his knees before he quickly looked up at everyone as he remembered something. "Katherine was there, too," Alaric mentioned as he remembered seeing the doppelganger at his apartment.

Stefan nodded his head as they already knew about that aspect. "She's under compulsion," the younger Salvatore told the vampire hunter before he informed the history teacher, "Damon snuck her some vervain but she can't leave until Klaus tells her she can."

Emily's green eyes immediately widened as she looked over to her boyfriend at this new piece of information. The Gilbert girl couldn't help but to feel relieved and happy that Katherine wasn't dead like they all thought she would be after Klaus took her. Emily truly cared for her doppelganger's sister, so she was quite glad that Katherine was still breathing. She just hoped that the vervain would work and she can escape from Klaus' grasp.

The living room of the Salvatore boarding house slowly lulled down to a calm silence as everyone in the room were too wrapped in their thoughts before the silence was broken by the previous body bag for the dangerous hybrid. "So, what else did I do?" Alaric curiously wondered as he tried to understand what he had done and what has been going on for the last three days.

"Oh, you know," the older Salvatore began with a careless shrug of his shoulders before he sarcastically told one half of his drinking buddies before he took another large gulp of his bourbon, "just terrorizing a small village, almost killing our witch, just the usual."

The Saltzman man's blue irises instantly widened at the mention of the local witch. "Jesus," Alaric mumbled as he briefly closed his bright eyes before he worriedly and timidly asked, "is Bonnie alright?"

"Bonnie's one hundred percent fine," Elena quickly assured the vampire hunter before she stated after she slapped her boyfriend's chest and shot Damon a glare, "she's safe with Jeremy." The Gilbert vampire knew Damon was feeling annoyed and irritated with her twin's decisions but that didn't mean he could take it out on Alaric and make him feel bad when he didn't even know what he was doing to begin with. It wasn't Alaric's fault that the hybrid chose his body.

Alaric released a breath of relief from the fact that he didn't actually hurt the young witch. The Saltzman man then slowly moved his blue irises around the living room before he questioned since he's basically been in the dark for the past couple of days, "is there anything else I should know?"

The Sommers woman timidly raised her arm in the air before she meekly informed her boyfriend, "well, uh, you did uncover the supernatural world to me and now I'm having constant nightmares."

Alaric's blue eyes instantly widened in shock and disbelief at what the hybrid did in his body. "Oh, Jenna, I am so so sorry," the Saltzman man hurriedly apologized as he moved his body to the edge of the leather chair that he was sitting in. "I never meant to hurt you," Alaric continued to apologize, "or even keep things from you. I just wanted to keep you safe."

Jenna shot her boyfriend a small smile as she softly murmured, "I know." The Sommers woman glanced between her two nieces on either side of her before she added, "I understand that now." Jenna had honestly been pissed and sad that no one told her about what was going on in Mystic Falls but she was slowly realizing that they were just trying to keep her protected - even though that should be her job.

"C-Can we talk?" The Saltzman man anxiously questioned before he added as he could feel all of the eyes on him, "In private, I mean." Alaric rubbed his palms against his knees as he told Jenna, "I don't want this to ruin us. I want to tell you everything and answer any question you may have."

The Sommers woman smiled softly across at the vampire hunter before she nodded her head and murmured in agreement, "I'd like that."

The vampires and the human doppelganger all silently watched as Alaric and Jenna walked towards the kitchen to talk in private before the older Salvatore sarcastically exclaimed, "well, that was fun." Damon then silently stood up from his stance beside his girlfriend before he went to pour himself another glass of bourbon to help cope with the hell that they were in right now.

No one even reacted or flinched to Damon's comment like it was his usual thing or if he was that annoying drunk uncle that only came around during the holidays. No one reacted because they all knew this was just how Damon was dealing with the fact that someone, who he saw as his little sister, was supposed to die then come back to life as some strong witch. It was very nerve wrecking to even think about for the older Salvatore.

The next voice to break the silence happened to be the original standing behind the human doppelganger as Elijah lightly cleared his throat before he stated, "I should be going." Elijah gently placed his hand onto Emily's coat covered shoulder and gave it a small squeeze before he moved to stand in front of the vampires and the human girl. "I have some last minute errands to run before tonight," Elijah explained as he stared into Emily's green irises.

The Gilbert girl nodded her head in understanding before she slowly stood up from the couch. "I'll walk you out," Emily stated before she turned to her boyfriend and gave Stefan's hand a small squeeze to tell him that she was going to be okay since he had squeezed her thigh when she mentioned that she was going to walk Elijah out.

It took a few seconds of Stefan staring into his girlfriend's eyes before he released a tense sigh and gave Emily a small nod as he trusted that she would be okay. Emily gave the Salvatore vampire along with her also worried twin sister a small, assuring smile before she followed after Elijah as they exited out of the living room and headed towards the foyer in a comfortable silence.

Once they reached the front door, the original opened the large piece of wood but he didn't exit. Instead, Elijah turned around and faced the human girl with a soft smile playing on his lips. "How are you doing?" The original gently inquired as he could only imagine how Emily was feeling after having to listen to what is going to happen to her after how anxious she was yesterday when she heard it for the first time. It had to be a lot for the human doppelganger to handle.

Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders as if she wasn't bothered by anything in the world before she confessed how she truly felt with a small chuckle escaping through her lips, "nervous."

Elijah shot the Gilbert girl a small smile before he gave her shoulder a light squeeze as he silently offered her some much needed comfort. "We're going to finish this once and for all," the original vampire promised the human Petrova doppelganger, "this ends and begins with you, the newest witch of Mystic Falls."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help the warm blush that lifted onto her tan cheeks from the fact that she was going to be a witch. Emily released a small chuckle before she told the original as she rubbed the back of her neck, "I guess I'll have to get used to that." The human doppelganger still felt nervous and anxious about becoming the next Radkova witch but it wasn't like she had much of a choice when it was going to save her life and everyone believed that she was supposed to become this strong witch.

"You'll be fine," Elijah promised, once more, as he gave the human girl's shoulder another squeeze before he slowly settled his arm down by his side. "We'll defeat Klaus then you'll become the strongest witch in existence," the original vampire stated before he assured the doppelganger, "this is what you were meant for, Emily Gilbert."

The human Petrova doppelganger silently nodded her head as she swallowed down the large lump in her throat. Emily felt absolutely anxious about having all of this weighing down on her shoulders as she felt like it would be her fault if people died if their plan didn't work or it would be her fault if she didn't live up to her potential and couldn't be the this great witch that Maria wanted her to be.

The original vampire could see that Emily was mentally going through the ringer by the way her green eyes weren't focusing on anything in particular and the way her body was completely tense. "It's going to work out. Everything's going to be okay," Elijah assured the Gilbert girl with a soft smile shining across his lips.

"You should rest, though," the original vampire told the human doppelganger after a moment of silence had settled between them. Elijah rose his hand and grazed his thumb against Emily's cheek before he gently told her, "and I advise you to drink the vial as soon as you can with the sacrifice taking place by the end of tonight."

The Gilbert girl silently nodded her head understanding with a tiny and relaxed smile playing on her lips before she walked into Elijah's arms and surprised the original as she tightly wrapped her arms around Elijah's waist. "Thank you," Emily quietly whispered as she showed her praise for basically everything that Elijah had done for her since he arrived in Mystic Falls.

The original vampire couldn't help but to be shocked and frozen for a few seconds before he released a content sigh as he slowly wrapped his arms around the human girl's shoulders and the back of her head. "You don't have to thank me," Elijah murmured after a moment of silence before he stated, "this is your fate, Emily."

The Gilbert girl lightly shrugged her shoulders once she pulled herself out of the original's embrace before she mumbled with a small chuckle, "well, thank you, anyway."

Elijah released his own chuckle before he uttered with an amused smile playing on his lips, "well, then, you're welcome." The original stared across at the human girl for a moment as he took in her familiar features before he uttered his farewell with a simple nod of his head, "I'll see you soon, enchantress."

Emily bit down on her bottom lip for a moment she quietly whispered, mostly to herself, as she watched as the original slowly closed the large wooden door behind him, "bye." The Gilbert girl then immediately released a heavy sigh once she was all alone - and she absolutely hated it. Emily, now that she was alone, was lost her thoughts about what was going to happen.

The whole witchy aspect still frightened the human girl. Emily wasn't afraid of dying - she already accepted that it might happen - nor was she afraid of becoming witch. The Gilbert girl just felt afraid that she was going to fail. There was just so much pressure on her - pressure from over six hundred years ago - from everyone expecting her to be this great and powerful witch but Emily didn't even know if she would be able to live up to Elijah, Katherine, Darina, and Maria's expectations.

"Hey," the soft voice of the younger Salvatore called out as he stood right in front of his girlfriend, who hadn't heard his footsteps nor did she hear the first three times that he had called to her. "Are you alright?" Stefan worriedly questioned as he gently placed his hand onto Emily's shoulder.

The Gilbert girl instantly tensed at the touch on her shoulder and jumped at the sound of the Salvatore vampire's voice - which finally knocked her out of her running thoughts - before she gave her boyfriend a tight smile. "I'm fine," Emily lied as she was far from okay right now when she was supposed to die and become a witch in a span of a few hours.

"Hey," the Salvatore vampire gently cooed before he told Emily, "you know you can tell me anything, right?" Stefan could obviously tell by his girlfriend's tense figure that she wasn't fine. Hell, he wasn't fine himself and Stefan wasn't even the one involved in the sacrifice.

Emily stared into her boyfriend's soft green eyes before she finally released a heavy sigh - which also released all the tension in her body - as she knew Stefan was right and that she didn't have to keep everything bottled up. The Gilbert girl gave the Salvatore vampire a small smile - instead of the fake one she had gave to hide her fears - before she mumbled out how she really felt with a small chuckle, "I feel like I'm going to puke every time I open my mouth."

The human Petrova doppelganger soon grew serious when Stefan didn't laugh at her horrible way of avoiding her feelings as she mumbled so quietly that if Stefan didn't have enhanced hearing, he wouldn't have been able to hear her, "I'm scared."

Emily had never been one of those people to admit she was scared. In fact, Emily, all through her life, had never admitted that she was scared of anything. Not when she afraid that there were monsters underneath her bed or in her closet when she was a child. Not when she broke her arm as a young teenager. Not when she was introduced to vampires. Not when she was kidnapped by Rose and Trevor. Not when she found out that she's a doppelganger. And not even when she found out the biggest vampire in the world was after her.

However, as of right now, Emily Gilbert was scared out of her mind. She was scared of what was going to happen. No, Emily wasn't scared of the whole sacrifice and dying but she was scared of what came after it.

"Talk to me," the Salvatore vampire practically begged as he could see the turmoil running throughout Emily's green eyes with sorrow filled in his own. "Why are you scared?" Stefan gently questioned as he rubbed his hands comfortingly down the human girl's as if he was trying to keep her warm through her heavy coat.

Emily stared into the Salvatore vampire's green irises for a moment before the Gilbert girl briefly closed her own as she took a deep breath. "I'm scared I won't be me anymore," the human Petrova doppelganger finally confessed once she looked back up to her boyfriend with tears clouding her usually bright eyes.

"Oh, babe," the Salvatore vampire cooed as his heart practically split in half from hearing Emily's sadness and seeing her teary eyes. "Everything's going to be okay," Stefan softly murmured as he brought the human girl into his chest and squeezed her body into his for dear life.

Stefan held his girlfriend in his arms for a few minutes of silence as he comforted the human girl before he pulled back a bit to bring his hand to Emily's cheek. The Salvatore vampire stared deeply into the Gilbert girl's green eyes before he made a promise, "I won't let you lose yourself. You're going to get throu-"

However, before Stefan could finish what he wanted to say to help make his girlfriend feel better, the human Petrova doppelganger interrupted him as she exclaimed, "you can't promise that, though." Emily released a heavy sigh before she explained her fears, "you don't know what being a witch will do to me."

Stefan lightly shrugged his shoulders as he rubbed his thumb from underneath the human girl's brown coat on her bare hips. "Maybe I don't," the Salvatore vampire muttered.

Emily rolled her green eyes as she huffed out, "that's not very helpful."

The Salvatore vampire released a small chuckle before he questioned with an amused grin shining across his lips and an amused tint to his green eyes, "will you let me finish?"

The Gilbert girl pouted out her bottom lip for the way that her boyfriend had basically scolded her but she ended up nodding her head in agreement, anyway. The action of the human doppelganger made the Salvatore vampire chuckle before he placed a quick kiss to her cute and pouty lips.

"If anything happens, I promise you I will pull back no matter what happens and no matter the cost," Stefan stated once he grew serious and stared deeply into the human girl's green irises. "I'm going to be by your side all the way through, you know, your witchy transition," the Salvatore vampire swore, "you will not be alone, ever."

Emily immediately felt her body finally relax as she released a small sigh. The Gilbert girl felt safe and actually comforted by Stefan's words. It gave her the strength that maybe she would survive this and actually become that strong witch that everyone wanted her to be with Stefan standing by her side. "Okay," Emily softly whispered in agreement before she laid her head onto the Salvatore vampire's chest as she absorbed the strength and comfort that Stefan's body gave her.

The human and the vampire couple stayed in that position for a few comfortable minutes with Stefan softly running his fingers through Emily's brunette hair before he spoke. "Go put your shoes on," the Salvatore vampire gently commanded before he stated, "I wanna take you somewhere."

Emily couldn't help but furrow her brows in confusion as she pulled her head away from the vampire's chest. "Go where?" The Gilbert girl wondered before she joked, "you do I know I have a date with a hybrid soon."

"Yeah, I know," Stefan mumbled with sadness trailing throughout his voice from the thought of what was going to happen tonight. "And it's a surprise," the Salvatore vampire told the human girl as he pushed away any and all thoughts of the sacrifice before he promised, "I'll have you back before the full moon arrives."

The Gilbert girl stared into Stefan's green eyes for a moment as she tried to see if he was going to try to ruin the sacrifice by taking her away but when she only found honesty, Emily nodded her head in agreement before she placed her head back onto Stefan's cool chest.

However, though, as they stood there in each other's arms, Emily realized that she should do something before the sacrifice took place. So with her idea in mind, the Gilbert girl tilted her head up and looked into her boyfriend's green eyes before she requested, "can we push it back a few hours, though?"

The Salvatore vampire was now the confused one. "Why?" Stefan wondered as he knew the human girl didn't exactly have any plans anytime soon with the whole being a witch thing happening tonight.

"I-I think I should say goodbye to everyone," Emily confessed to what she wanted to do.

Stefan's green eyes immediately widened before he hurriedly exclaimed, "woah. Hey, hey, hey." The Salvatore vampire slid his hands up to grab Emily's face before he stated, "you aren't dying tonight - well, you are, but you'll be coming back." Stefan shook his head as he got rid of his jumbled thoughts before he assured his girlfriend, "I believe in the plan and you'll come back to us. You're going to be just fine, babe."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help the amused chuckle that slipped through her lips from the fact that her boyfriend was beginning to panic. "I'm sorry," Emily giggled before she grew serious as she stated, "No, I know. I believe in the plan, too." The human Petrova doppelganger lightly shrugged her shoulders before she explained herself, "I just want to say goodbye to everyone encase something does happen - either I don't wake up or this witch thing ends up making me crazy." Emily shot her boyfriend a small smile before she stated, "I just want to be at peace before I go into the sacrifice."

The Salvatore vampire didn't say anything. Instead, Stefan leaned his head onto the human girl's shoulder before he simply nodded his head in agreement to meeting in a few hours. Stefan didn't think he had any words at the moment when he absolutely hated the idea of watching his girlfriend say goodbye to her loved ones as if she wasn't coming back.

Emily let the green eyed vampire stay against her shoulder for a moment as she gave her boyfriend all the time that he needed to calm down before the human doppelganger lifted Stefan's head with her point finger on his chin. The Gilbert girl shot Stefan a small smile and a quick peck onto his lips before she promised, "I'll meet you at the Grill at twelve then you can show me your surprise."

"Deal," the Salvatore vampire agreed as he knew that this was just something that Emily needed to do for herself and her peace of mind. Stefan leaned down and placed a soft kiss into the human girl's lips as he gently rubbed the back of his hand across her cheek. The Salvatore vampire stared deep into Emily's green eyes before he whispered, "I love you so much."

A soft smile immediately rose onto Emily's lips at her boyfriend's honest words before she whispered right back, "I love you, too." The Gilbert girl placed another kiss onto Stefan's soft lips before she promised him a moment later, "I'm not going anywhere. You are stuck with me forever, Mr. Salvatore."

Stefan grinned right back at his girlfriend before he murmured and pulled the Gilbert girl into another kiss that was filled with so much love and passion, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Ms. Gilbert."

Emily's green eyes practically shined as she stared into the Salvatore vampire's forest green ones that always made her feel at home no matter what was going on around them. Emily knew that today was going to be a long and tiring one but with Stefan by her side, the Gilbert girl felt it in her soul that everything was going to be okay.


	66. Goodbye

_For the past few years, I've been just letting life past me by._

 _I haven't been happy with my life as a twenty-two year old but that all changes in 2020._

 _This year, I'm going to be selfish._

 _I'm going to focus on me._

 _I'm going to focus on finally getting my drivers license._

 _I'm going to focus on getting a job._

 _I'm going to focus on getting my GED and starting college._

 _I'm going to focus on my health and get to the point where I am happy with my body._

 _So, as of right now, I'm going to be taking a writing hiatus. I want to thank everyone who has ever even read a sentence of work. It means a lot to have someone who enjoyed my writing._

 _I promise to be back one day, but until we say each other again._

 _Goodbye_

 _xoxo Emily_


	67. The One With The Goodbyes

Emily Gilbert easily and carelessly strolled around downtown Mystic Falls as if she didn't have a care in the world while she glanced at the familiar people and the familiar buildings - when, in fact, that was far from the truth with her looming witch status and death waiting for her.

It had been quite an emotional day for the Petrova doppelganger on her last day as a human. After Emily had told her boyfriend that she wanted to say goodbye to everyone - just encase everything didn't go their way - the Gilbert girl had taken her aunt out for brunch at Mo's Mystic Spot that served the best chocolate chip pancakes in all of Mystic Falls, Virginia.

The strawberry blonde woman already knew about everything that was going to happen tonight from what her nieces and Alaric had told her, so Emily and Jenna just spoke as if there wasn't a sacrifice happening in a few short hours. The aunt and niece duo just chatted about their favorite memories together and only enjoyable and happy topics like their favorite movies, new released songs, and different moments in their lives that had them laughing from their favorite memories.

There was a few tears every now and again whenever Jenna or Emily couldn't help but suddenly remember what was going to happen tonight and what it would mean for the human Petrova doppelganger. However, the orange and blueberry mimosas along with the warm chocolate chip pancakes definitely helped and made it a very happy outing for the aunt and niece duo.

Emily ended up staying with her favorite strawberry blonde for as long as she could but when it reached the second hour mark, the Gilbert girl, sadly, had to say goodbye to her aunt as she still had a few more people who she needed to see before the full moon. The human Petrova doppelganger ended up dropping Jenna off at the Gilbert residence - since she was the one who drove from the Salvatore boarding house - before Emily headed over to the old witch house where her brother and her witchy best friend were staying for the time being.

It had been a little bit creepy for Emily to be at the location of where a hundred witches had died - especially when their voices had kept popping into her head. It ended up becoming a bit too much that the Gilbert girl, Jeremy, and Bonnie moved and sat out on the old witch house's porch, so Emily could actually hear herself think.

The gathering of her youngest sibling and her best friend, immediately went more smoothly once the witches had stopped yelling in her head about different topics that she didn't really understand most of the time. It was hard for Emily to comprehend what the deceased witches were saying, but the one thing that did get repeated the most was some type of Hebrew prophecy for the Protectors of the Innocence. It completely confused Emily since she knew that she was the last Protectors of the Innocence, but the Gilbert girl decided to not worry about some ancient prophecy when today was about saying goodbye.

So, instead of worrying about something that probably didn't mean anything for her ears, Emily focused on her youngest sibling and her best friend. However, unlike with Jenna, the three teenagers did talk about the looming sacrifice that was only hours away. Jeremy had wanted to know everything that his sister had found out from the original - since he and Bonnie had been mostly in the dark about what was happening - so Emily spent half of her time explaining all about how she was supposed to become this strong witch.

The topic of becoming a witch then lead into the Gilbert and Bennett best friends to spend the rest of their time together talking about what would happen to Emily once she would become a member of the supernatural world. Bonnie also went into detail about how it felt to be a witch from her own experience before she made a promise to help Emily through her transition as best as she could.

Emily spent a good two hours explaining everything that she had recently learned to Jeremy and talking about being a witch with Bonnie but she also spoke about the good in their lives. The Gilbert girl didn't want her last human moment with her youngest sibling and one of her best friends to be all about business, so Emily also shared a few laughs with the duo about their childhood and happy memories.

Sadly, though, when the Gilbert girl received a text message from her twin sister and noticed that it was already ten in the morning, Emily decided to say her goodbyes as she knew that there was still a few people who she needed to say her farewells to before she was supposed to meet up with her boyfriend. It took close to about ten to fifteen minutes of Bonnie and Jeremy saying goodbye to her before Emily had to force herself to leave to meet up with her twin before she got too emotional again.

The Gilbert girl ended up meeting Elena at the local movie theater in town at the request of the Gilbert vampire like the text message at mentioned. Emily was pleasantly surprised and equally happy, though, when Elena told her that they would be watching their favorite movie - Scream - at one of their favorite places growing up.

It meant a lot to Emily to spend some alone time with her twin sister while watching their comfort movie - after Elena had compelled the employee to play the old film. It felt like everything was alright for those one hour and fifty-one minutes as the Gilbert twins practically clung to each other while they shared a bag of Hershey Kisses. It made Emily feel like everything would be alright - despite everything that was going on right now - and Emily definitely needed that today.

Now, though, the human Petrova doppelganger was currently on her way to see the last important person in her life and one of her best friends - Caroline Forbes. The blonde vampire had texted Emily right after she had said her very emotional goodbye with her twin sister to meet at Mystic Park - where they used to go when they were small kids.

Emily took a quick pause and a deep breath once she finally spotted Mystic Park as she tried to stay calm after the emotional day that she has had with her loved ones. The Gilbert girl knew that saying goodbye to her bestest friend was going to be a close second to saying goodbye to her twin sister - even though she knew that she would most likely come back to life.

However, Emily knew it was so emotional for her because she was still afraid that she wouldn't be herself after the sacrifice as a witch. The Gilbert girl just felt deep inside that something was going to happen to her and it scared Emily so damn much that she actually felt that this would be the last happy memory with her loved ones. Emily knew her boyfriend promised that he would make sure that she didn't go crazy but Emily still couldn't help but think about all the bad and wrong things that could happen. It was just this feeling that she felt that just wouldn't go away.

"OOF!" The Gilbert girl gasped out when she suddenly felt a tight hold around the back of her head and her shoulders along with pulling her out of her thoughts. Emily only had a second to panic that it was Klaus before she smelled the familiar Chanel Chance that her best friend always wore before the brunette girl tightly wrapped her arms around Caroline's waist with a sigh of relief that she didn't know she was holding in.

"Oh, Emmie," the Forbes vampire mumbled as she pressed her face into the shorter girl's strawberry scented brunette hair while she tightened her hold onto her best friend as if that would stop the tears from building in her blue eyes.

"It's going to be okay," Emily softly promised to her best friend as she also tightened her hold around the vampire's waist but just not as tightly as the supernatural being. Emily honestly felt like she was being pushed into the blonde's chest by how tight Caroline was holding her but Emily didn't mind when she knew that Caroline needed this right now.

"I don't want you to go," Caroline mumbled as she closed her blue eyes with her chin resting onto her best friend's temple. The Forbes vampire absolutely hated what was going on right now. She had been filled in with what was going on only a few hours ago from Stefan and it broke her heart to know what her best friend would have to go through tonight. "M-Maybe I can kidnap you and take you to Mexico," Caroline quietly suggested after a moment had settled between them as she felt she just had to do something.

The highly emotional Gilbert girl couldn't help but immediately burst out into laughter at her best friend's suggestion. Emily slowly pulled herself out of the Forbes vampire's hold before she smiled brightly at her best friend with amusement shining throughout her green irises. "You know we can't do that, Care," the Gilbert girl softly murmured before she uttered what they all knew, "Klaus would just follow me until he got his way."

The Forbes vampire titled her head up so she was staring at the bright white clouds in the sky while she tried to keep her frustrated tears at bay. "This sucks," Caroline mumbled while she could feel the warm tears blocking her vision as she thought about the possibility of losing the most important person in her life.

The Gilbert girl reached across and tightly grabbed ahold of her best friend's hand before she quietly agreed, "I know, Care Bear." The human Petrova doppelganger gave the blonde vampire's hand a small squeeze to gain her attention before Emily shot her best friend a comforting smile. "We're going to be okay, though," Emily stated as she tried to assure the Forbes vampire before she added with a small chuckle, "I'm just going to die for a bit then I'll be right back."

"Don't joke about that," Caroline immediately begged as she frustratingly wiped the tears that were constantly trailing down her cold cheeks. "I can't stand the idea of not having my best friend in my life for even a second," the Forbes vampire mumbled as she hurriedly shook her head as if that would stop Emily from being taken from her tonight.

"Oh, Care," the Gilbert girl cooed as she felt her heart break at the sight of her best friend. "I'm sorry," Emily apologized as she squeezed the blonde vampire's hand before she explained herself, "but you know this is how I handle my stress." The human Petrova doppelganger lightly shrugged her coat-covered shoulders before she joked with the tiniest of smiles playing on her lips, "humor is my only defense."

Caroline, however, didn't find that to be the slightest bit true as she exclaimed, "shut up!" The Forbes vampire lightly giggled at Emily's widened green eyes before she stated with a soft smile shining across her pink lips, "you are amazing. You stand up for your loved ones and face off against some of the strongest vampires on a daily basis." Caroline slowly shook her head as she gave her best friend's hand a small squeeze before she continued to express herself, "humor is not your only defense. You are so strong and badass like all the time - and you're my hero, Emmie."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but immediately blush beet red from Caroline's praising of her and, of course, Emily ruined the moment as she pushed against the blonde vampire's hard shoulder. "Alright," Emily exclaimed with an embarrassed chuckle, "you are the one that needs to shut up now." The human Petrova doppelganger lightly shrugged her shoulders when Caroline gave her a pointed look before she stated, "I just do what is right. It's nothing important like you are making it out to be. I just do what I can as a human."

"Bull crap!" The Forbes supernatural being practically screeched - which caused a few parents with their children to glare over at her. Caroline ignored the families, though, as she told her best friend, "you have saved me - a vampire - more times than I can count." The blonde vampire smiled brightly at Emily as she confessed, "you are who I strive to be as a person. Someone who doesn't even think twice about running into danger for her loved ones." Caroline shot the human girl a small smirk before she exclaimed, "you're my hero, so shut up and let me appreciate and love you."

Emily shook her head with an amused chuckle slipping through her lips at the way that her best friend was pouting at her. "Alright, fine," the Gilbert girl exclaimed as she silently promised that she wasn't going to argue with the Forbes vampire anymore on the matter. Emily just wasn't big on being praised when she was only doing what she thought was right but she would let Caroline have this for today.

"Good," Caroline cheered with her mouth stretched into a wide smile and her shiny white pearls fully on display before she exclaimed with a cheeky grin, "because I was just about to smother you with my love if you didn't agree with how amazing and important you are to all of us."

The Gilbert girl let a small and embarrassed groan escape through her lips at the continued praise and the burning blush to her cheeks. Emily didn't like the attention that she was getting as it just felt like it wasn't important when anyone would do the same as her, so the human Petrova doppelganger tried to move away from her 'heroism' actions as she sarcastically exclaimed with her own grin, "oh, we wouldn't want that."

The two best friends of the Gilbert girl and the Forbes vampire chuckled for a short moment before all sounds came to a stop, except for the people walking around Mystic Park, as they stared at one another in a calm silence. The tranquility lasted for a full two minutes before Caroline mumbled with a frown to her pink lips, "I don't want to let you go." The Forbes vampire squeezed her best friend's hand before she continued, "you're my sister. This is going to kill me."

"Oh, Care," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she felt her heart, once again, immediately break at the blonde vampire's words. The Gilbert girl hated that Caroline felt like she was suffering, so Emily did the only thing that she could as she pulled her best friend into another tight embrace. "Everything is going to work out," Emily promised as she rested her forehead onto the taller girl's shoulder.

The two best friends stayed in that spot for a few calm minutes as they comforted and embraced one another before Emily slowly pulled away with a wide grin pulled onto her lips. "We're sisters," the human Petrova doppelganger stated the obvious about what she saw Caroline as before the brunette girl teasingly told the blonde vampire, "you can't get rid of me that easily."

Caroline instantly released a chuckle with her own grin shining across her pink lips that was filled with nothing but love for the shorter girl across from her. "I'll never want to get rid of you," the Forbes vampire assured the Gilbert girl before she exclaimed, "we're stuck together forever."

Emily couldn't help the wide smile that rose onto her face from her best friend's words before she softly murmured, "I wouldn't have it any other way." The Gilbert girl didn't even have to say anything to Caroline once the park grew silent before the two girls, once again, came together for one more tight embrace that showed all the love that they had for one another.

The Gilbert girl and the Forbes vampire stayed in that position as the two best friends absorbed the other's comfort before Emily slowly peeled herself from Caroline with a small sigh. "I should get going," Emily mumbled, even though it was the last thing that she wanted to do right now, before she explained to the pouting blonde with a sarcastic tone to her words, "I need to meet up with Stef before the moon begins to rise and Klaus comes to collect his prize."

The Forbes vampire couldn't help but frown at her best friend's words like it was something normal for her to be taken by a vampire to die in a sacrifice. However, Caroline knew this was just how the Gilbert girl coped with things, so she didn't comment on it. Instead, Caroline released her own sigh with a pout settled deeply onto her face as it pained her to have to say goodbye to her best friend, her sister when she knew what the human girl was going to go through tonight and Caroline absolutely hated to imagine Emily in pain like that.

The Forbes vampire, however, didn't get to say goodbye to the Gilbert girl, though, when she suddenly remembered for the reason that she had asked Emily to meet out at Mystic Park. "I have something that you need to see first!" Caroline exclaimed before she didn't even give the brunette girl a chance to respond as she swiftly wrapped her cold fingers around Emily's wrist and pulled her further into the vast park of their childhood.

"Care!" The Gilbert girl yelped in surprise when the blonde vampire had her basically running and dodging through the trees as if she was Curious George. "What's going on?" Emily quickly questioned a minute later when she was almost smacked in the face with a large branch that was swinging through the chilly Virginia air while she simultaneously tried to keep up with Caroline's fast footsteps.

The Forbes vampire giggled at the confusion in her best friend's voice. "Just you wait!" Caroline exclaimed with a whole lot of excitement in her voice for the surprise that she had for the Gilbert girl.

Emily couldn't help but roll her green eyes and release a loud groan of annoyance at the fact that the blonde vampire wasn't giving her the answer that she wanted. However, thankfully for the human Petrova doppelganger, Emily's annoyance only lasted a few minutes more of dodging and weaving trees before Caroline finally pulled her to a stop in front of a familiar spot in the middle of the woods at Mystic Park.

The Gilbert girl immediately furrowed her brows after she took a step away from Caroline and slowly walked in a circle in the clearing and she took notice of the old tree where she and Tyler used to always go to when they were feeling upset or needed some comfort from one another. Emily stared across at the oak tree with a frown embedded all across her face as it made her think of her best friend, who had left Mystic Falls to be with his fellow wolves, for the first time in awhile.

It wasn't that Emily didn't miss the Lockwood teenager - she absolutely did - but with everything that has been going on with Klaus, it was hard to focus on anything but all the sacrifices, doppelgangers, and originals. However, now that she was staring at hers and Tyler's meeting spot, Emily couldn't help but miss her best friend more than usual.

The Gilbert girl had to forcefully shake her head after a full solid three minutes had passed to get rid of her saddened thoughts about her missing best friend before she turned around and faced the Forbes vampire. Emily was still confused to why there out this far and how Caroline even knew about this spot in the first place. "What are we d-" the Gilbert girl began to question before her green eyes instantly widened when she saw who was standing next to the blonde vampire.

"Surprise!" The person who Emily had just been thinking about loudly exclaimed with a wide smile pulled onto his lips at the sight of his bestest friend in the world - well, other than Matt, of course.

Emily honestly didn't know when she started running but the next thing that she realized was how tight Tyler was holding onto her waist while she tightened her arms around his warm neck. The human Petrova doppelganger pressed her face into her best friend's equally warm chest as far as she could while she breathed in Tyler's comforting scent.

The woods in Mystic Park was silent for a full two minutes as the two best friends tightly embraced one another before the moment was slightly interrupted by the Forbes vampire. "I'll give you guys a moment," Caroline softly murmured with a gentle smile playing on her lips from watching the sweet interaction between the best friend duo before she silently walked a few feet away.

Emily turned her head to the side, so her right cheek was resting against Tyler's warm chest while the werewolf slowly rubbed his hand down the Gilbert girl's back from underneath her thick coat before the tranquility was, once again, interrupted as Tyler softy murmured into the brunette girl's ear, "hi."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but tighten her hold around Tyler's neck as if she was afraid that he would end up leaving again. It took Emily a solid two minutes of breathing in her best friend's warm and home-like scent before she finally murmured back, "hi."

The Lockwood werewolf let out a small chuckle when he realized that Emily wasn't planning on releasing him any time soon. Tyler understood why, though, since Caroline had caught him up to everything that was happening in Mystic Falls, so he knew all about the hybrid that was trying to kill his best friend.

Tyler wanted to comfort the Gilbert girl as best as he could as he could only imagine how she was doing with all of this, so he unlocked Emily's hands from around his neck before he linked their fingers together and gave Emily's hand a tight squeeze. "How are you feeling, Princess?" The Lockwood werewolf softly inquired as he gently ran his thumb across the human girl's palm.

Emily stared across at the Lockwood werewolf for a moment of silence while she bit down on her bottom lip before she ended up shaking her head. "Oh, you know me," the Gilbert girl began with an easy smile displayed across her nude lips before she continued with a joking tone, "always ready for anything." Emily didn't want to have Tyler worrying too much about her - like everyone else - so she hoped that her answer would be enough to wipe the worry off of Tyler's face.

"That's complete bullshit and we both know it," the Lockwood werewolf muttered without an ounce of hesitation in his voice while he shook his head as he stared down at the Gilbert girl in front of him. Tyler hated that Emily felt like she had to lie to him, but he wasn't going to let that start now when they have always been honest with one another no matter how big the issue is.

Emily couldn't help but release a small, amused chuckle at the fact that the Lockwood teenager didn't take her answer. The Gilbert girl knew that she shouldn't have expected anything less when Tyler has always been the one to call her out on her bullshit ever since they were in elementary school.

It hadn't mattered when, for instance, Emily started to date some guy, Tyler would tell her straight up that she was being stupid for dating a fuckboy and he wasn't going to be nice to Brad or when Emily caught said fuckboy cheating on her and Tyler told her how stupid she had been before he would go kick his fellow football member's ass. Tyler was always going to call her out on her bullshit and Emily suppose that was one of the things that she loved about the werewolf.

Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders when she realized that the Lockwood teenager was still waiting on an answer before she mumbled out, "maybe so." The Gilbert girl was never going to change how she was with how she dealt with her emotions. She would rather hide them with jokes and stupid answers, so her loved ones wouldn't worry about her and this time wasn't any different.

Tyler stared across at the brunette girl for a solid two minutes as he gave her a pointed look in hoping that she would actually tell him how she was doing. However, when Emily continued to hold her tongue, the Lockwood werewolf released a small sigh as he knew that he wasn't going to get his answer right now.

Instead, Tyler decided to move on as he gazed at the human girl with a soft smile playing on his lips from finally being around his best friend in so long. Tyler hated that he had been away from Emily for so long, so it felt like home to have her this close to him again. The Lockwood teenager slowly brought his hand up and rubbed his thumb along the human girl's cheek before he quietly murmured, "I've missed you so fucking much."

A wide grin immediately pulled up onto the Gilbert girl's face at Tyler's confession before a softer one took its place. "I've missed you, too," Emily murmured before she gave Tyler's hand a tight squeeze as she added, "I'm glad you're back." Emily honestly had no idea why Tyler was back in Mystic Falls or if someone called him but she wasn't going to question it when it felt so good to have her best friend back in her life again.

Tyler tried to hide the small frown from the brunette girl as he thought about the reason why he was back in Mystic Falls. However, the Lockwood teenager decided to not mention what had happened to his mother as he knew it would just stress Emily out even more and he knew she definitely didn't need that right now. Instead, Tyler smiled softly across at the Gilbert girl before he murmured, "you still look as beautiful as the moment I met you."

Emily immediately rolled her amused green eyes at the Lockwood teenager across from her. "You mean when I had snot falling from my nose at this very park?" The Gilbert girl questioned with a raise of her right eyebrow as she remembered how they met at Mystic Park when they were toddlers and she had been a snotty mess.

Tyler released one of the happiest and carefree chuckles that he had released in a long while as he slowly trailed his thumb across the Gilbert girl's right cheek. "That very day, Princess," the Lockwood werewolf affirmed what Emily had jokingly uttered. Tyler remembered that day like it was yesterday. He was a small kid so he didn't remember a lot about that day, but he did remember those bright green eyes of Emily's that out-shined the sun in the sky.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but roll her green irises, once again, as she stared across at her best friend with a sense of happiness that she hadn't felt in the last few days. It was almost like everything was back to normal and there wasn't a hybrid currently trying to kill her. "You're crazy," Emily murmured as she shook her head in amusement from the fact that Tyler actually thought she had looked appealing back then when she knew for certain that she looked like a hot mess that day in Mystic Park.

 _Only for you,_ the Lockwood werewolf thought to himself as he softly gazed at the girl, who he has been in love with since forever. Tyler didn't even realize how he felt until he left Mystic Falls with Jules. The Lockwood werewolf honestly blamed these new feelings for his best friend on Mason from his uncle always joking about them getting together since they turned eight years old.

Tyler had never gone a day in his life where he didn't have the Gilbert girl by his side, so going that long without talking or actually seeing Emily made the Lockwood werewolf realize that he loved her way more than a best friend should.

However, Tyler knew that the green eyed beauty across from him was absolutely and unconditionally happy with the younger Salvatore and he didn't wan to ruin the happiness that Emily had, so he decided his best bet was to keep quiet about his feelings. The Lockwood werewolf decided to hide his feelings for his best friend because the only thing that mattered to him was that Emily was happy and if that meant that he had watch her be happy with someone else, he would do it for her. Tyler just couldn't find it in himself to be selfish when it came to the Gilbert girl.

 _(A/N I can see myself changing the ending of this story and making it into a Tyler one... but I won't!)_

"So, what are you doing back here, anyway?" Emily curiously wondered after a few minutes of comfortable silence had passed and she realized that Tyler wasn't going to say anything else. The Gilbert girl was happy to see Tyler but she was confused as it why he decided to randomly come back to Mystic Falls.

Tyler anxiously bit down on his bottom lip for a few seconds as he tried to decide to what to tell the Gilbert girl. The Lockwood werewolf, after a moment, ultimately decided that he wouldn't tell Emily the real reason for why he was back in town as he didn't want to worry the brunette girl when she had so much already on her plate. So, instead, Tyler lied as easily murmured with a light shrug of his shoulders, "I was just passing through town with the pack on our way towards Washington."

The Gilbert girl slowly nodded her head in understanding as she supposed that was logical. _He probably stopped to see his mom,_ Emily silently guessed. "So, how's that going, by the way?" The human Petrova doppelganger curiously wondered at the mention of the wolf pack, "are you happy being around other people that can understand you?"

Tyler, however, didn't exactly answer Emily's two sets of questions like she had thought he would. "You've always been the one to understand me," the Lockwood werewolf softly murmured as he had completely ignored Emily's question about his experience with the pack before he placed a gentle kiss onto the human girl's forehead and he breathed in her warm and familiar scent.

Emily couldn't help but furrow her brows at the Lockwood werewolf's action as they never been that affectionate before. Yeah, they were each other's first kiss in the sixth grade but that kiss definitely felt different to any friendly embrace that they have ever shared. However, Emily decided to not think too much about it. The Gilbert girl figured that she was just overthinking the action with the very emotional day that she had with saying goodbye to everyone before the sacrifice.

"I will alwa-" Emily began to assure her best friend that she would be there for him as she figured that he was either struggling with the pack or that he was thinking about her possible death. However, though, before the Gilbert girl could complete her sentence, she was soon interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Well, doesn't this look cute," Klaus' witch, Maddox, sarcastically muttered with a smirk rising onto his thick lips as he slowly strutted towards the three exact teenagers who he had been searching for.

The Lockwood werewolf and the Forbes vampire immediately became on guard at the sight of someone who they had never seen before - especially with what was going to happen tonight. Tyler was the first one to move out of the two supernatural beings as he quickly moved to stand in front of his best friend before he growled out, "who the hell are you?"

Caroline also went into protective mode for her human best friend as she went to charge at the man. However, the Forbes vampire was instantly stopped, though, when she suddenly felt a stinging sensation on the side of her neck before Caroline felt her body fall carelessly onto the leaves of Mystic Park.

The Gilbert girl's ears instantly perked up at the loud sound, so Emily turned around from behind Tyler's back before her green irises immediately widened at the sight of her best friend. "Caroline!" The human Petrova doppelganger shouted in worry for the Forbes vampire as she noticed a woman standing over her best friend's body with what was most likely a needle full of vervain in her hand.

"It was lovely to finally see who the boss wants so much," Maddox mused as he watched the worry and distress on both of the human Petrova doppelganger and the Lockwood werewolf's faces.

The Gilbert girl didn't even react to the witch's voice as she only cared about what was going on with her best friend. However, though, before Emily could lift her foot from the leaf-covered ground to rush to Caroline's aid, she heard the male witch mumble something that she couldn't understand before Emily felt her whole body freeze with her left foot lifted onto her toes as she was mid step.

"What the hell," the Gilbert girl muttered underneath her breath as she pulled and pushed on her left foot from the awkward position it was in. However, when Emily realized the reason why she was stuck in this position, the brunette girl rolled her green eyes before she glared over at the man and muttered in annoyance, "I'm really starting to hate witches."

The male witch carelessly shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't take offense to the human Petrova doppelganger's words. "It's just business," Maddox simply uttered as he shot the Gilbert girl a small smirk.

The Lockwood werewolf was growing more and more worried and anxious as the seconds ticked by. It became even worse when he realized this guy, this witch, was working with the feared hybrid. Tyler wanted to protect the Gilbert girl from any type of attack, so he went to push Emily further behind him. However, when Emily's body wouldn't even budge, the Lockwood werewolf instantly glared over to the witch before he commanded in a fierce growl, "let her go!"

Maddox rolled his light brown eyes at the young wolf before he boredly muttered, "no can do." The male witch then stared across at the werewolf for a solid minute or so with a wide smirk slowly raising onto his lips before he taunted the young teenager, "how's mommy dearest doing?"

Tyler instantly felt this hot and burning rage enter his body at the mention of what happened to his mother and from realizing that the man in front of him was partly the cause of it - the other being Klaus. "You son of a bitch," the Lockwood werewolf growled before he went to charge at the witch responsible for his mother's fall. However, Tyler didn't get very far before he suddenly fell to his knees in agony as he felt his bones beginning to break as if he was in transition - which isn't supposed to happen for a few more hours.

"No! Stop!" The Gilbert girl shouted in panic after she watched her other best friend practically break down in front of her. Emily hurriedly tried to move her body as quickly and hastily as she could but, sadly, it was no use when not even a single muscle would twitch with the two witches both chanting around her.

Emily knew it was pointless in trying to get her body to move, so the Gilbert girl tried a different tactic. "Please!" The human Petrova doppelganger desperately cried out before she begged as she couldn't stand to see her two best friends get hurt because of her, "take me! You don't need them! Take me!"

The duo of witches didn't react to the human girl's words at first as they continued to chant until the young wolf finally stopped moving and fell to the ground. "It's not time for you yet," Maddox responded to the human Petrova doppelganger's begging request in a very bored and dull tone as if he was having a normal conversation.

Maddox, once again, ignored the Gilbert girl's cries as he bent down and picked up the young wolf before he carelessly tossed him over his right shoulder. The male witch, once he had the werewolf situated, looked back over to Emily with a wide smirk while he waited for Greta to join his side with the passed out vampire before he told the doppelganger with amusement ringing all throughout his voice, "Klaus will be back for you later."

The Gilbert girl felt her green irises widen in shock as she came to realize that Klaus was planning to use her two best friends in his hybrid sacrifice for his vampire and werewolf. "No, no, no!" Emily wailed as she, once again, tried to fight the spell on her body as hard as she could while warm, hot tears steadily fell down her reddened cheeks.

Emily felt absolutely helpless as she watched the two witches take two of the most important people in her life away from her. "Please!" The Gilbert girl continued to desperately beg and cry as she witnessed Klaus' little followers walk away with her best friends. The worse part of this whole ordeal, though, was when the witches disappeared and she felt her body fell to the hard ground and she was all alone.

Emily felt so numb as she leaned down on her knees and her elbows were pressed into the dirty ground while loud sobs continued to slip through her lips from watching her two best friends being taken from her without being able to help them. It absolutely broke Emily's heart that she couldn't do anything but watch as Tyler and Caroline were taken from her. She never felt that helpless in her life and it completely crushed her soul that it pained her to breathe.

The Gilbert girl continued to cry and sob for the Forbes vampire and the Lockwood werewolf for a solid ten minutes before all sounds slowly came to a stop from exhaustion. Emily took a few moments to get her breathing back to normal instead of being shaky and weak before she sluggishly pushed herself up onto the heels of her black ankle boots with a sense of numbness as she stared across at hers and Tyler's tree with tears clouding her green irises.

"I am so, so sorry," the Gilbert girl quietly whispered in the deadly silent Mystic Park while she locked her green eyes on to the spot on the old tree, where she and Tyler had carved their names into the wood from when they were twelve. After another full three minutes, Emily forced herself to look away before she planted her feet into the ground as she stood up straight.

Emily honestly didn't know what she was supposed to do with her two best friends missing. She didn't know how she could find them when it wasn't like she knew where Klaus would be. It pained Emily so much that she couldn't act right now and go find Caroline and Tyler like she was used to doing when something went wrong in Mystic Falls.

However, Emily was definitely not going to sit back and do nothing. That just wasn't her style. Emily would search the ends of the Earth before she would give up on her loved ones. Emily decided that she needed to calm down first, though. The Gilbert girl knew it would be a bad idea to go rushing into things when Klaus was most likely waiting for her to be alone to grab her and take her.

So, as the Gilbert girl slowly exited out of the thick woods of Mystic Park, Emily decided that she would take a pit stop at the Grill to get a drink or three to calm herself down. Emily wanted to be level-headed and prepared before she would go out and search for her two best friends before the full moon is at its full peak.

 _I promise, I won't let him hurt you,_ Emily silently swore to her two missing best friends as she headed downtown Mystic Falls with an air of determination following her body. The Gilbert girl was feeling a series of emotions right now but she was not going to let that stop her from saving her loved ones from the feared hybrid.

* * *

 _Hi, guys! I'm in the process of, finally, getting my drivers license so I decided to write up a quick chapter. How are you doing? I hope you are all staying healthy and happy!_

 _xoxo_


	68. The One At The Grill

Even though the Gilbert girl was determined to find the Forbes vampire and the Lockwood werewolf, she still couldn't help but feel numb as she slowly pushed open the front door of Mystic Grill from the fact that she watched her two best friends get kidnapped by Klaus' witches. It had already been an overly emotional day, so Emily wasn't all that surprised that she didn't feel like her normal and happy self.

Everything in her life seemed like it was all going to shit before it was even beginning, so it was definitely disheartening for the human Petrova doppelganger. Emily's heart was practically broken from witnessing two of the most important people in her life being taken away from her. Emily felt so out of it from everything that has already happened today that she didn't even smile at anyone as she took the first open spot at the bar and only stared straight ahead at the bottles of alcohol while she waited for a bartender to come her way.

"...mily? Emily?" The human Petrova doppelganger, finally, heard as she realized that someone was calling out to her on the right side of her body. The Gilbert girl slowly turned her head to see who wanted her attention before she noticed that she ended up taking a seat right next to Damon and Alaric.

Emily honestly didn't have the energy right now to talk to anyone as she impatiently waited on a bartender to give her her fix of alcohol, so the Gilbert girl only gave her fellow drinking buddies a small nod before she slowly turned back around and faced the row of alcohol that were all calling her name.

The Saltzman teacher worriedly watched the unusually silent Gilbert girl while also confusingly glancing over to the vampire beside him before he finally inquired with his brows pulled together when Emily didn't utter a single word after a full three minutes of them sitting at the bar, "you doing okay?"

Emily didn't want to be bothered right now, so she figured that she would answer her aunt's boyfriend in hopes that he and Damon wouldn't bother her anymore. "Just peachy," the Gilbert girl couldn't help but sarcastically utter as she loudly drummed her point finger against the cherry oak on the bar counter top.

"What are you even doing here?" The annoyed voice of the older Salvatore vampire asked the human girl before Alaric could say anything more. "Shouldn't you being saying your goodbyes?" Damon bitterly questioned as he still wasn't happy with Emily's decision of going along with the original's plan. However, when the Salvatore vampire noticed that the human girl wasn't answering him, Damon egged her on as he taunted her, "what? Cat got your tongue, Princess?"

"Quit it, Damon," the local vampire hunter immediately ordered the vampire that he seemed to call his friend as he was still worried about what was going on with his girlfriend's niece. Alaric ignored the glare that Damon was shooting his way as he focused all of his attention on the Gilbert girl. "Did something happen, Emily?" The Saltzman teacher inquired as he had never seen the human Petrova doppelganger in a state like this.

The older Salvatore didn't give the Gilbert girl a chance to respond to the vampire hunter's question as he instantly released a loud and annoyed scoff. "Who cares," Damon bitterly muttered before he glared his blue irises over at the silent human Petrova doppelganger and continued in that same bitter voice, "she's the one that decided to trust Elijah over her own family."

The Gilbert girl swiftly turned her neck to face Damon so fast that she thought that she broke her neck as she glared at the vampire like a fierce lion. "I am doing this for my family," Emily angrily snapped from the fact that the vampire couldn't understand why she was doing all of this. The Gilbert girl had to force herself to take a deep breath to calm down before she quietly added as she thought about her two best friends and how she failed them, "but I'm not exactly doing a good job."

The Salvatore vampire instantly rolled his blue eyes while he ignored the second part of Emily's sentence as he figured that she was just being dramatic or looking for sympathy. "Oh, yeah, right," Damon muttered in annoyance before he, once again, glared at the Gilbert girl as he exclaimed in a rant about how he basically felt about this plan of hers, "if you were doing this for us, you would't be going along with some witchy mojo crap. You wouldn't just accept this and your death. You would fight!"

This time, Emily couldn't hold in her anger any longer as she snapped underneath her breath while she squeezed her green eyes closed when she felt the warm tears clouding her irises, "oh, fuck you, Damon!" The Gilbert girl briefly shook her head as she tried to get control of her emotions before she looked over to the bitter vampire with a softness but still fierceness to her green irises.

"I'm doing this because I love you guys so much that I don't want anyone to die," Emily tried to explain herself for the hundredth time today. The Gilbert girl shot the vampire a small smile as she murmured, "I trust this plan. You're just scared, Damon - and I understand that, but you have to trust that I know what I'm doing."

Damon instantly shook his head in denial to what the Gilbert girl wanted from him. "I'm not going to be okay with you dying, ever!" The Salvatore vampire snapped in frustration from the fact that Emily wasn't understanding what he was saying. Damon tightly grabbed ahold of the human girl's wrist before he, once again, tried to get through to his girlfriend's sister, "we can fight this and we can keep everyone safe."

Emily bitterly released a small chuckle that was anything but humorous as she recalled how she had tried to keep everyone safe but that didn't help her two best friends. "We can't," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she knew there was no way around protecting everyone when it was so easy for Klaus to grab the Forbes vampire and the Lockwood werewolf.

The Saltzman teacher couldn't help but immediately furrow his brows at the Gilbert girl's words. "What do you mean?" Alaric confusingly inquired before he commented with a tint of worry for the human Petrova doppelganger ringing all throughout his voice, "I thought the plan was working out. I-I thought everything was ready for tonight."

Emily kept her green eyes locked onto the rows of alcohol for a solid two minutes as she tried to get control of her emotions before she faced her two fellow drinking buddies with tears clouding her green irises while she slowly shook her head. "Klaus too-" the Gilbert girl had began to tell the duo about the kidnapping of her two best friends.

However, before Emily could even tell them about what the hybrid had done, she was all too soon interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. "Now, sweetheart, don't go telling all of my secrets," Klaus, in his original body, told his doppelganger as he slowly walked towards the trio with a smirk lazily playing on his plump and pink lips.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but furrow her brows at the unfamiliar voice calling her by a pet name, so she slowly turned around to see who was bothering her on a very emotional day. Emily's green eyes instantly widened in shock, though, when she realized that she knew who was standing in front of her without him even saying his name.

It felt like flashes of memories flipped through Emily's mind as she stared across at the man, who she remembered having dreams about at the beginning of the year when the Salvatore brothers arrived in Mystic Falls. The Gilbert girl had never really thought much of it at the time because she would just see his face in the background of her dreams, so Emily never thought it was important until she was staring into his dark blue-green eyes that she could see they held so much evilness in them that Emily thought she was staring right at Lucifer.

"K-Klaus," the Gilbert girl finally gasped out once her mind finally put all the pieces together - which immediately caused for her drinking buddies to tense before the Salvatore vampire twitched closer to Emily encase he had to rush her out of Mystic Grill if the feared hybrid tried anything to take her away.

Klaus' smirk instantly widened from his doppelganger uttering his name. "You did always know when I was around," the hybrid mused as he lifted his hand and pushed a portion of Emily's brown hair behind her right ear as he recalled how the Gilbert girl was the first one to realize when he was inside of the vampire hunter's body.

Emily, despite how nervous she was right now, immediately pushed Klaus' hand away from her face before she snapped, "don't touch me." The Gilbert girl knew her action were quite stupid, especially against the feared hybrid, but she couldn't stand the sight of Klaus from what he made his witches do to her best friends. But, unknown to the Gilbert girl, it also had to deal with the doppelganger connection that she shares with Darina, who absolutely hated Klaus.

"Ooh," the feared hybrid cooed with a wide smirk still adoring his lips - despite the fact that the human girl had swatted at his hand. "My doppelganger is quite feisty, huh?" Klaus mused as he twitched his head to the side while he continued to stare across at Emily. "This is going to be fun," the original commented in amusement as he could see that Petrova fire in the Gilbert girl.

The Salvatore vampire had finally reached his limit after watching the hybrid tease his girlfriend's sister as if he wasn't playing with her life. Damon released a threatening growl as he swiftly stood up from his wooden stool and protectively stood slightly in front of Emily. "Any reason you stopped by to say hi?" The Salvatore vampire tensely questioned the hybrid.

Klaus carelessly shrugged his shoulders after he continued to stare at Emily for a solid three minutes before he focused his blue-green eyes onto the other vampire. "I'm told your brother fancy my lovely doppelganger, here," the hybrid stated what they, obviously, all knew before he warned Damon with a threatening step closer to the vampire, "just thought I'd remind you to not do anything you'll regret."

Damon shot the feared hybrid a large, sarcastic smile that lasted for a full minute before the Salvatore vampire released an unamused chuckle. "Ha, thanks for the advice," Damon muttered. The blue eyed vampire placed his hand protectively onto the Gilbert girl's shoulder from beside him before Damon curiously asked the hybrid, "I don't suppose I could talk you into a postponement, by any chance, huh?"

Damon knew if they just had more time, then they could come up with a better plan than what Emily wanted to do with all the witchy mojo potion from Elijah - at least then they would know for sure that Emily would come back to them.

The feared hybrid instantly released a loud and throaty chuckle that lasted for a full two minutes. However, when Klaus realized that the younger vampire was being serious, a straight line lifted onto his face before he questioned, "you are kidding?" Klaus didn't even wait to hear Damon's response as he looked over to his doppelganger and his former body before he asked them as well, "he is kidding, right?"

The resident vampire hunter slowly shook his head while a heavy sigh slipped through his lips. "No," Alaric muttered out as he answered the feared hybrid's question, "not really."

Emily also added her input as she mumbled while she shot the blue eyed vampire a silent glare, "I'm afraid not." The Gilbert girl hoped and prayed that Damon wouldn't try anything with the hybrid right now. There was just so much already on her plate that she didn't need to be worrying that her boyfriend's brother was going to do something that could cause his death as well.

"I mean, come on," the Salvatore vampire continued to try, despite the two glares that he was getting from his fellow drinking buddies, before he asked the hybrid to hopefully convince Klaus to not complete the sacrifice tonight, "what's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?"

The feared hybrid's amused smirk instantly turned into an angry glare as Damon continued to go on and on. However, once the younger vampire, finally, stopped talking, Klaus took a threatening step closer to Damon - which caused him to be almost chest to chest with his doppelganger - before Klaus uttered as he counted off on his fingers, "let me be clear, I have my vampire. I have my werewolf."

Klaus paused in his speech as he glanced over to his doppelganger with a wide smirk lifting onto his plump, pink lips before he murmured, "thank you for that, by the way." The original hybrid slowly lifted up his hand and bumped his point finger against his doppelganger's chin before he apologized in amusement, "I'm sorry to have interrupted your moment with the wolf but it's just business, sweetheart."

Emily immediately brushed off the hybrid's long and rough fingers away from her face with a fierce glare settled in her green irises at the mention of her best friends. "I swear to everything that is Holy, I will stab you if you touch them," the Gilbert girl snapped. Emily knew that she was probably speeding up her death by threatening Klaus but she honestly didn't care when it was her best friends' lives on the line.

The feared hybrid couldn't help the loud and amused chuckle that slipped through his plump and pink lips. The human girl's action would have usually pissed him off if someone else had done it. However, watching Emily hit him, only caused for Klaus to be amused as the human girl reminded him of a little sunflower who couldn't do any harm no matter how threatening she tried to be.

"You are no doubt a Petrova," the original hybrid mused. Emily - despite the fact that she did remind him of a little sunflower - did have that Petrova fire in her. She was a mixture of both Darina (protective and innocent) and Katherine (fierce and cunning), in Klaus' opinion from what he had seen in the vampire hunter's body and from what he has heard about his doppelganger.

Klaus watched the Gilbert girl's angry expression for a moment in amusement before he turned his attention back onto the younger vampire and his threat. "I have everything I need," the feared hybrid continued to where he left off before he stated, "the ritual will happen tonight." Klaus shot the Salvatore a threatening glare as he warned him, "so, if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't even think about screwing it up."

The original hybrid kept his blue-green gaze settled onto the younger vampire and his former body as he shot them a sarcastic grin before Klaus focused his attention solely onto his doppelganger. "I'll see you very soon, sunflower," Klaus murmured with a small smirk playing on his lips before he slowly began to walk backwards to the front door of Mystic Grill.

"What is he talking about?" Alaric hurriedly and equally as worriedly questioned the Gilbert girl after he had watched the feared hybrid, finally, exit out of the local restaurant and had turned and faced Emily with his brows pulled together. Alaric remembered the last time that they had a werewolf in Mystic Falls and he definitely didn't want to have to go through that again.

Emily kept her green irises locked on the front door that Klaus had just exited out of as she mumbled out what she had tried to tell the vampire and the vampire hunter before she had been interrupted by the hybrid, "it's Ty. He has Caroline and Tyler." The Gilbert girl felt like something snapped inside of her from officially meeting Klaus and that she had do something for her best friends after staring the devil in the eye.

Emily couldn't let Tyler and Caroline have to deal with the feared hybrid, so she planned on finding them before the full moon rose to its highest peak and Klaus could hurt them. The Gilbert girl didn't know where to look but she did know they weren't hidden somewhere in Mystic Grill, so Emily quickly turned and faced her fellow drinking buddies as she hurriedly exclaimed, "I-I have to go."

The Gilbert girl fixed her black purse on her shoulder before she glanced between the vampire and the vampire hunter with a slight nervous tick as she bit down on her bottom lip from what she was about to do. However, before she could leave, Emily knew that she needed her fellow drinking buddies to do something for her first. "Please tell Stefan that I needed to run to the store for something," Emily begged as she knew that Stefan wouldn't allow her to look for her best friends - especially when she was supposed to be meeting him soon.

The Saltzman teacher instantly furrowed his brows at this new piece of information. However, Alaric decided to ignore the fact that two of his students were supposed to be used in the sacrifice tonight as he focused solely onto his girlfriend's niece. "Wait," Alaric called out before he questioned in confusion as to why Emily wanted him to tell the younger Salvatore something that was most likely a lie, "where are you going?"

The Gilbert girl, once again, bit down on her bottom lip as she stared at her fellow drinking buddies before Emily decided to just tell them the truth. "I need to stop this," Emily confessed with a heavy sigh following a few seconds later. The Gilbert girl shook her head before she muttered with an air of confidence, nervousness, and determination, "I won't let my best friends die because of me."

Emily knew that the duo would try to fight her on this - like her boyfriend and sister would - so she swiftly turned around to head out of Mystic Grill. However, what Emily wasn't counting on - when she really should have - was for the Salvatore vampire to quickly block her way as he wrapped his long and cold fingers around her upper arm.

"I don't think so, Princess," Damon exclaimed in a growl as he glared down at the human girl in front of him when he realized what was turning inside her head.

Emily tried to fight the blue eyed vampire's hold for a solid three minutes before she released a loud groan filled with nothing but frustration from the fact that Damon wouldn't let her go. "Damon!" The Gilbert girl finally snapped with tears clouding her green irises before she angrily exclaimed, "I need to do this!"

The Salvatore vampire shook his head as he moved his cold hands to rest on top of Emily's black coat covered shoulders. "I can't let you do that," Damon uttered in a gentler tone as he tried to get through to the obviously emotional Gilbert girl. "I can't believe you are trusting that original with your life," Damon began in a bitter voice before he stated with an oddly serious expression glued onto his face, "but I will not let you put your life in even more danger by going after them."

The Gilbert girl honestly felt so damn exhausted from everything going wrong today that she couldn't help but softly cry. "They are my family. I need to save them," Emily exclaimed through her warm tears that were trailing down her reddened face. Emily just felt so drained right now that after she had finished her sentence, that she ended up placing her forehead onto Damon's cold chest while she continued to sob for her missing best friends.

Damon instantly wrapped his arm around the human girl's shoulders and began to run his fingers through Emily's hair on instinct before a heavy sigh slipped through his lips from how emotional Emily was on possibly the worst day of her life. _Stupid soft spot,_ Damon swore to himself as he let the Gilbert girl cry onto his shoulder for a few minutes. Emily had to be one of the two people in his life that he would let ruin his designer shirt - the other, of course, being his girlfriend.

Damon stood there while the Gilbert girl got control of her emotions but once he felt Emily's shoulders stop shaking, the Salvatore vampire leaned down until his mouth was right next to her left ear. "I'll do it," the Salvatore vampire quietly promised.

Emily hurriedly pulled her head away from the Salvatore vampire's chest with a look of surprise in her teary green irises. "Really?" The Gilbert girl questioned as she couldn't believe what she was hearing from Damon - the fact that he would go and save both Caroline and Tyler - two people who he wasn't exactly fond of.

Damon instantly rolled his blue eyes as he muttered in annoyance, "don't go all mushy on me, Princess." The Salvatore vampire looked down into Emily's green irises for a moment to let her know that he would actually do it before he voiced his promise to her, "but, yes. I'll go save Barbie and Lon Chaney Jr for you if it keeps you out of trouble."

Damon would rather be any place in the world than to be looking for the supernatural teenagers but if it kept the Gilbert girl safe and alive then he was willing to search all through Mystic Falls for the girl who he saw as his own little sister.

Emily couldn't help the loud sigh of relief that escaped through her lips from the Salvatore vampire's promise. "Thank you, Damon," the Gilbert girl voiced her praise out loud. However, though, before Emily could say anything more about how this all meant to her, she was soon interrupted when her cell phone decided to ring.

Emily huffed out a small sigh before she took a small step away from her sister's boyfriend and pulled her cell phone out of her coat - where she noticed that she had a text message from Stefan that said he was outside of the Grill. The Gilbert girl anxiously bit down on her bottom lip as she stared at the message. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with her boyfriend - oh, my God, did she ever - but she wanted to be there to help Damon find her two best friends.

The Gilbert girl continued to stare at her cell phone for a full three minutes before Damon ended up ordering after watching the conflict on Emily's face, "go be with Stefan." The blue eyed vampire gave the anxious girl an assuring nod before he promised, once more, "I'll handle this."

Emily nervously stared up into the Salvatore vampire's blue eyes for a moment before she finally nodded her head. It wasn't that she didn't think Damon could do it. It was just she wanted to be there for her best friends. However, Emily knew that it was probably best for Damon to handle it this time - especially with Stefan currently waiting on her.

"Thank you for this," Emily showed her praise, once more, before she warned her boyfriend's brother, "but please be careful and don't get yourself killed." The Gilbert girl would absolutely hate herself if something were to happen to Damon when this rescue mission was her idea.

The Salvatore vampire amusingly rose his right eyebrow at the Gilbert girl's obviously worried words for him before Damon teasingly questioned, "why? You care about me?"

Emily instantly rolled her green irises at the vampire in front of her before she exclaimed with a tone of annoyance, "of course I care about you, asshat." The Gilbert girl lightly shrugged her shoulders as if it was nothing before she explained, "you're my sister's boyfriend but you are also my friend." Emily pointed her finger at the blue eyed vampire as she concluded, "so, please, be careful, Damon."

The human Petrova doppelganger ended up doing something that definitely surprised herself and Damon as she leaned up and placed a light kiss onto the Salvatore vampire's cheek before she swiftly turned around and made her way through the crowd in Mystic Grill. Emily honestly felt like a nervous wreck, so her action was like a silent good luck to Damon that he would successfully rescue the Lockwood werewolf and the Forbes vampire.

Emily hated not being able to help save her two best friends, so the only thing that she, sadly, could do was pray that the older Salvatore vampire would be able to get to Caroline and Tyler in time before the sacrifice along with hope that Damon wouldn't end up getting hurt in the process of saving them from the feared hybrid.


	69. The One With The First Date

Emily released a heavy sigh as she stepped her black ankle boots out into the chilly air of Mystic Falls and protectively wrapped her arms around her matching coat. The Gilbert girl glanced up to the cloudy sky with a frown permanently embedded all over her face from her furrowed eyebrows, dull green eyes, and her usually happy smile turned upside down.

Emily was honestly a nervous wreck about her best friends currently in the possession of the feared hybrid - especially after meeting Klaus and seeing how much evil he holds by just looking into his blue-green irises. It also didn't really help that she couldn't even help find the werewolf and the vampire herself like she was used to doing. Emily never liked to sit on the side lines when it came to things like this in Mystic Falls - especially when it involved people she cared deeply about.

However, before Emily could dwell too much on their current predicament with the feared hybrid, she was soon interrupted when she felt a familiar pair of cold arms engulf her into a tight and loving embrace. The Gilbert girl couldn't help but immediately melt into the hug as she instantly wrapped her small hands around her boyfriend's neck and pushed her forehead into his cool chest.

The younger Salvatore held his girlfriend like that for a minute or two but when Stefan felt the Gilbert girl's shaky breath hitting against his collarbone, Stefan slowly pulled away and placed his hands on either side of Emily's reddened face. Stefan stared directly into the human Petrova doppelganger's green eyes with his brows pulled together in worry for his girlfriend as he could tell that something was bothering her. "Are you okay?" Stefan gently questioned as he rubbed his rough thumb across Emily's soft cheek.

The Gilbert girl stared up at Stefan for a solid minute as she bit down on her bottom lip before she decided that it was best to not tell Stefan about what was going on with her best friends. Emily knew that the older Salvatore would be able to handle it without them with Alaric's help, so it wasn't like it was necessary to tell Stefan about it. Emily also decided to not tell her boyfriend because she wanted to be selfish for the first time in her life when this would be her last human day on Earth.

Emily just wanted to spend some alone time with the love of her life for the first time in forever before she would have to go face to face with the feared hybrid again, so instead of telling Stefan the truth, the Gilbert girl shot her boyfriend a small smile before she murmured, "it's just been a very long day."

Stefan slowly nodded his head in understanding as he continued to comfortingly rub his thumb across the Gilbert girl's cheek. The Salvatore vampire could only imagine how Emily was feeling right now - hell, he's been an emotional wreck for days now because of what tonight meant.

Stefan shot the human Petrova doppelganger a soft smile as he settled his hand around Emily's waist before he told her as he reminded his girlfriend about his promise that he had made this morning, "well, I hope I can make it better for you."

The Gilbert girl furrowed her brows for a moment from Stefan's words before her green eyes widened when she recalled that Stefan wanted to take her somewhere before the sacrifice. "Where exactly are you taking me?" Emily curiously wondered as the Salvatore vampire never did tell her where he wanted to go before she had decided to say goodbye to her loved ones.

Stefan released an amused chuckle from the fact that Emily wasn't exactly patient when it came to surprises as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder before he began to lead her towards his red 1963 Porsche. The Salvatore vampire stayed silent to Emily's disappointment as he opened up the passenger door and helped the Gilbert girl into her seat before he quickly rounded his vehicle and got into the drivers seat.

"Stef!" The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but whine to her boyfriend, who had a cheeky grin playing on his lips while he pulled away from the parking lot of Mystic Grill and down the road. Emily honestly couldn't stand surprises. She never did have the patience for them nor did she didn't like not knowing what was going on.

A sly smile instantly lifted onto Stefan's lips from the wines that were coming from his girlfriend. He found it absolutely hilarious how impatient she was. The Salvatore vampire briefly took his green eyes off of the road for a second as he decided to put Emily out of her misery. "Yes, Miss Gilbert?" Stefan teasingly inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't, Miss Gilbert me!" Emily ordered with a loud groan escaping only a second later. The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but pout as she stared over at her boyfriend before she questioned with her arms crossed over her black top and matching coat, "where are we going, Mister?"

Stefan released a deep and amused chuckle before he glanced over to his girlfriend with a smirk lowly playing on his lips. "Do you really wanna know?" The Salvatore vampire teasingly questioned.

"Yes!" The Gilbert girl practically shouted out with her green eyes widened as her patience was slowly disappearing the longer she grew curious to where Stefan was taking her.

The Salvatore vampire let out one last amused chuckle before he grabbed ahold of his restless girlfriend's hand and gave it a small squeeze. Stefan shot the Gilbert girl a soft smile before he told her, "I wanted to do something special for you." The Salvatore vampire focused his green eyes back on the road as he continued to drive through the forest of Mystic Falls before he commented, "I have come to realize that we haven't went on our first date yet."

Emily silently nodded her head as she realized that was, in fact, true. The thought on going on dates honestly had slipped Emily's mind ever since she found out about vampires. "Well, yeah," the Gilbert girl began before she joked, "but it's kind of difficult to go on dates when everyone wants to kill or sacrifice me."

Stefan immediately looked over to his girlfriend with a frown embedded all over his face. "That's not funny," the Salvatore vampire mumbled as her words reminded him of what going to happen tonight. It wasn't like Stefan wasn't already thinking about the sacrifice, it just didn't help that Emily was making a joke out of it when it was her life on the line.

The Gilbert girl instantly felt bad for being insensitive to Stefan's feelings as she knew that tonight had been affecting him as well. So, Emily gave the Salvatore vampire a silent apology as she squeezed his hand before she decided to focus onto the conversation before she had ruined it with her dark jokes.

"Where exactly do you expect to have a date at one in the afternoon?" Emily curiously inquired after she had glanced at the small clock on the dashboard. The Gilbert girl then paused as she glanced outside of the car and realized that they were in the middle of nowhere. Emily glanced back to her boyfriend before she continued with her question as she added in an amused tone, "and in the woods?"

Stefan gave the Gilbert girl's hand a thankful squeeze back from the fact that she wasn't talking about the sacrifice before he shot Emily a wide grin. "Well, this isn't just any ole first date, babe," the Salvatore vampire commented before he told the Gilbert girl with excitement ringing throughout his voice, "this is going to be the ultimate perfect first date."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but immediately blush beet red from Stefan's explanation of what they were going to be doing. "You don't have to do all that," Emily murmured as she lightly waved her hand that wasn't currently locked with the vampire's colder one. No one had ever put in much effort on dates with her before, so it was surprising that Stefan was going to do that.

Stefan immediately shook his head before he stated with a soft smile playing on his face, "you deserve nothing but the best." The Salvatore vampire quickly leaned over and placed a soft kiss onto Emily's cheek to show his appreciation for his girlfriend. "I want to do something for you that will overshadow all the bad that will take place tonight," Stefan explained as to why that he picked right now for their first date.

"I don't want you to think of this day as the day where you died - as temporarily as it may be," the Salvatore vampire stated as he shot his girlfriend a soft smile. "I want today to be filled with happiness and strength that you will look back on today and realize just how much this changed you for the better," Stefan concluded his little speech before he placed another sweet but quick kiss onto the human girl's soft lips.

Emily's heart couldn't help but immediately turn into mush at her boyfriend's plan for her last moment as a human. It meant absolutely the world to the Gilbert girl that Stefan was going through so much trouble for her to make sure that her ending as a human was going to be perfect and meaningful.

"I love you so so much," Emily softly murmured after a moment of collecting herself as she gazed her bright green irises over at the Salvatore vampire with love in her teary eyes as she showed her boyfriend how much she appreciated what he was doing and how much she cared for him.

The Salvatore vampire's soft and relax smile immediately turned into a full blown bright grin before he, once again, placed a quick kiss onto Emily's lips. Stefan then swiftly focused his green eyes back onto the road - so he didn't end up crashing the car - before he teasingly told the Gilbert girl, "but I'm still not going to tell you where we are going."

Emily instantly released a loud groan - that they both knew was coming - but this time it was filled with nothing but love and amusement instead of actual annoyance - despite the fact that she was a very impatient girl. However, instead of complaining about it, Emily only smiled over to her loving boyfriend before she gently leaned her head onto the window of Stefan's red Porsche while she peacefully watched as they passed by the bright green plants and colorful flowers with Stefan's hand rested on her thigh.

Emily felt absolutely at peace at the moment when it was just her, Stefan, and nature surrounding them. It was like Emily didn't have to worry about any hybrids or vampires coming after her for the time being. Emily felt like she could actually breathe without having to look over her shoulder. _This is it_ , Emily thought in content with a soft smile playing on her lips, _this is all I need in life_.

The Salvatore vampire and the Gilbert girl drove through the woody part of Mystic Falls for about another twenty or so minutes while they just enjoyed each other's company and comfort before Stefan finally pulled his red Porsche to a slow stop. "Here we are," Stefan announced as he gave the human girl's thigh a small squeeze to alert her to their arrival before he removed his hand to turn off the vehicle.

The human Petrova doppelganger barely even had time to blink awake from her extremely short nap before she realized that she was suddenly swept off of her feet by her vampire boyfriend, who had used his enhanced speed to plant her softly down onto the dirt covered driveway. However, though, once Emily finally got her bearings from her nap and the vampire speed, the Gilbert girl's green eyes instantly widened in amazement because of where Stefan had brought her to.

"Wow," Emily quietly mumbled in a soft voice as she gazed her bright irises at the beautiful two-story brick cottage that was surrounded by a colorful garden which was filled with different colored and types of flowers that the Gilbert girl didn't even know the name of half of them. The place was absolutely gorgeous that Emily thought she was still asleep and dreaming about a magical fairy-tale.

"What do you think?" The Salvatore vampire inquired after he gave Emily a few minutes to herself as he lightly tossed his arm over the Gilbert girl's shoulder and pulled her closer into his chest before he silently placed a soft and loving kiss onto Emily's temple.

"It's beautiful," Emily whispered as if she was afraid that she would spook the small birds that were settled inside of the ivory angel bath a few feet away from them. The Gilbert girl moved her green eyes up to her boyfriend before she curiously questioned, "how did you find this place?" Emily shook her head as she commented, "I didn't even know this place existed in Mystic Falls."

"I found it when I first came back," Stefan began as he slowly led the Gilbert girl towards the front door of the cottage with his arm still wrapped around Emily's shoulders so she was pressed into his chest. "I had called Zach a few days prior to, you know, give him a heads-up that I was coming to the boarding house," Stefan explained, "but Zach had recently been letting this new family stay there for the weekend and he didn't exactly trust me at the time, so I ended up finding this place and staying here until the family left."

Emily silently nodded her head in understanding as she remembered that Zach wasn't really a fan of Stefan nor Damon coming back to Mystic Falls back then. "But wait," the Gilbert girl mumbled in confusion before she uttered as Stefan unlocked the door to the cottage, "this place isn't exactly that close to town." Emily shot her boyfriend a small, teasing smile before she wondered as she placed her black purse down onto the small table just inside of the foyer, "why didn't you find a place closer?"

The Salvatore vampire lightly shrugged his shoulders as he helped Emily out of her long black coat and hung it on the rack before he linked their fingers together and slowly led the human girl out of the foyer. "I guess I liked how quiet it was out here," Stefan explained as to why he picked the cottage, "I didn't need to worry about my urges when I was only surrounded by flowers, trees, and innocent animals."

Emily shot her boyfriend a wide smirk as she teased him, "you mean the innocent animals that you killed?"

The Salvatore vampire released a deep and throaty chuckle as he shook his head in amusement. "I didn't kill them," Stefan corrected his girlfriend before he told the Gilbert girl what he told her when she first found out about his vampirism, "I just drank a little bit of their blood to keep them and myself going."

Emily leaned up on her tippy toes and placed a soft and quick kiss onto her boyfriend's lips to make for teasing him before she focused back onto their main conversation. "So, why didn't you stay here if you liked it so much?" The Gilbert girl wondered as she could tell from Stefan's voice and how comfortable he was in the cottage that he liked to be here. It was honestly the most calm that she had seen Stefan in a long time.

The Salvatore vampire trailed his rough and cold thumb across Emily's smooth and warm hand as he pulled her to a stop in front of the two wooden doors that would lead them into the kitchen. "Well, I originally came to Mystic Falls to find Katherine's doppelganger, as you already know," Stefan began his story before he smiled softly at his girlfriend as he added, "but then I saw you."

Stefan gave the Gilbert girl's hand a short squeeze before he continued with a loving sparkle to his forest colored eyes, "I did plan on leaving Mystic Falls or at least come back here after I saw and realized that Elena wasn't actually Katherine." The Salvatore vampire shot his girlfriend a soft smile before he murmured, "but when I saved you guys that night at the bridge. I wasn't completely positive that Elena wasn't Katherine just playing one of her games, so I went to school to make sure that she was just Katherine's doppelganger."

"But then," Stefan murmured with love practically pouring from his body as he stated, "I ended up bumping into you and I just couldn't get myself to leave after, officially, meeting you and getting to know such a sweet and kind person." The Salvatore vampire brought Emily's hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss onto her skin before he murmured, "I felt like I had to know you and when I did, I knew I wasn't going anywhere."

 _Well, there goes my heart,_ Emily thought to herself with a bright smile shining all across her face as she felt like she was falling more in love with the Salvatore vampire from his confession that she never knew about. The Gilbert girl leaned up and placed a soft kiss onto her boyfriend's lips before she joked once she had pulled away, "well, I'm sorry I stopped you from ever coming here again."

Stefan released a small chuckle as he shook his head. "It's okay," the Salvatore vampire uttered as he glanced around the cottage with a content smile playing on his lips. "This place will always be here in the future for us if we ever want it," Stefan slyly murmured as he placed his sparkling green irises back onto his girlfriend.

Emily rose her right eyebrow with amusement shining throughout her own green eyes. The Gilbert girl twitched her head to the side as she curiously wondered what the Salvatore vampire was thinking, "do you think this could be our home someday?"

Stefan smiled softly at the love of his life before he quietly murmured, "maybe." The Salvatore vampire instantly noticed Emily's surprised expression, so he decided to not give the human girl a chance to say anything more on the far future topic as he silently pushed open the double doors that leads to the kitchen before he walked Emily inside with his hand rested lowly on her back.

"Wow," the Gilbert girl immediately gaped once she fully entered the kitchen and saw how beautiful it was with the round cherry wood table and the matching chairs that looked like they were fit for a happy family along with the white and baby blue tiles along the walls that looked like they were straight out a home magazine from the seventies.

However, what caught Emily's attention the most, though, was what was laid nicely out onto the round table in front of her. The Gilbert girl took a few steps closer as she gazed at all of her favorite foods - juicy cubed pineapples, creamy shrimp carbonara, soft peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, crispy fried avocados, and much more of her favorite things. Emily knew they were a very strange combination together but she was absolutely happy to see them right now.

The Gilbert girl slowly turned around and faced Stefan once she was finished gazing at all of the delicious foods with a soft smile playing on her lips. "What's all this?" Emily curiously wondered as she pointed her hand back towards the spread of food.

The Salvatore vampire shot the human girl a wide grin as he walked a few steps closer before he silently placed his hand onto Emily's back and lead her to the first chair and pulled it out for her. "I thought you would appreciate in being surrounded by some of your favorite things for a little while before tonight gets here," Stefan answered the Gilbert girl's question as he walked around the table and sat across from his girlfriend. Stefan lightly shrugged his shoulders before he murmured as he gazed lovingly at Emily, "I know it's not much like a trip to Paris but I wanted you to have one last happy memory of your human life."

The Gilbert girl instantly reached across the round table and grabbed ahold of Stefan's hand. "This is absolutely perfect," Emily assured her boyfriend with a happy smile playing all across her face. "I love this so much," Emily expressed as she glanced at all of the food. "I have the love of my life in front me," the Gilbert girl began in a passionate voice before she took a short pause then added teasingly as pointed towards her boyfriend, "and, of course, I have you."

Stefan playfully rolled his green eyes at the human girl across from him as he released a small but amusing chuckle at her little joke. "Eat your food," the Salvatore vampire lightly ordered as he couldn't help the second chuckle that soon followed after as he enjoyed the playfulness that Emily had right now with no worries on her mind at the moment.

Emily shot her boyfriend a cheeky grin before she murmured, "yes, sir." The Gilbert girl then immediately began to dig into all of her favorite foods by starting with the big fat peanut butter chocolate chip cookie that had been calling her name since the second that she had laid her eyes on it.

The Salvatore vampire only sat there as he watched his girlfriend munch on the spread of foods with a soft smile playing on his lips from seeing how carefree Emily was being for the first time in a long time. It was honestly all that Stefan wanted for the human girl, so he was glad that he could help her relax and just be herself for a little while.

It took Emily a solid fifteen minutes of stuffing her face with delicious foods before she finally took notice that the Salvatore vampire was just watching her eat like a pig. The Gilbert girl couldn't help but blush beet red as she slowly placed the fried avocado back onto the plate before she asked Stefan with a hint of confusion and embarrassment in her voice, "aren't you going to eat?"

Stefan slowly shook his head with that same soft smile still dancing across his lips. "I'm in content right where I am," the Salvatore vampire gently murmured as he continued to gaze across at the love of his life.

Emily looked across at her boyfriend with her brunette eyebrows pulled together as if she was suspicious of something. "Stop being weird," the Gilbert girl ended up mumbling as she tried to fight through the blush that she could feel heating up her face from finding out that Stefan had been watching her eat.

The Salvatore vampire just couldn't help the full on laugh that escaped from his mouth as he watched Emily's embarrassed expression for a solid three whole minutes before he decided to put her out of her misery. "Alright, fine," Stefan muttered before he grabbed a piece of fruit from the table and popped the cube of pineapple into his mouth. Stefan rose his right eyebrow at the human girl once he had swallowed the fruit before he teasingly wondered, "happy?"

Emily shook her head with a chuckle slipping through her lips as she watched her boyfriend's comical act. "Very," the Gilbert girl exclaimed with a soft giggle before she herself grabbed a silver fork from the table and began to dig into another meal which was the very creamy and delicious shrimp carbonara.

Stefan, once again, watched his girlfriend eat the seafood pasta for a few minutes of tranquility before he decided that it was finally time to talk about the elephant in the room. "So," the Salvatore vampire slowly began before he asked in a gentle voice as to not spook the Gilbert girl, "are you ready to talk about how you're feeling about tonight?"

The Gilbert girl released a heavy sigh as she gently placed down the silver fork onto the table before she gradually looked into Stefan's gentle green eyes. "Well, I certainly didn't think this would all end with me becoming the strongest witch existence, so there's that," Emily mumbled with a tint of humor in her voice. Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders before she grew serious as she uttered, "honestly, I'm still in complete shock to even know what I really feel."

Stefan gently shook his head with a tiny smile playing on his lips before he murmured, "I think you do know how you feel." The Salvatore vampire brought Emily's hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on it before he softly assured his girlfriend, "I just want you to know that it's okay to tell me. It's okay to tell me how you're feeling. You know I will always support you no matter what it is, baby."

Emily shot the Salvatore vampire a small and watery smile before she began to utter, "I...I know. I know that -"

However, the Gilbert girl had to pause in the middle of her statement as she could immediately feel the warm tears building in the ducks of her green eyes when she thought about how she was feeling about the sacrifice tonight - which also made Emily recall what happened earlier today with her two best friends in the entire world.

"Hey," the Salvatore vampire softly called out as he could see the strong emotions practically rolling off the Gilbert girl's body. Stefan used his vamp speed when Emily didn't answer to him and rounded the table before he bent down so he was eye level with his girlfriend. Stefan gently placed his hand onto the Gilbert girl's warm cheek so she would look at him before Stefan softly questioned with worry shining through his green irises, "what's going on?"

Emily tried to control her emotions as best as she could but that didn't really happen as quiet sobs instantly slipped from her lips once she opened her mouth. It took the Gilbert girl a few minutes to even speak through her tears but when she did, she could only mumble out, "s-something happened earlier."

The Salvatore vampire continued to rub his cold thumb along Emily's warm cheek while he caught a few wet tears every now and again before Stefan gently asked as he hoped to not upset the human girl even more than she already was, "what was it?"

"K-Klaus. H-He took Caroline and Tyler," the Gilbert girl had to force through her lips as she tried to hold in the sobbing that she wanted to let flow now that she was thinking of her best friends and what had happened earlier at Mystic Park along with how helpless that she felt from not being able to save two of the most important people in her life.

Stefan instantly furrowed his brows in confusion from the Gilbert girl's words. "Tyler's back in Mystic Falls?" The Salvatore vampire wondered in puzzlement for only a moment before he realized what had actually happened besides the fact of Emily's best friend returning back to town. "Did Klaus see you? Did he try to hurt you?" Stefan hurriedly questioned as he was completely anxious about what kind of interaction that the human girl had with the hybrid, who wanted to sacrifice her.

Emily sluggishly shook her head before she mumbled, "n-no. It was just these two witches who are working for him." The Gilbert girl ultimately decided that it was probably best to not tell Stefan that she did, in fact, end up running into Klaus right before he picked her up as she knew Stefan would just worry even more about her and she didn't want that.

"Did they do something to you?" The Salvatore vampire continued to interrogate as he was still worried about the human girl's interaction with the hybrid's witches - not to mention the fact that they were currently missing a werewolf and a vampire from their group of supernatural beings.

Emily briefly closed her green eyes and took a deep breath as she, once again, tried to get ahold of her emotions before she recalled what the hybrid's witch had told her before they had left with her two best friends, "they just said that Klaus would be back for me later."

Stefan silently nodded his head as he absorbed this new information along with being understanding about what the witches spoke about since everyone knew that Klaus would be coming for Emily as the full moon would happen tonight. The Salvatore vampire could only watch his girlfriend cry for a few seconds before he quickly pulled his cell phone out as he wanted to help the stressed doppelganger. "Everything's going to be okay," Stefan tried to assure the Gilbert girl before he told Emily as he knew that she was worried about the duo, "I'll give Damon a call to see if he can go look for Caroline and Tyler."

The Gilbert girl immediately placed her hand on top of Stefan's cell phone once she realized what he was about to do. "No need," Emily mumbled as she shook her head. "He's already on it," the human Petrova doppelganger explained before she murmured as she looked up at boyfriend with tears clouding her green irises, "I...I just need you right now."

Stefan's unbeating heart completely broke at the sight of his usually bright girlfriend as she was mentally breaking down in front of him. The Salvatore vampire wanted to comfort Emily and make her feel better so Stefan quickly stood up as he pulled the human Petrova doppelganger with him before he wrapped his arms protectively around her body. "I'm right here," Stefan whispered against the Gilbert girl's temple as he tried to help her calm down, "I got you."

The couple of the Salvatore vampire and the Gilbert girl stood there for a few minutes in one another's arms as Stefan comforted his girlfriend and Emily absorbed all of her boyfriend's love. However, though, once Stefan could hear the Gilbert girl's breathing returning back to normal and her heart wasn't about to pound out of her chest, the Salvatore vampire gently whispered to his girlfriend, "come on. I wanna show you something."

The Gilbert girl slowly peeled herself away from Stefan's chest before she looked up at her boyfriend with a look of confusion and curiousness. "What is it?" Emily questioned as she wondered what Stefan had to show her that she hadn't already seen and why it seemed important at the moment.

Stefan shot his girlfriend a wide grin before he murmured, "you'll see." The Salvatore vampire didn't allow the Gilbert girl to question him anymore as he swiftly linked their fingers together before he lead Emily through the kitchen and through the back door that lead to the backyard. Stefan still didn't say anything as he continued to pull his girlfriend down the brick pathway and into the vast forest.

"You aren't planning to kill me before the sacrifice even happens, right?" The Gilbert girl could't help but jokingly question after a few minutes of Stefan pulling her through the forest that was behind the beautiful cottage as she realized just how deep they were going into the wooded area.

Stefan knew that the human Petrova doppelganger was just using her humor to cope with her looming death and witch status, so he didn't scold her like he usually would when she would joke about the sacrifice. Instead, the Salvatore vampire released a small chuckle as he teasingly uttered, "I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

The Gilbert girl instantly released a loud groan when she didn't get an absolute answer that she wanted as she wasn't exactly the most patient person on Earth. However, luckily for Emily, she didn't have to wait much longer before the Salvatore vampire slowly pulled her to a stop in front of a large clearing in the dead center of the forest.

"Wow," Emily couldn't help but mumble for probably the third time since she had been at the cottage as she gazed her green irises at the meadow in front of her that was a bed of beautiful purple, pink, and blue flowers. "This is gorgeous," the Gilbert girl murmured with a soft smile playing on her lips as she had never seen something so colorful and had such a calm atmosphere.

"I agree," Stefan uttered with a small nod of his head before he suddenly and swiftly twisted the Gilbert girl in his arms so she was pressed against his chest. The Salvatore vampire then slowly began to move him and his girlfriend in a slow dance before he softly murmured, "but I think I know something that is even more gorgeous."

The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help the child-like giggle that escaped her lips from Stefan's fast movements and his sweet words. However, when Emily noticed why the Salvatore vampire had pulled her closely and realized that they were basically dancing, she couldn't help but to be puzzled by it. "What are you doing?" Emily curiously inquired.

Stefan rose his left eyebrow as he stared down at his girlfriend with a soft smile. "What does it look like?" The Salvatore vampire teasingly questioned before he slowly twirled Emily underneath his arm and stated, "I'm dancing."

Emily shook her head as she let out a small and amused chuckle. The Gilbert girl rested her left hand onto Stefan's shoulders as she commented for the reason of her questioning, "you don't dance." Emily, ever since she had known Stefan, knew that her boyfriend didn't exactly enjoy dancing so it was surprising for him to start it off instead of her like she had done many of times in the past.

Stefan lightly shrugged his shoulders before he murmured with that still in-love smile playing on his lips, "I know but it's worth it when I get to see this beautiful expression on your face." The Salvatore vampire would take all of the stars from the sky if it meant to see Emily smile at him like she was doing now, so that was why he pulled her into a little slow dance as he knew she would enjoy it and at least forget about the troubles in their lives for a little bit.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help the beet red blush that rose onto her cheeks for the second time today from Stefan's sweet words. Emily hated to show her rosy cheeks, so she hid her face into her boyfriend's chest before she wrapped her arms around Stefan's waist as they slowly danced. "You know," Emily began after a moment of listening to the Salvatore vampire chuckling at her embarrassment before she stated to get the attention off of her, "we're missing music."

Stefan gently shook his head before he whispered against the Gilbert girl's temple, "we don't need music." The Salvatore vampire twirled Emily underneath his arm, once more, before he murmured as he continued to move their bodies side to side in the middle of the meadow, "your heartbeat is all I need."

Emily released an amused giggle as she looked up at her boyfriend before she teasingly murmured, "you're so sappy." The Gilbert girl brought her right hand and playfully squeezed Stefan's pale cheek before she added with a wide grin spreading quickly all across her face, "but I love it and I love you."

The Salvatore vampire couldn't stop the equally wide and happy grin that rose onto his face even if he tried as he gazed down at his girlfriend with only adoration shining through his green irises. "I love you, too," Stefan murmured back before he leaned down and placed a passionate kiss onto the Gilbert girl's soft lips.

The duo of the Salvatore vampire and the Gilbert girl continued to slowly dance with one another for quite some time - that the couple didn't even know much time had passed by - before Stefan gradually pulled them to a stop so they were standing face to face. The Salvatore vampire brought his right hand up to Emily's cheek, like she had previous done to him, and rubbed the side of her face while he softly gazed into her green irises.

"You mean the absolute world to me," Stefan began his speech that he had prepared for this moment, "you can't even begin to understand how much you have affected me and my life. You have brought so much more meaning to my life than I ever thought was possible." The Salvatore vampire briefly paused as he slipped his left hand into the pocket of his dark jeans before he continued, "I feel like we haven't had enough time together."

Stefan released a small chuckle before he added, "frankly, I don't think that feeling will ever go away." The Salvatore vampire smiled softy at Emily before he continued with his speech, "I want to spend as much time in love with you as possible, so if you want go with this plan then I'm completely on board."

Stefan slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket before he showed the Gilbert girl what he had - the small vial that Elijah had brought to the boarding house. "I trust your judgement," the Salvatore vampire softly assured Emily and showed her that he was completely on her side and her choice of survival, "I will support you and help you in anyway that I can through this new journey in your life."

Emily absolutely appreciated the Salvatore vampire's words but at the moment, her green and teary eyes were zoned onto the vial of magical properties that would change her life forever. The Gilbert girl slowly and cautiously brought her hand up and took the awaiting vial with a slight nervousness to her movements.

Emily had honestly come to terms with becoming a witch - despite her nervousness - and the Salvatore vampire's words definitely helped make her feel more confident in her choice but the Gilbert girl just couldn't help but feel anxious about actually becoming a witch and what could happen afterwards. However, Emily knew this was her only option and that she would have to figure out how to keep herself from going out of control like the other witches when the time came, so Emily took a deep breath as she prepared herself for her new life.

The Gilbert girl pushed away all of the nervousness that she felt as she slowly took the top off of the vial before she confidently pushed the magical properties down her throat and swallowed it all in one go. Emily honestly didn't know what she was expecting when she downed the potion but she definitely wasn't expecting the metal like taste that it left behind in her throat. "Ugh," the Gilbert girl groaned as she grimaced, "that is the worst taste in the world."

The Salvatore vampire couldn't help but chuckle as he watched his girlfriend's face turn sour. "I don't think it's supposed to taste good, babe," Stefan lightheartedly uttered as he gently took the vial out of the Gilbert girl's hand and silently placed it back into the front pocket of his jeans.

Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders once she finally got over the taste of the magic potion before she jokingly uttered as she shot the Salvatore vampire a small grin, "they could at least make it enjoyable."

Stefan shook his head with a soft smile playing on his lips from just the fact that the Gilbert girl could find the humor in anything - even when her life was currently doing a complete one-eighty. The Salvatore vampire slowly took a few steps closer towards Emily before he placed his hand gently onto her cheek. "You're so brave," Stefan softly murmured, "and I am so proud of you, baby."

Stefan leaned down and pulled the Gilbert girl into a short but meaningful kiss before he stood back up and continued to show his support for his girlfriend, "everything is going to alright, I promise you." The Salvatore vampire rubbed the side of Emily's face as he murmured, "I know this scary but I'm going to be right by your side the entire time. I know you are worried that you will hurt someone while being a witch but don't. I will follow you every second of every day if that is what you want."

Stefan pressed a gentle kiss onto the Gilbert girl's forehead as he breathed in her comforting scent before he whispered against Emily's warm skin, "I just want to watch you be happy again after this is all over with. You deserve the world and I promise you, I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you get to experience everything that you have ever hoped for."

Emily couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief and amazement from her boyfriend's sweet and assuring words. "I don't deserve you," the Gilbert girl mumbled before she pushed herself onto her tippy toes and pulled Stefan into a long and passionate kiss to show her appreciation.

However, Emily had to pull away after a few minutes when she couldn't breathe. She, instead, settled for wrapping her arms tightly around Stefan's neck as she gazed at the love of her life before she softly murmured, "it means the world to me that you are willing to trust me and follow my lead. I honestly can't thank you enough."

The Salvatore vampire gently shook his head before he placed a sweet kiss onto Emily's soft lips. "You don't have to thank me," Stefan stated as there was no reason to. Stefan never wanted the Gilbert girl to be thankful for his actions. He just wanted Emily to live the happiest life that she could and that would be enough for him.

"But..." Emily trailed off as her right hand slowly moved down from the Salvatore vampire's neck until it lightly settled against the cold button of Stefan's jeans before the Gilbert girl questioned with a slight seduction to her voice, "what if I did want to thank you, though?"

Emily wanted, no needed, to show her appreciation for all that Stefan had done for her, not only for everything that he done for her family and friends in the past, but for what he had done today during her last few hours as a human. The Gilbert girl knew her life was about to turn crazy and unpredictable after tonight, so she also just wanted to spend as much of her time with her loving and caring boyfriend as she could before their lives would turn upside down.

The Salvatore vampire couldn't help but release a throaty chuckle that sent vibrations through his chest once he understood what Emily's goal was but he definitely wasn't complaining if the deep arousal in his voice was anything to go by. "Well, I wouldn't want to deny you of your wish," Stefan teasingly murmured with a sly smirk playing on his lips before he tightly wrapped his hands around the Gilbert girl's waist and lifted her into the air.

Emily immediately wrapped her legs around her boyfriend's thin waist when she felt that her black ankle boots weren't touching the ground of the meadow any longer. The Gilbert girl then took her right hand away from Stefan's neck as she trusted that he wouldn't end up dropping her before Emily trailed her thumb gently across his cold cheek with a soft smile playing on her lips. "I love you so much," Emily murmured barely above a whisper before she placed her lips onto the Salvatore vampire's colder ones for a loving and passionate kiss.

The couple of the Salvatore vampire and the Gilbert girl kissed for a few minutes before Emily, of course, had to pull away so she could breathe. "You' re my everything," Emily began once she had caught her breath, "you are my sun, my moon, and my stars." The human Petrova doppelganger shot her boyfriend a soft smile before she murmured with tears clouding her green irises from all of her emotions building up, "you make my life so much better. I don't know how I will ever be able to thank you for everything that you have done for me, for my family, and my friends."

Stefan let his own soft smile rise onto his lips with tears also clouding his own pair of green eyes from the fact that he knew this could be the last time for awhile before they could have a moment like this. "I love you, too, baby. You are my world," the Salvatore vampire murmured before he pulled Emily back into another passionate kiss to show the love of his life just how much that he adored her.

This kiss, however, lasted a little bit longer than the previous one did with even more tension - the good and hot kind - growing between them. "I think I know how you can thank me, though," Stefan mentioned once he had slowly pulled back from their passionate embrace and watched as his girlfriend tried to catch her breath.

The Gilbert girl rose her right eyebrow as she twitched her head to the side out of curiousness to what the vampire had to say. "And what's that?" Emily inquired as she aimlessly played with the hairs on the back of her boyfriend's neck.

However, unlike what the Gilbert girl was expecting, Stefan didn't answer her right away. Instead, the Salvatore vampire slowly and silently unwrapped Emily's legs from around his waist while he also continued to hold eye contact with her through every step of the way. Once Emily's boots were planted onto the ground, Stefan slowly trailed his hand down the side of his girlfriend's body before he settled his hand at the dip of her back.

The Salvatore vampire placed a feather-like kiss onto Emily's lips as he put pressure onto her back before he carefully pushed her down onto the soft cloud of bright colored flowers that surrounded the meadow. Stefan wasn't too far behind as once Emily was laid back, the Salvatore vampire instantly settled his left knee between the Gilbert girl's thighs and placed his forearms on either side of her head.

"Just... Love me," the Salvatore vampire finally answered Emily's last question about what she could do to thank him in a quiet whisper while he looked down at her with adoration shining throughout his green irises. "Just be here with me and allow me to show you just how much you mean to me," Stefan murmured while he placed feather-like kisses along the Gilbert girl's chest after every few words.

"I...I think I can do that," Emily pushed the words through her lips as she tried to control her heart practically pounding out of her chest from the simplest of touches that the Salvatore vampire was doing to her body. It was affecting her so much since they have never shared a moment like this before. It was usually fast and passionate when they would have sex since they were always surrounded by people - whether it be, siblings, aunts, or friends.

However, this time, it was different, the Gilbert girl decided, as Stefan was moving slowly and carefully as he removed each layer of her clothing and kissed every inch of her body. It was love making and it just made Emily fall even more in love with the Salvatore vampire than she had thought was even possible.

* * *

 _Well, my 2020 goals was put on hold because of the coronavirus :( But I hope everyone is staying indoors and are staying healthy! Updates should come regularly now. I hope you enjoy reading my story during a tough time._

 _xoxo_


	70. The One With How Emily Feels

Emily had honestly lost all sense of time before she found herself lying next to the Salvatore vampire as she tried to catch her breath. The Gilbert girl stared up at the dark sky that shined by the bright stars before she decided that it had at least been three hours since she and Stefan had started rolling around in the soft meadow as they showed one another how they felt for each other.

It was up there with one of Emily's top moments in her seventeen years and, in her opinion, it was the perfect way to end her human life. The Gilbert girl just felt so at peace as her head rested on top of Stefan's cold chest with only the sound of the colorful flowers blowing through the wind.

However, the calm silence had to come to an end at some point and that is what happened once Stefan had twisted his body to the side and he was sat up on his elbow so he could gaze down at his girlfriend. The Salvatore vampire softly trailed the back of his point and middle fingers along Emily's cheek before he told her in a gentle voice, "hey, you can say it."

Emily was instantly in a state of confusion as she heard the few words that slipped from her boyfriend's lips, so she slowly moved her green irises up to the Salvatore vampire's own pair, instead of looking at the bright stars, before she inquired with her brows pulled together, "say what?"

"You know," Stefan began as he still used that gentle voice of his while he continued to soothingly rub the back of his fingers across the Gilbert girl's cheek before he mentioned what they had spoken about when they had first arrived at the cottage, "the thing you've been wanting to say, but... Have been afraid of how it would make me feel." The Salvatore vampire knew Emily hadn't been completely truthful earlier about how she was feeling and Stefan just wanted her to know that she could tell him anything - no matter if it bothered him or not.

Emily lightly shrugged her shoulders as she murmured, "there's nothing really I can say." The Gilbert girl released a small chuckle before she added, "it's not like it's going to change anything." Emily honestly wasn't upset like most people would think she would be with what tonight would mean with her becoming a witch. It was just that she was more afraid of who she was going to become. It definitely didn't help that there hasn't been a successful case of a witch turning this way without going completely crazy.

"I know," the Salvatore vampire gently murmured in understanding before he stated with a small shrug, "but it might make you feel better." Stefan lifted himself further up onto his elbow so he could look directly into his girlfriend's green eyes before he stated, "look, I know this isn't what you wanted for yourself. I know you never even imagined that you would have to become a witch - and we all know this is our only option since you don't want to be a vampire."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help the deep frown that immediately sprouted onto her face as she heard her boyfriend's words. Emily knew that the younger Salvatore had wished that she had chosen the vampire route of things, so it made her feel bad that she couldn't do what he wanted for her. "I'm sorry," Emily quietly whispered as it was the only thing that she could say at the moment. Emily knew it wouldn't fix things but she hoped that it would help Stefan understand why she wasn't willing to choose that option.

The Salvatore vampire's green eyes instantly widened when he realized how Emily took his words. "Hey, no, no, no," Stefan hurriedly uttered as he quickly sat up and turned his body around before he tightly grabbed ahold of the human girl's hands. "You have no reason to apologize," Stefan assured his girlfriend before he gave her hands a short squeeze as he tried to get through to Emily to make sure that she knew that he wasn't upset with her choice.

The Salvatore vampire lightly shrugged his shoulders as he stated, "yeah, I wish you would drink vampire blood, so we can spend forever together but I would never force that onto you, baby." Stefan gently rubbed his thumb along the Gilbert girl's hand before he concluded with his little speech to assure her that he was completely on board with her becoming a witch instead of a vampire, "but ultimately, it's your choice and I will support whatever choice you decide."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but immediately release a heavy sigh after she heard her boyfriend's supportive words as she felt she really needed to hear that right now - even though she already knew Stefan was on her side. Emily slowly pushed herself up onto her knees with only her boyfriend's dark Henley covering her body before she placed her hands on either side of Stefan's face as she placed a soft kiss onto his lips. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," Emily mumbled as she showed her praise while she had her warm temple pressed against the vampire's colder one. "It means a lot to me that you understand the choice I have to make," Emily stated as she softly ran her fingers through the younger Salvatore's messy brunette hair.

Emily honestly didn't remember when or how it happened but she somehow ended up seated on her boyfriend's lap with her head resting on his bare chest while she had been talking but she definitely wasn't complaining when it was Stefan's turn to run his fingers gently through her hair. The couple of the Gilbert girl and the Salvatore vampire stayed in that position for a few moments of tranquility before Emily looked back up into her boyfriend's soft green irises.

"I... I think I'm okay with this," Emily finally confessed about how she was feeling for tonight, "I think being a witch wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." The Gilbert girl lightly shrugged her shoulders before she commented, "I mean, look at Bonnie, she's a witch and she still goes to school and has a semi-normal life."

However, Emily's positivity of becoming a witch instantly disappeared, though, as a deep frown appeared on her face when she recalled what Elijah had told her about the witches that had turned this way. "But then again," the Gilbert girl mumbled, "Bonnie was born with her powers unlike me."

Emily huffed out a heavy sigh as she realized that her journey was going to be way much harder than any other witch's - especially with the fact that she was supposed to be the strongest one in existence. "I know it won't be the same," the Gilbert girl uttered as she focused back onto Stefan, instead of the worries in her head, before she murmured as she lightly rubbed her fingertips along her boyfriend's bare chest, "but I think I can do it."

Emily soon grew silent for a couple of minutes as she tried to wrap her mind around everything while she comfortingly drew small and random shapes onto the Salvatore vampire's pecks before she confessed as she slowly moved her green irises back up to her boyfriend's own forest colored eyes, "I'm still afraid that I won't be myself anymore after I become a witch but I... I think I can live with this decision."

Stefan silently nodded his head in understanding but he just couldn't help but to be still worried for how the Gilbert girl was doing with all of this. The Salvatore vampire placed both of his large hands on either side of Emily's face before he anxiously asked, "are you sure?" Stefan gently ran his right thumb across the Gilbert girl's cheek as he told her, "I don't want you to do anything that you don't want to do."

Emily released a small chuckle while she moved her head up and down to assure her boyfriend that she was sure of her decision. "It's not like I really have much of choice now since I already drank the potion," the Gilbert girl joked before she grew serious when Stefan gave her a scolding look that she was very used to getting when she would joke around with her existence.

Emily gently took the Salvatore vampire's hand away from her cheek before she placed a feather-like kiss onto the top of his cold skin. "I'm sure," the Gilbert girl softly murmured as she knew that Stefan was still worried about her and how she was feeling about this new change in her life.

"I'm not gonna lie," Emily began as she gave the vampire's hand a slight squeeze before she confessed, "I'm scared out of my mind. I mean, I'm only seventeen and I'm supposed to turn into the strongest witch in less than a few hours." The Gilbert girl released a small chuckle as she still found it so crazy that this was all happening to her.

"It doesn't exactly help that only a few people have ever turned into a witch this way and they usually end up going crazy," Emily voiced her own worries about this whole ordeal, "I'm basically going in blind while trusting in my doppelganger and a witch, who I have never even met before."

The Gilbert girl briefly paused as she took a deep breath to get a grasp onto the worries that are constantly going through her mind before she shot her boyfriend a soft smile. "But I'm okay," Emily murmured about how she was feeling, "I've come to terms with the fact that this is what my life will be like now."

The Gilbert girl gave her boyfriend's hand another short squeeze before she concluded with a soft smile playing on her lips, "as long as I have you, Elena, and everyone else by my side, I think I can get through this."

The frown that had been embedded onto the Salvatore vampire's face since the start of their conversation instantly did a one-eighty as a wide smile pulled onto his lips. Stefan was glad that the Gilbert girl was happy with her choice and because it was her own decision and not from anyone else telling her what to do.

The Salvatore vampire brought his free hand, that his girlfriend wasn't holding, to Emily's chin before he tilted her head up and placed a meaningful kiss onto her soft lips. "I love you so much," Stefan murmured once he had pulled away from their passionate embrace before he promised, "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right by your side every step of the way."

Emily couldn't help the equally bright smile that immediately pulled up onto her face that matched her boyfriend's own smile from his assuring words. The Gilbert girl pushed her lips back onto Stefan's for another sweet kiss before she pulled away before she could get too distracted and softly murmured, "that's all I could ever ask for."

Emily smiled up at her loving boyfriend for a moment of tranquility before she slowly relaxed her head onto the Salvatore vampire's bare chest in the peaceful meadow with a sigh of content escaping from her lips. The Gilbert girl couldn't be anymore happier with her choice at the moment as she just felt so at peace with Stefan's arms wrapped around her body.

Emily had known this would ultimately be her decision with how she would die but after finally talking to her boyfriend and knowing that Stefan understood her choice and would support her, it made Emily feel more confident in Maria's plan for her. It made Emily feel in content in her decision with turning into a witch and dying tonight - despite the fact that she still had this voice in the back of her mind about how she would end up hurting someone once she was a witch.

However, though, Emily felt that if she had her loved ones - most importantly Stefan and Elena - by her side that she could continue being the Emily Gilbert that they knew. Emily also felt with her everyone surrounding her that she could survive becoming a witch and that they could survive the feared hybrid.


	71. The One When Klaus Takes Emily

It was pitch black dark by the time Stefan had pulled his red Porsche back in front of the Salvatore boarding house with his hand rested protectively onto the Gilbert girl's thigh as he tried to absorb as much of Emily and her presence as he could while he mentally prepared himself for what was to come tonight.

It absolutely pained the Salvatore vampire to even think about letting his girlfriend out of his sight on a regular basis but the fact that the feared hybrid was going to take her absolutely crushed Stefan. He knew no time was going to ever prepare him for what was going to happen tonight but he still tried to get ready for that feared moment as he took a shaky deep breath and reminded himself that Emily would come back to him in the end.

Emily, who had been peacefully sitting in the passenger seat of the red sports car while she enjoyed her last human moment, swiftly twisted her head around to face her boyfriend when she felt as his hand tightened around her thigh. They had been sitting in the vehicle for the past five minutes but Emily knew that the Salvatore vampire needed that time right now.

However, Emily soon grew worried by the way Stefan was gripping her leg and how he was like in a trance as he kept his green irises glued onto the side of the boarding house in front of them. The Gilbert girl lightly placed her hand over her boyfriend's as to not frighten him before she gently inquired, "you doing okay?"

Stefan, finally and thankfully, got out of his anxiety ridden mind as soon as he heard the soft tone coming from his girlfriend before he turned his head and looked over to the worried Gilbert girl. The Salvatore vampire shot Emily a small but tense smile as he himself was still anxious about tonight before he uttered with a hint of humor in his voice, "I think I should be the one asking you that."

The Gilbert girl released a small chuckle as she shook her head in amusement. However, Emily didn't say anything after that. She only gave Stefan's hand, that was resting on her thigh, a small squeeze before she silently opened the passenger door and began to exit the red Porsche.

Emily couldn't help the soft smile that immediately pulled onto her lips, though, when she stood up and fully exited the car as she noticed that the Salvatore vampire was standing right in front of her. The Gilbert girl moved up onto her tippy toes as she wrapped her arms around Stefan's neck before she placed a soft kiss onto his lips. "Everything is going to be okay," Emily murmured as she assured her boyfriend while she aimlessly played with the ends of his brunette hair. "We're going to get through this, okay?" The Gilbert girl continued to comfort her boyfriend, "and I'm going to be okay."

The Salvatore vampire silently stared into Emily's bright green eyes for a moment as he tried to see if she really was okay like she was saying and really believed that everything would actually be okay as well. However, when Stefan found only truthfulness behind her gaze, Stefan nodded his head as he released a deep sigh. That was honestly all that Stefan wanted for his girlfriend. He just wanted to make sure that Emily was okay and that she was handling all of this fairly well - despite the fact that he was a nervous wreck himself.

The Salvatore vampire slowly brought his forehead down until it was rested against Emily's temple as he breathed in her comforting scent for what could be the last time until everything became complete chaos. "I love you so much," Stefan softly murmured as he wrapped his arms protectively around the Gilbert girl's waist.

"I love you, too," Emily softly whispered back before she used her point and middle fingers to tilt the Salvatore vampire's face up until she was looking into her favorite pair of orbs. The Gilbert girl leaned up onto her tippy toes as she smiled softly at her boyfriend before she swiftly pulled him into a passionate and emotional kiss.

However, the bittersweet moment between the human and the vampire couple was soon interrupted, though, when Stefan suddenly felt as someone was staring right at them. The protectiveness and wariness in the Salvatore vampire wanted to keep his girlfriend safe, so he quickly ended their loving embrace as he pulled away and turned around - where he noticed a man, no a vampire, intensively watching them.

Stefan had just this feeling inside of him that felt like the guy standing across from them was Klaus by just the evilness that practically surrounded him, so the Salvatore vampire quickly moved to stand entirely in front of his girlfriend as his green eyes turned hard while he stared across to the feared hybrid. Stefan knew it was probably pointless when they knew why Klaus was here, but Stefan just wanted to protect the human girl as long as he could.

"You got me all nervous," the feared hybrid finally spoke up after he had stared across at the couple for a solid three minutes with a small joke while a wide smirk played on his lips. Klaus slowly walked towards the young vampire and his doppelganger before he muttered to the Gilbert girl as he focused his dark blue-green irises solely onto her, "I thought maybe you'd do something stupid."

However, when no one made a single sound, much to Klaus' amusement, the feared hybrid rose his right eyebrow as he continued to keep his eyes locked onto his doppelganger before he inquired, "you ready, my sunflower?"

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but roll her green eyes when she heard that stupid nickname that she knew would never go away. "Let's get this over with," Emily mumbled in annoyance before she moved around her boyfriend to walk towards the ever-so feared hybrid.

However, though, before the human Petrova doppelganger could even lift one of her heeled ankle boots from the driveway of the Salvatore boarding house, she was instantly stopped as Stefan quickly grabbed ahold of her wrist and exclaimed sternly as he shook his head, "no."

The feared hybrid released a series of tsks as he shook his head from the actions of the younger vampire. "I wouldn't," Klaus warned Stefan before he stated as he glared his blue-green irises at the Salvatore vampire, "no reason for you to die, too."

Emily knew that they really shouldn't test the hybrid at the moment and anger him, so the Gilbert girl quickly turned around and faced her boyfriend. "Hey, hey, hey," Emily softly murmured as she placed her hands on either side of his face, so he wouldn't be glaring at Klaus. "This was the plan, right?" The Gilbert girl inquired before she stated once Stefan had silently nodded his head in agreement, "no else needs to get involved. Everything is going to be just fine, I promise."

Emily slowly wrapped her hands, that were softly pressed against the vampire's cold cheeks, around his neck before she pulled him into a passionate kiss to show Stefan just how much she cared for him. The Gilbert girl pulled away after a moment of their loving embrace before she whispered with as much emotion that she could put into her words, "I love you so much."

The Salvatore vampire silently nodded his head with tears clouding his green eyes. "I know," Stefan whispered back as he softly ran his thumb across the Gilbert girl's cheek. "I love you, too," Stefan quietly murmured as he stared across at his girlfriend with so much adoration in his gaze, "I love you so so much, baby."

The Gilbert girl smiled with tears in her own eyes as she knew that this would be her last moment with Stefan as a human. Emily knew that she couldn't cry, though, when she needed to be the strong one between herself and Stefan or she would never want to leave, so Emily took a deep breath before she promised to her boyfriend, "it's going to be okay. We're going to be okay."

Emily shot the Salvatore vampire a teasing smile before she joked with a watery smile, "you can't get rid of me that easily, you know that." The Gilbert girl listened to the heavenly sound as Stefan chuckled for a moment before she pulled him into one last kiss. Emily knew her boyfriend would try to stop her - as a reflex, not because he didn't trust her - so as soon as their lips were apart, the Gilbert girl turned and gave Klaus a small nod to tell him that she was ready and before Emily knew it, she was suddenly swept off of her feet.

Emily had never been a fan of the feeling of vampire speed, so when she felt everything move around in hyper speed, the Gilbert girl squeezed her green eyes closed while she tightly held onto Klaus' black jacket. However, when Emily didn't feel the slap of her hair against her face and the loud wind in her ears, she slowly peaked her eyes open before she realized that they were standing in the middle of nowhere.

"You sure do like to be close with men don't you, sunflower?" Klaus teased his doppelganger when he had realized that the Gilbert girl still was holding onto his clothing. The hybrid glanced down to Emily with a wide smirk playing on his lips as he continued to tease her, "first it was the vampire boyfriend and then it was the werewolf best friend and, of course, you can't forget the dashingly sexy hybrid."

Emily immediately rolled her green eyes from the hybrid's teasing words as she swiftly pushed herself out of Klaus' arms before she muttered as she began to walk away from the annoying supernatural being, "don't flatter yourself." Emily honestly had never met someone who could irritate her so much, except for maybe John or Damon, but she was proven wrong every single time that Klaus opened his mouth.

Klaus released a deep chuckle from how easy it was to get under his doppelganger's skin. "You're going the wrong way, sunflower," the hybrid told the human girl with amusement in his voice after watching her take a few steps in the opposite direction of their destination.

The Gilbert girl swiftly twirled her head around before she looked back to the hybrid with her brows pulled together. Emily huffed out a sigh when she saw Klaus was pointing towards the other direction and that she had, in fact, went the wrong way. "Whatever," Emily mumbled with annoyance still shining throughout her voice before she fast walked past the hybrid - after she had purposely bumped her shoulder into his chest.

"You are definitely Darina's doppelganger," the feared hybrid commented in amusement as he sped up so he was walking side by side with the Gilbert girl.

"Oh, yeah?" Emily inquired as her curiousness got the better of her from the mention of her doppelganger. The Gilbert girl glanced over to Klaus before she continue to question, "and why's that?"

A wide grin instantly pulled up onto the feared hybrid's face now that he had Emily's attention and from the fact that she was actually speaking to him without any annoyance in her voice. Klaus lightly bumped his shoulder into his doppelganger's before he uttered, "she couldn't stand me either."

Emily couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped her lips from the fact that she definitely wasn't that different with her doppelganger when it came to the hybrid. "Oh, what a surprise," the Gilbert girl sarcastically gaped before she lightly shook her head and muttered, "I would have never have guessed."

Klaus stared down at the Gilbert girl beside him with a look of amusement shining through his blue-green eyes before he commented with a small twitch of his head, "you know, If I didn't have to kill tonight, I think we would have been great friends." The feared hybrid enjoyed how Emily didn't take any of his crap. It was definitely refreshing from everyone else who would always act like they were walking on eggshells around him.

The Gilbert girl instantly released a scoff at the hybrid's words. "Yeah, right," Emily muttered as she rolled her eyes at even the thought of being friendly with Klaus. "I already have one egoistic vampire friend," the Gilbert girl stated as she immediately thought of Damon before she commented, "I definitely don't need another one."

Klaus released a throaty chuckle as he glanced down at the human Petrova doppelganger beside him before he mused with his signature smirk still painted onto his pink tinted lips, "whatever you say, sunflower."

The bantering conversation between the human girl and the hybrid soon came to a stop, though, when Klaus had spotted their destination. Klaus lightly placed his hand onto his doppelganger's back before he lead her down the brick walkway and up the porch of a simple but expensive house that he had been renting for the past day and a half. "This is where you'll be for the time being," Klaus informed his doppelganger as he walked her through the front door and through the small foyer.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but curiously look around the unfamiliar house as her annoying kidnapper lead her through the place with his hand still settled on her back as if he was afraid that she would run away. _Like I could really get too far,_ Emily thought as she silently rolled her eyes.

Emily soon realized as she glanced around the house was that it was probably compelled since she could see pictures of a happy family spread all throughout the place and Emily knew they definitely didn't know an evil and asshole of a person like Klaus when they had two small children. _I wonder where the family is,_ the Gilbert girl worriedly thought as she moved her green irises quickly around the room as she tried to see if she could find any clues to where the innocent family were.

"Greta," the loud voice of the feared hybrid called out, which ultimately jumped Emily out of her thoughts about the house, as he lead his doppelganger into the living room - where he instantly spotted his witch. Klaus pushed the Gilbert girl towards the middle of the room as he ordered, "keep an eye on her until I get back."

'Watch it, asshole," Emily immediately growled as soon as she turned around and faced the hybrid after she had practically tripped over her ankle boots from the harsh push on her back. "I don't think you want your prized possession to be injured," Emily couldn't help but sass. The Gilbert girl didn't know what it was but she just couldn't stand Klaus. It was like even being in the same room as him caused her to want to snap at him for just looking at her. _I think I know how Darina felt,_ Emily thought as she figured this was the doppelganger connection working its magic.

However, much to Emily disappointment, the feared hybrid didn't even look at her as he continued to speak to his witch about tonight. Emily honestly didn't have a clue to what the hell they were talking about with all this talk about hearts, blood, and spells. The Gilbert girl figured it was about the ritual for tonight and she definitely wanted to hear any of it when she was about to be involved in it, so Emily rolled her green eyes at the duo before she silently stumbled over to the large window behind the loveseat that ran from the top of the wall and down with crystals surrounding the outline of the glass.

The Gilbert girl's plan to ignore the hybrid and the witch to get some peace and quiet ended up being fruitless, though, as the loud and deep voice of Klaus called out to her only a minute later, "sunflower!" The hybrid couldn't help the smirk that pulled onto his lips when the annoyed girl shot him a glare before Klaus grew serious as he told her as if he was scolding a young child, "stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

Emily immediately rolled her green eyes at the hybrid before she muttered in annoyance as she carelessly waved her hand, "yeah, yeah, yeah." The Gilbert girl silently watched as the hybrid smirked at her before she couldn't help but yell out to him as he made his way towards the front door, "I hope you trip and fall on a dagger!" Emily knew it was pointless to say since Klaus was far away but it certainly did help her release some of the anger that she felt when she was around the hybrid.

The Gilbert girl huffed out a small sigh when she heard the sound of the front door close before she, for the first time, turned and looked over to the witch in the room. Emily soon realized that she was the one who had vervained Caroline at Mystic Park. "So..." Emily slowly began as she took a few steps towards the witch before she curiously inquired with a raise of her right eyebrow, "any chance you have a vampire and a werewolf lying around this place?"

Emily knew her question was pointless since Klaus was smarter than to bring her to the place where he would hide the Forbes vampire and the Lockwood werewolf but she just couldn't help but to have hope that she could help her two best friends. The Gilbert girl also kinda hoped that they weren't here, too, as that would mean that Damon and Alaric would have a better chance at finding them and saving them before the sacrifice.

The witch, Greta, completely ignored the Gilbert girl's question - much to Emily's dismay. Instead, Greta simply ordered as she shot the human Petrova doppelganger a short glare, "stay in my sight and don't talk." Greta didn't spare Emily another look before she fast walked over to the coffee table like a woman on a mission. The witch focused all her attention on the grimoire and the spell for tonight before she warned the human girl for the last time, "I don't care who you are, I won't hesitate to subdue you."

Emily couldn't help but immediately roll her green eyes, for the millionth time, at the witch's threats and release a loud huff as she realized that Greta wasn't going to be at least approachable now that Klaus was gone. _It's not like I wanna be her friend,_ Emily thought to herself since Greta was half the reason for why her two best friends were missing. Emily had just figured that they could be civil with one another since they would be stuck with one another for awhile.

However, now that Emily knew that Greta was going to be a bossy little witch with an attitude, she decided that she didn't even want to try to start up a conversation. The Gilbert girl would rather save her energy and focus on tonight, so Emily rolled her green eyes, once again, at her 'caretaker' before she walked back to the large window and gazed up to the full moon that would cause the end of her human life.

The Gilbert girl ignored the witch in the background speaking Latin as she closed her green irises and took a deep breath. _Come on, Damon, please save them,_ Emily mentally prayed to herself as she hoped that the older Salvatore would be able to find Tyler and Caroline before Klaus would show up for them. That was the only thought on Emily's mind at the moment as she knew their plan was rock solid.

Emily just never took in account that Klaus would use someone she loved, so that was what she was most worried about for the sacrifice. The Gilbert girl didn't want any of her loved ones to be caught in the middle of all of this when Klaus was only here in Mystic Falls because of her.

Emily couldn't help the shaky breath that escaped her lips as she leaned her warm forehead onto the cold window in front of her as her anxiety began to worsen from the worry of losing someone close to her. _Come on, Damon,_ the Gilbert girl practically chanted in her head as she hoped and prayed for no one else to be hurt tonight.

 _Everything is going to be okay. Everyone is going to be okay. No one I love will die tonight_ , Emily mentally reminded herself as to keep herself calm, _Klaus will die tonight. I will die tonight. But I will become the strongest witch ever. It's going to be okay._ However, though, as Emily chanted these words in her head, she couldn't help the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that something, in fact, was going to go terribly wrong.


	72. The One With The Participants

Emily huffed out a sigh as she past by the same image of the owner of the house's twins, Madison and Macey, for the hundred time. The Gilbert girl didn't even know how long that she had been in the family's house as she waited for Klaus or whoever to show up. She did know it had been long enough for her to snoop around without Greta constantly watching over her back. Well, after the witch had spelled the house so she couldn't sneak out.

Emily was honestly going stir crazy from all the waiting for her death to happen already. The Gilbert girl hated to be stuck in her mind, so during her free time before the sacrifice, she had searched all through the house and found out the mother, Lori, was a civil rights attorney specializing in discrimination and her wife, Carrie, was a first grade teacher at the same elementary school that Emily had went to as a child.

Emily, however, never did find out where the family was during her search of the large brick house. The Gilbert girl just hoped that Klaus had a tiny heart and compelled them to leave instead of killing them as they sounded like a really nice family that didn't deserve to die because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Any day now," Emily muttered to herself as she continued to pace the small office that she figured belonged to Lori. The Gilbert girl honestly wasn't nervous about dying anymore as the time passed her by. Emily focused more of her nervousness on her new witch life that she would soon have to face. It was one of the main reasons why Emily just wanted the sacrifice to be done with already so she could go through the difficult journey of figuring out how she going to survive as a witch without going completely crazy like the past witches.

However, thankfully for the impatient Gilbert girl, she didn't have to continue to pace the office space for much longer as Greta soon came stomping into the room. "It's time," the witch simply uttered in an emotionless voice that would freak anyone out - but not Emily since she had gotten used to Greta's short responses during their time together - before she swiftly turned right back around and headed back down the staircase.

Emily's green irises instantly widened as she realized that everything was soon coming to an end. _Wow, okay. This is really happening, huh?_ Emily anxiously thought to herself. However, the Gilbert girl didn't get the chance to panic too much, thankfully, when she suddenly heard the front door was being opened and she realized that Greta was already leaving.

Emily ignored the pointless anxiety that she felt as she was already in content with her choice to die tonight before she hurriedly slipped her ankle boots back on and rushed out of the office space to catch up with Greta. The Gilbert girl barely had time to jog down the staircase and out of the front door right as the hybrid's witch had reached the edge of the woods to the right side of the brick house.

Emily took a moment to actually look at her surroundings before she instantly furrowed her brows in confusion. The Gilbert girl honestly had no clue as to where they were at the moment. Emily realized that she made the mistake of not looking at her surroundings when Klaus had brought her to his temporary house.

Emily honestly felt completely blind from the fact that she didn't even know where she was right now. Hell, she could be out of Mystic Falls AND Virginia for all she knew. The Gilbert girl hated feeling this way and she was also curious, so Emily quickly jogged up to catch up with Greta's fast paced walking through the dark forest that she hadn't even noticed that was surrounding the fancy brick house before she questioned, "where are we going?"

Greta, unluckily for the Gilbert girl who was starting to regret not working out more, didn't slow down her fast walking as she practically jogged through the deep forest. However, luckily for Emily, though, the feared hybrid's witch did answer her question this time. It wasn't the answer Emily wanted as Greta simply mumbled, "this way."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but immediately roll her green eyes at Greta's short answer before she sarcastically muttered as she tossed her hands in the air, "oh, that explains it all." Emily was honestly tired of the witch, who was a few steps in front of her. Greta had been no help all night. She would just give Emily these short and unhelpful answers that would always cause for Emily to roll her eyes or huff at the witch in annoyance.

Greta, for the first time since she told the doppelganger that it was time to go, glanced back to the Gilbert girl with a raise of her right eyebrow. "Where do you think we're going?" Greta questioned in amusement before she faced forward again and continued her fast paced walking. The witch stayed silent for about another three minutes before she simply uttered after she got tired of hearing the doppelganger huffing and puffing in annoyance, "we're going to the sacrifice."

"I know that!" The Gilbert girl practically and irritatingly screeched. Emily pointed around them as she corrected herself, "I mean the location." The human Petrova doppelganger glanced around the forest with her brows pulled together before she mumbled, mostly to herself, "where the hell are we?" Emily honestly thought she had known every single spot in Mystic Falls but apparently, she did not - if they were, in fact, in Mystic Falls.

"Steven's Quarry," Greta finally answered the human Petrova doppelganger's most wanted question in that same bored and monotone voice that she had been using since she was asked to babysit the Gilbert girl.

"Huh," Emily mumbled, mostly to herself, in disbelief as she realized that they were on the whole other side of Mystic Falls. "No wonder I don-" the Gilbert girl had began to utter the reason as to why she didn't recognize anything around her but before she could even complete her sentence, Emily found herself letting out a loud yelp as she felt her body suddenly fall down to her knees.

The Gilbert girl released a throaty groan as she felt her knees dig into the rough ground - despite her leggings covering her skin - and her fingers gripping around the crispy fall leaves that surrounded the whole forest. "Do you not have a flashlight on you?" Emily annoyingly questioned the witch once she had finally pushed her sore body back onto her feet with another loud groan escaping from her lips.

Greta couldn't help but smirk to herself as she enjoyed the pain that the doppelganger had felt after she had to endure all of the human girl's questioning and loud pacing for hours. The witch, however, did put Emily out of her misery after a few more minutes of walking through the forest once they finally reached the clearing. "All you had to do was ask," Greta teasingly uttered before she suddenly lit up the area with fire guiding them further into the quarry with just the soft movement of her point and middle fingers.

"Finally!" Emily huffed out once she could see her hands in front of her along with the big clearing in front of them. The Gilbert girl, who was happy that she could see again, silently followed after Greta without anymore complaints. However, that all soon ended when Emily noticed that there was two people here as well.

 _Please, don't be Tyler or Caroline. Please, don't be Tyler or Caroline,_ Emily pleadingly chanted in her head as she tried to see who the other people at Steven's Quarry were. The Gilbert girl cautiously took a few steps towards the two bodies before she instantly released a sigh of relief. _Oh, thank God,_ Emily mentally swore as she realized that Tyler was nowhere in sight. Instead, Emily noticed the dirty blonde woman who was in Tyler's pack of wolves.

Emily honestly couldn't find it in herself to feel bad for the werewolf, or Jules, when she was the reason why Rose was dead and ultimately the reason for her best friend leaving Mystic Falls.

The Gilbert girl felt herself finally relax from knowing that Damon and Alaric had, in fact, saved Tyler and Caroline in time just like he had promised. Emily was now more curious as to who was the vampire for the sacrifice if it isn't Caroline. The other person was a little further away than Jules was, so she took slow and cautious steps towards the vampire before Emily's green eyes widened in complete shock when she saw that the vampire was someone so dear to her.

Emily didn't think twice before running at full speed towards the vampire with tears dripping down her reddened and warm cheeks. The Gilbert girl didn't even say anything once she reached the vampire. Instead, she pulled the vampire into the tightest hug that she could offer with her human body. "W-What the hell happened? Why are you here right now?" Emily hurriedly questioned once she had pulled away from her scared embrace and gripped the vampire's cold face between her shaking fingers. The Gilbert girl shook her head with angry and sad tears freely trailing down her face before she shouted with nothing but fear in her voice, "y-you shouldn't be here! This wasn't supposed to happen!"

The young vampire placed her hand onto the human Petrova doppelganger's right cheek with a soft but sad smile playing across her lips with her own tears pouring down the side of her face. The vampire placed a gentle kiss onto Emily's forehead as she absorbed that comfort that she always felt with the human girl before she confessed, "Klaus turned Jenna into a vampire."

The supernatural being watched the shocked and terrified expression on the Gilbert girl's face for a moment as she comfortingly grabbed onto Emily's hand as to center her so she wouldn't go into shock like she knew Emily would. The vampire gave the human girl a moment before she stated with zero regret in her voice, "it was either me or Jenna and I couldn't let Jenna go through this when her new life was barely beginning."

Emily hurriedly shook her head while she continued to sob as she just couldn't accept the way things were going when they had the perfect plan. "I-It wasn't supposed to be you," the Gilbert girl cried out before she pulled the vampire into her chest and continue to sob for one of the most important people in her life. "No one else was supposed to get hurt!" Emily ranted as tears continued to fall down her face, "it was only supposed to be me!"

Emily felt like she was consumed by anger as she thought about the feared hybrid's plan for the sacrifice. "That fucking jackass!" The Gilbert girl swore as she realized that Klaus did this to hurt her. "I swear I'm going to kill him," Emily growled into the vampire's chest with that Petrova fire swimming throughout her green irises.

Despite the fact that Emily felt this large amount of anger in her chest from Klaus' plan, the Gilbert girl couldn't help but also feel so much fear as she hugged the vampire as tightly as she could. Emily thought that they had the most perfect plan in the world but that was all thrown away as the last person - who she ever wanted to see in the sacrifice was holding her -

 _Emily's other half. Emily's better half. Emily's best friend. Emily's twin sister - Elena Gilbert._


	73. The One With The Sacrifice Pt 1

It had been around twenty minutes since Emily found out that the feared and jackass of a hybrid was planning on to use her own twin sister as his vampire in the sacrifice. The Gilbert twins were currently sitting on the hard ground in the middle of Steven's Quarry with their hands tightly gripping the other as they tried to comfort each other during the worst time of their lives.

It was about the twenty-two minute mark when Emily finally controlled her sobbing enough to be able to speak to her sister. "What even happened?" The Gilbert girl asked what she had been wanting to ask since Elena had explained what had happened for her to end up in this position. "How did he turn Jenna and get ahold of you?" Emily continued her interrogation with a confused expression shining across her dull and exhausted face.

Emily honestly didn't know how this could have happened. She thought everyone was being safe since they knew Klaus was out there and could be very unpredictable and dangerous from the stories that they have heard from Rose and Elijah. However, Emily knew a lot could have happened since Klaus had taken her and mistakes could have been made - not to mention, Klaus did like his games.

Emily definitely didn't blame her sister, though. Hell, she would have done the exact same thing for Jenna since their aunt had just barely been introduced into their crazy world of vampires, witches, werewolves, and hybrids.

The Gilbert vampire released a deep sigh of regret as she slowly shook her head. "It was right after we went to the movies and I think you said you were going to go see Jeremy. Jenna and I were on our way back to our house to pick up some clothes since Stefan thought it would be best for all us to stay at the boarding house," Elena explained to her twin sister about what had happened before she pointed towards the witch a few yards in front of them. "Klaus had Greta use her magic to hold me down while he forced his blood into Jenna's mouth," Elena concluded with tears clouding her brown irises.

"I-I couldn't do anything!" The Gilbert vampire cried out in frustration from the fact that she hadn't been able to stop Klaus from turning her aunt. Elena felt so much regret that she couldn't do a better job at protecting Jenna. She felt as if she failed as she couldn't even do this one thing when her twin sister was practically fighting for her life.

"H-He made me choose," Elena continued to recall what had happened hours prior with tears trailing down her cold skin. "He said it would be me or Jenna," the Gilbert vampire explained before she hurriedly shook her head. "I couldn't do that Jenna," Elena mumbled, "Jenna doesn't deserve to be pushed into this life only to be killed a second later."

Emily released a heartbreaking sigh as she stared across at her twin sister with silent tears sliding down her cheeks from hearing what had happened earlier today. The Gilbert girl couldn't help but feel guilty as she realized that this happened when she was saying goodbye to everyone. However, Emily had to remind herself that Klaus would have still decided to use someone she loved if she had been there and maybe she wouldn't have gotten her last sweet goodbye with Stefan.

Emily could see that her twin sister was tearing herself apart over the fact that their aunt was now a vampire, so the Gilbert girl decided to focus on that. Emily pulled the brunette vampire back into her arms as she softly ran her fingers through her sister's hair. "You don't deserve this either, Elena," the Gilbert girl mumbled after she placed a soft kiss onto her sister's temple.

The two sisters sat there on the hard ground with their arms protectively wrapped around one another in a heartbreaking silence with only the sound of their loud sobs trailing through the air. However, once the crying had came to a slow stop, the Gilbert vampire looked down to her twin before she confessed, "I'm scared." Elena shook her head before she stated, "I know this might sound selfish or self centered when you have been going through all of this, but I never thought I would have to die."

Emily instantly gave her sister's hand a tight squeeze as to comfort her. "It's going to be okay," the Gilbert girl softly murmured. It was honestly the only thing Emily could say in this moment. She didn't have any master plans or strategies when she was still in shock that her twin sister was here with her right now. The only thing that Emily could do was to have faith that she was going to get her sister out of here alive.

"Is it, though?" The Gilbert vampire quietly inquired with her brows pulled together. Elena shook her head before she told her sister, "I don't have any potion or life line like you do, Em." The Gilbert vampire squeezed her brown eyes closed as she could feel the tears building up again before she whispered with fear all throughout her voice, "I-I'm really going to die."

The human Petrova doppelganger immediately looked over to her twin sister with a look of determination on her face. "No," Emily exclaimed as she shook her head, "no, you are not." The Gilbert girl gave Elena's hand another squeeze as she told her twin, "we are going to fight this, okay?" Emily waited until the anxious vampire slowly nodded her head before the human girl continued, "you are not allowed to give up, you hear me? Klaus does not get to win today."

It would be a cold day in hell before Emily would allow her sister or herself to just give up like Elena was already doing. Emily didn't care if she had to go through millions of Klaus', she wasn't going to lay back just because it was difficult. Emily was going to fight like hell. Hey, Emily was going to die anyways, so might as well go out fighting.

The Gilbert vampire released a shaky breath as she leaned the side of her wet cheek onto her jean covered knee. Elena honestly didn't really have any faith that she would survive as she knew without a doubt that Klaus was going to kill her. There was just no way out of this. However, as Elena glanced over to her determined twin, she knew that she couldn't give up. Elena was going to fight and believe that she could survive this for Emily's sake. It was least that she could do for her twin sister.

Elena released one last deep breath against her knee before the Gilbert vampire looked back up to her twin sister. "Okay," Elena murmured in agreement to the human girl's plan with frightened tears clouding her brown irises before she quietly affirmed, "we're going to be okay."

Emily silently nodded her head before she muttered her reassurance, "we'll be fine." The Gilbert girl, however, didn't know if that was actually going to be true at all. Emily just had this bad feeling in her chest that wouldn't go away no matter how many times that she thought positively. But that wasn't going to stop the Gilbert girl. Emily was going to do everything in her power to make sure that her twin sister got out of this. Elena was not going to die tonight.

The Gilbert twins sat in a quiet and tense silence while they closely hugged one another as they tried to comfort each other before Klaus showed up and ruined everything by killing either one or both of the sisters. However, the tranquility between the sisters soon came to an end when Greta loudly began to walk towards the duo.

Emily was the first one to take notice of the witch as Elena had her head in the crook of her neck. The Gilbert girl's green eyes slightly widened before she got control of her emotions as she quickly pulled Elena to stand up with her. "Stay behind me and don't move," Emily ordered her twin as she pushed the Gilbert vampire behind her while she tightly held onto Elena's wrist.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Emily told the witch once Greta was standing a few feet in front of them. The Gilbert girl decided it was worth a shot to see if she could talk through to Greta to see if she would at least leave Elena out of this. "We can all just leave," Emily uttered as she carelessly waved her hand while she tried to convince the witch that she didn't have to do this. The Gilbert girl lightly shrugged her shoulders before she commented, "Klaus is just using you, anyway."

Greta instantly released a loud and amused chuckle at the human Petrova doppelganger's assumptions. "No, sweetheart," the witch began as she shook her head before Greta corrected the Gilbert girl, "Klaus and I help each other." Greta shot the human girl a wide smirk before she concluded, "so, no. I can't just let you leave when he's been waiting for this day for centuries."

The Gilbert girl immediately came to realize that her words weren't going to be able to convince Greta to let them go by the way that she seemed determined to help Klaus become a true hybrid, so Emily decided to settle for violence instead.

The human Petrova doppelganger released a heavy sigh and silently nodded her head as if she was being understanding to what Greta had to do before she suddenly used her other hand - the one that wasn't holding onto Elena's wrist - and swung her fist right at the center of the witch's face.

Emily didn't wait around once she had punched Greta on the button of her nose before the Gilbert girl hurriedly pulled her twin sister with her while she anxiously shouted, "run!"

However, sadly, before Elena could use her vamp speed to get herself and her sister out of the quarry, she was suddenly stopped as she felt as her body was being flung away from Emily before the Gilbert vampire felt a warmness completely surround her. "No!" Elena shouted in panic once she had opened her brown eyes and had realized that she was surrounded by fire with no way to get out or get to her twin sister.

Greta didn't even react or flinch to the cries that were coming from the vampire as she angrily stomped towards the human Petrova doppelganger with a loud growl falling from the back of her throat. "I can't wait until Klaus finally gets rid of you," Greta snarled as she tightly grasped onto Emily's arm and made pain shoot all through her body. "You are a pain in the ass," Greta muttered as she pulled the Gilbert girl until she was a few feet away from her sister before Greta tossed Emily to the ground and instantly lit the second ring of fire around the doppelganger.

The Gilbert girl immediately released a groan out of relief and from the residue pain that the witch had caused her body. Emily stared up at the dark sky as she rolled around on the ground while she waited for the stinging to leave her system before she slowly pushed herself up onto her feet.

Emily, however, couldn't help but immediately frown once she finally noticed that she surrounded all around by a couple of feet of fire. "What the hell," the Gilbert girl mumbled to herself before she curiously lifted her black heeled boot to step over the fire. However, Emily quickly jumped back, though, when the flames swiftly rose up to her calves.

"Don't even try it," Greta snarled at the human Petrova doppelganger as she had been silently watching Emily before she informed the brunette, "I spelled the circle." Greta shot the Gilbert girl a wide smirk before she cockily stated, "you're trapped, little girl. You ain't going anywhere until Klaus comes for you."

The Gilbert girl instantly growled towards the witch as she felt so frustrated from the fact that she couldn't move. However, Emily's green irises slowly softened, though, when she looked over Greta's shoulder and noticed that Elena was sobbing in her own circle. Emily didn't want her twin sister to have to go through this, so Emily decided to try to get through to Greta, once more.

"Please, Greta," the Gilbert girl changed her tune as she begged instead of being angry. "You just need me. You don't need my sister," Emily tried to convince the witch before she suddenly remembered something that she could use. "You have a brother! Luka!" The Gilbert girl shouted as she remembered the young warlock and their father, who had tried to kill her to get Greta back from the hybrid. "I know you care about him and I know you would want to get him out of this if he was here right now!" Emily stated as she tried to touch Greta's heart with her family, "so, please don't do this to my sister."

Greta released a loud scoff before she rolled her dark eyes at the human Petrova doppelganger. "My family are dead to me," the witch snapped before she slowly turned around and headed towards the Gilbert vampire as she carelessly added, "besides, it's not my choice. Klaus gave her the option and this was her decision."

"Greta, please!" The Gilbert vampire immediately cried out as she slowly backed away as far as she could from the witch without the fire burning her. "You don't have to do this!" Elena joined in with her sister with trying to convince Greta with a slight panic to her brown eyes as she didn't know what Greta was about to do to her.

Greta, once again, ignored the cries of the Gilbert vampire as she released an amused chuckle. "You can relax," the witch told Elena with a wide smirk playing on her lips before Greta informed the vampire, "we still have to wait for the man of the hour, but don't you worry, you'll be dead just like your sister very soon." Greta stayed in her spot for a few seconds more as she found it amusing how panicked the vampire looked before she swiftly turned around and headed back towards the altar to go over the extremely important spell once more.

Emily immediately became worried for her twin sister, once again, as she could see just how badly Elena was handling all of this. The Gilbert girl swore that if her sister was still human, she would be having a full blown panic attack right now. "Elena!" The eldest Gilbert called out as she tried to get Elena to focus onto her instead of the thoughts in her mind, "Elena, look at me!"

"I-I can't do this!" The Gilbert vampire cried out as she began to pace the small circle while sobs continued to leave her body. Elena was lost in her anxieties that she hadn't even heard that her twin sister was calling out to her. Elena was just so panicked over the fact that she was about to die tonight.

"Lena," the Gilbert girl tried to get her sister's attention but in a more calmer tone, "you're going to be okay." Emily instantly shot the brunette vampire a small smile when Elena finally focused onto her. "Just take a deep breath for me, okay?" The Gilbert girl gently requested as she just tried to get her sister to calm down.

Elena hurriedly and shakily nodded her head as she tried to follow along to her sister's instructions and tried to relax. It took quite a bit of time, but finally, after a solid three minutes, Elena took a deep breath before she whispered to let Emily know that she was, in fact, calming down, "okay."

"Good girl," Emily complimented her twin as she knew that this was really difficult for Elena. The human Petrova doppelganger silently took a seat on the ground as close as she could to the fire without it burning her before she calmly requested as she nodded her head towards the fire as to tell Elena to take a seat as well, "just relax for me."

Elena shakily and slowly dropped down onto her jean covered knees before she planted her bottom into the grass at Steven's Quarry and anxiously wrapped her arms around her knees as she brought them closely to her chest. The Gilbert vampire, however, could only follow one of Emily's requests as loud sobs continued to rack through her body. "I'm scared," Elena whispered after a moment as she slowly brought her teary brown eyes up to look over to her twin sister.

"I know," Emily whispered back with a sad and small smile playing on her lips as she watched as her sister tried to control her sobs. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you from this," the Gilbert girl mumbled in disappointment as she looked down to her fingers and avoided Elena's gaze before she released a heavy sigh. "This is my fault. I should have made sure that you were safe before I left earlier," Emily muttered as she felt guilty that she didn't protect her twin better from Klaus when she knew the hybrid was extremely dangerous if Katherine's story about what he did to her family was any indication.

"Hey," the Gilbert vampire called out to her twin sister, despite her own sorrows, before she exclaimed with a deep frown embedded onto her face, "this isn't your fault." Elena shook her head before she stated, "we didn't know this was his plan." The Gilbert vampire then briefly glanced over to the witch as she was afraid Greta would hear her before Elena added in a whisper, "not even Elijah thought he would do this."

Emily released a huff of breath before she mumbled as she knew her sister was right, "I know." The Gilbert girl silently closed her green eyes as she tried to get rid of the guilt that she felt at the moment from not protecting Elena or Jenna better - even thought she knew that had been out of her control - as she decided to focus solely onto her twin sister, who was having a hard time right now.

Emily took a deep breath as she reigned in her own emotions before she opened her green irises and stared over to the Gilbert vampire. "How are you feeling?" The Gilbert girl gently questioned as she shot Elena a soft smile as to help keep her calm, "you doing okay, right?"

The Gilbert vampire slowly shook her head as hot tears continued to carelessly flow down the sides of her tan cheeks. "I don't want to die!" Elena cried out and ranted about how she was feeling at the moment with a panicked look expressed through her brown eyes, "I-I just started to like being a v-vampire. But it's all about to be ripped away from me."

"I know," the human Petrova doppelganger mumbled with tears clouding her own irises as she hated that her twin sister was having to go through this. However, Emily wasn't just going to give up because she ran into a surprising roadblock. Emily swore to herself that she was going to keep her sister alive, so the Gilbert girl ignored all of the pain and sadness that she felt before she stood up from her spot in the grass and called out in a deadly serious voice, "Elena."

The human Petrova doppelganger waited until her twin sister looked over to her before she confidently exclaimed, "you aren't going to die. I always, always, protect my family - you know that." Emily swiftly shook her head before she added to hopefully give Elena some assurance during a horrible time, "I'm not going to let Klaus hurt you."

However, Emily's words, sadly, didn't do anything to comfort the Gilbert vampire as Elena hurriedly shook her head with tears continuing to trail down her face like a waterfall. "We tried, Emmie," the Gilbert vampire mumbled with sadness tripping all throughout her voice before she muttered in defeat, "but we can't stop him." Elena was at the point of just giving up as she knew there was absolutely nothing that she or Emily could do when they were practically just waiting for Klaus to kill them.

"No, fuck that!" Emily instantly shouted with an angry tint to her green irises from the fact that her twin sister was planning on giving up. The Gilbert girl pointed to Elena as she exclaimed, "you are not allowed to quit." Emily briefly closed her green eyes as she realized that she was letting her emotions get the better of her. The Gilbert girl knew that wasn't going to help Elena at the moment, so she took a deep breath before she opened her eyes and looked to her sister with a softer expression.

"You got to fight through all the doubt, Lena," the soon-to-be Radkova witch stated in a gentler tone, "I have never given up, so you aren't allowed to either." Emily shot the Gilbert vampire a soft smile before she uttered with as much emotion as she could put into a simple sentence, "you need to believe that you can survive this."

Emily honestly wasn't sure that her twin sister could survive from all that she knew about the feared hybrid and what he had done to the Petrova family in the past. However, though, the last thing on Emily's mind was giving up when her twin sister's life was on the line, so the Gilbert girl pushed all that doubt to the back of her mind and she mentally promised that she would stop at nothing to get Elena out of here.

The Gilbert vampire silently stared across at her twin sister for a few tense moments before Elena finally and slowly nodded her head in agreement as she tried to wipe all of the tears from her cheeks. "Okay," Elena mumbled as she trusted her twin sister and trusted that she knew what she was doing - it wasn't like she had many options at this point - before she quietly inquired, "what's the plan?"

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but immediately smile from the fact that Elena wasn't just giving up before Emily happily murmured, "that's my sister."

Emily knew that she needed to come up with a good plan, so she didn't give her curious twin another look as she began to slowly pace around in her ring of fire. The Gilbert girl continued that for a few minutes as she tried to think of a plan on the spot before she faced Elena when she came up with an idea. "Alright," Emily muttered as she clapped her hands together before she asked the Gilbert vampire as her brain started to spin with a plan, "do you remember when Damon told us about vampires turning off their emotions?"

Elena furrowed her brows slightly as she stared over at her twin sister. "Uh, yeah," the Gilbert vampire mumbled with a tint of confusion in her voice as to why Emily was bringing that up before she recalled about what her boyfriend had told her and her twin once upon of time, "vampires can flip a switch to stop feeling anything."

"Right," the Gilbert girl muttered as she affirmed what her sister thought while she also nodded her head. "You won't be able to focus if all you are feeling is fear right now," Emily explained her logic before she told Elena her master plan of getting her out of here, "so, I want you to just turn it off. I don't want you to be worried about me or afraid of Klaus when he comes." Emily gave her twin sister a meaningful expression that showed just how serious she was about this before she ordered, "I need you to be selfish and escape when you have the chance, okay?"

Elena's brown eyes instantly widened in complete shock from what her sister wanted her to do. "What!" The Gilbert vampire gaped before she hurriedly shook her head as she cried out, "no! I can't do that to you!" Elena refused to even think about Emily's plan as tears, once again, began to flow down her cheeks as she sobbed, "I-I can't leave you behind. You're my sister."

"Yes, you will, Elena," the Gilbert girl immediately argued back with that Petrova fire soaring through her voice. "I will not let the past repeat its self like it did with Katherine and Darina," the human girl stated as she recalled how Klaus had killed Darina because of what Maria had done to stop the sacrifice from happening.

Emily had to force herself to take a deep breath to calm her emotions down before she softly murmured to her twin as she reminded Elena in a quiet voice as to not give away their plan to Greta, "we all know I will be okay." The Gilbert girl then released a heavy sigh before she added as they had no clue Klaus would take someone important to her, "but this wasn't apart of it." Emily shot the Gilbert vampire a pleading look as concluded, "so, you need to forget everything and only focus on you and get the hell out of here."

Elena released a shaky deep breath and silently nodded her head as she knew that her twin sister was right. The Gilbert vampire knew that she wouldn't be able to do anything if her emotions were heightened with all the fears and worries that were swimming through her head. Elena hated the idea of turning off her emotions when something could end up happening to her sister, but the Gilbert vampire knew it was her only chance at surviving all of this.

"Okay," Elena finally whispered as she stared over to her twin sister, "I'll do it."

The Gilbert girl let out a sigh of relief from the fact that Elena was going to follow along with her plan to protect her before Emily murmured, "okay, good." The Gilbert girl silently nodded her head as she continued to murmur, mostly to herself, "that's good. We can work with that." The human Petrova doppelganger then soon began to quietly pace up and down the small space of her ring of fire as she tried to think of what Elena needed to do along with how she was going to distract Klaus or Greta so her twin sister could make her escape to safety.

The Gilbert vampire had silently watched her twin sister for a couple of minutes but as the time continued to pass them by, the more the fear came back to the front of Elena's mind. "I'm gonna die," Elena whispered as the waterworks quickly began to fall from her brown irises and loud sobs shook her body.

The hard thinking and plotting Gilbert girl instantly turned around and stopped her pacing when she heard the sound of her twin sister's cries. "Lena, focus!" Emily called out to the Gilbert vampire before she tried to comfort her twin as much as she could without being able to hold her, "you know I'm not gonna let that happen to you." The Gilbert girl lightly shrugged her shoulders before she commented and concluded in that strong Petrova voice, "I'm going to die anyway, so I will do whatever I can to make sure you get out of here."

However, luckily, before Elena could get any more anxious than she already was at the moment about her looming death and facing off against the feared hybrid, the Gilbert twins were soon interrupted when there was suddenly a loud crunching sound of a branch breaking in the deadly silent quarry.

The sibling with the supernatural hearing quickly followed the sound before Elena instantly furrowed her brows when she took notice of the body on the ground that she had definitely not seen when she had originally woken up at the quarry. "Isn't that the wolf that wanted Tyler?" The Gilbert vampire quietly inquired as she tried to remember where she had seen the familiar dirty blonde woman before.

Emily quickly followed her sister's brown eyes before she released a small sigh when she realized who Elena was looking at. "Yeah, that's Jules," the Gilbert girl muttered before she recalled what the Lockwood werewolf had shared with her earlier today while she curiously watched as Greta approached the aforementioned wolf, "she was traveling through Mystic Falls with Tyler and their pack."

Greta ignored the two pairs of green and brown eyes on her as she quickly grabbed a hold of the werewolf's upper arm once she realized that the dirty blonde was awake from the loud sounds of her sobbing and groaning. The hybrid's witch carelessly pulled the third piece of the sacrifice towards the last ring of fire. Greta pulled the slightly heavy wolf for about three feet before she pushed Jules into the final circle and took a step back to prepare the last step before the sacrifice would begin.

The dirty blonde wolf instantly released a loud groan when she felt all of her body weight practically fall onto her right shoulder from the fact that she had no control over her body. "What's happening to me?" Jules confusingly questioned as she glanced up to the unfamiliar woman standing above her.

"I cast a spell to slow down your transformation," Greta simply explained to the werewolf as if she was explaining how to make a three step recipe of chocolate chip cookies, "your insides are trying to tear themselves free." The witch couldn't help but roll her brown irises when the wolf stared to howl in pain. She wanted to end this interaction as soon as possible, so Greta took three small steps back before she lifted up her hand and twisted her wrist - which caused for the final ring of fire to surround the last component of the sacrifice.

The Gilbert girl had watched Greta all through her conversation with Jules until the witch had walked up to her alter of some sort before Emily decided that she needed to distract the witch or get her really frustrated - which she had seen happen already at Klaus' temporary house - so she wouldn't be focused on Elena when she would make her escape.

"Greta!" The human Petrova doppelganger called out to the witch, "you know what you are doing isn't right!" Emily waited until Greta had turned around and looked over at her with an annoyed expression, like she wanted, before the Gilbert girl tauntingly questioned with her right eyebrow raised, "aren't you, as a witch, supposed to protect people, not vampires, you know - you're enemy?"

Greta rolled her brown eyes for the second time in the last few minutes as she stared towards the human Petrova doppelganger while she crossed her arms over her black varsity jacket. "This isn't the old days, anymore," Greta snapped, "witches don't care about their covens and the humans when they all just end up betraying you." The witch carelessly shrugged her shoulders before she concluded with a look of confidence and arrogance that left zero room for arguments, "I'm only loyal to Klaus."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but release a heavy and disheartened sigh as she realized that Greta was one stubborn witch along with the fact that it physically pained her chest to hear that Greta had abandoned the way of life of a witch by protecting the innocent - something that Emily had just barely began to understand from her doppelganger and the witch, who's powers were currently sparking through her veins.

However, before the Gilbert girl could continue to either try to convince Greta to stop the sacrifice all together or just piss her off even more as a distraction, she was all too soon interrupted by the devil himself.

"Glad to know I still have a dance partner," the cocky and arrogant hybrid hollered through the vast clearing at Steven's Quarry as he strutted towards the heart of the sacrifice. Klaus shot his witch a thankful but barely noticeable smile to show his appreciation that he could at least trust someone to stay loyal to him. The feared hybrid then slowly turned his attention onto his human, vampire, and werewolf. "Hello, my lovelies," Klaus greeted the three women with a wide and excited smirk pulled onto his lips before he asked, "are we ready?"


	74. The One With The Sacrifice Pt 2

The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but, once again, roll her green eyes at Klaus for the thousandth time tonight from how happy and easy going Klaus was being when he was literally about to kill three innocent people. "Go to hell," Emily muttered as she glared over at the arrogant hybrid before she took up anxiously pacing the small space in her ring of fire. The Gilbert girl honestly could only think about her twin sister at the moment. Emily was so worried that she was going to end up failing and she wouldn't be able to protect her twin sister - something the Gilbert girl has always prided herself in.

The feared hybrid released a deep chuckle at Emily's spunk and fearless attitude before Klaus teasingly told his doppelganger with a false pout, "don't be like that, sunflower." A large grin quickly took over the hybrid's face before he concluded with excitement practically bouncing out of his body, "the fun has just begun."

"The fun will begin when I finally kill your annoying ass," the Gilbert girl muttered, mostly to herself, while she continued to pace the small space in her ring of fire as she also tried to ignore the cocky sound of Klaus' voice and tried to figure out how she was going to get Elena out of here alive.

Steven's Quarry soon grew dead silent for about a minute or two after Emily's smart mouthed comment - except for the fact that Jules was continuing to moan in pain from her bones constantly breaking - before Greta interrupted the quietness as she asked the hybrid in front of the stone bowl that would be the main focus point of the sacrifice, "do you have the moonstone?"

A large grin immediately pulled onto Klaus' face as he nodded his head before he pulled out the milky item from the pocket of his jacket pocket. "I spent 500 years looking for this," the hybrid commented as he ran his rough thumb across the smooth surface of the moonstone. Klaus released a small chuckle and commented as he handed the item over to Greta, despite his statement, "I hate to part with it."

Greta ignored everything Klaus was saying and everything around her as she seriously and silently accepted the moonstone from the hybrid before she glanced towards the dark sky. The witch stared up at the vast stars above her before she nodded her head as she realized that it was finally time. "The moon has passed its apex," Greta stated before she focused her brown irises onto the awaiting hybrid. "Remember everything you need to do?" The witch inquired.

Klaus silently nodded his head before he affirmed, "I remember."

"Good," Greta mumbled before she carefully placed the milky rock into the stone bowl in front of her that had been warming up with flames lighting up the center. Greta waited until the moonstone had slowly turned into ashes as sparks flew up into the dark sky before she began to chant the first part of the spell as she got prepared for the next step.

Klaus, who had studied the sacrifice and its spell practically everyday of his life after he found out that he had a dormant hybrid side, knew it was now his turn, so he turned around and walked through the vast Steven's Quarry as he slowly approached the three rings of fire to end someone's life to finally obtain his true nature.

Jules, who had been rolling around on the grass in pain from her bones constantly breaking and healing, could feel that the hybrid was heading her way, so she hurriedly connected her blue irises onto the human girl with a look of panic expressed all across her face. "You're Emily, right?" Jules inquired and once the Gilbert girl nodded her head, the werewolf grunted through her pain, "I-I'm sorry for any hurt I caused you through my actions... Everything I did... I was just trying to help Tyler like Mason wanted... for him."

Emily quietly stared across at the werewolf as she nodded her head in understanding - despite the fact that Jules did kill Rose and did try to kill her and Caroline once upon of a time. "I know," the Gilbert girl murmured as she had been glad that someone had been there for her best friend when she couldn't begin to understand what Tyler was going through as a new werewolf.

"You have to protect him and keep... him safe, Emily!" The dirty blonde werewolf practically screeched as she anxiously watched as the hybrid continued to get closer and closer to her ring of fire. "I know you meant a lot to Mase and I know... you mean a lot to him, too," Jules commented before she practically pleaded, "you know what is out there! You need to keep him safe. Hate me all you want, but do this for Tyler and Mason!"

"I will," Emily promised without hesitation - even though she would have done it anyway since she had sworn to Mason before he died that she would always protect the younger Lockwood werewolf. However, Emily may not be Jules' biggest fan but no one deserves to die like this, so if she could make the werewolf's worries go away on her deathbed then Emily was going to do it.

The cocky hybrid's smirk widened once he had finally made it to the center of the sacrifice and was standing right outside of his werewolf's ring of fire. Klaus twitched his head teasingly to the side as if he was observing his prey before he asked the sobbing wolf, "shall we?"

However, Jules didn't exactly get a choice in the matter because as soon as Klaus had uttered the last word in his question and his expression rose into another smirk, the ring of fire that surrounded the dirty blonde werewolf instantly disappeared. Jules was never one to give up, though. It just wasn't in her blood as a werewolf to lay on her back and be killed, so as soon the fire had completely vanished, Jules' blue irises turned that yellow color as her wolf finally came out before she hurriedly rushed at the dormant hybrid.

Jules figured that she would have the upper hand since she could actually use the full moon to her advantage - unlike the hybrid. However, Jules' plan ended up being fruitless, though, as she didn't take in account of just how old Klaus really was because as soon as she went to attack the hybrid, Klaus instantly slammed her down onto the hard ground and before Jules could even blink, she watched in fear as the hybrid plunged his hand into her chest and everything just went dark and empty.

The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but release a small gasp as she watched as Klaus pulled the werewolf's heart from her chest. Emily had seen Damon do it plenty of times along with seeing Elijah do it once before but it was different now since Emily knew that she, too, wold face such a brutal death.

 _I won't let him do that to you, Lena,_ the Gilbert girl silently promised to her twin sister as she glanced over to Elena and saw that she had watched the whole werewolf killing take place if the shaking of her body and the tears that continued to flow down her face was any indication.

Klaus widely grinned down at the non-beating heart in his blood soaked hands with a look of pure excitement shining throughout his blue-green irises as he realized that he was just that much more closer to finally getting his ultimate wish of unleashing his wolf side that had been locked away all of his life.

The excited hybrid had to mentally shake his head after a solid two minutes of gazing down at the heart in his hands to make himself focus back onto the rest of the sacrifice before he strutted his way back towards his witch. Klaus knew what he had to do next, so he automatically held Jules' heart over the stone bowl before he squeezed the blood into the basin of flames while he listened as Greta chanted the next part of the spell.

Klaus stared his hard blue-green eyes down at the stone bowl with a look of intense interest for what was happening with all the sparks that were flying from the wolf's blood before the dormant hybrid inquired in a quiet and slightly nervous voice, "does... Does that mean it's working?"

Greta immediately nodded her head with complete confidence as she had studied the ends and outs of the spell at least a thousand of times since Klaus had recruited her. "It's working," the brunette witch affirmed with a small grin playing on her lips.

"Emily," the Gilbert vampire softly called out to her twin sister while she ignored what was going on with the witch and the hybrid at the moment as she knew that her ending was near. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better," Elena muttered once she saw that Emily was focused on her as tears, once again, began to pour down her cold cheeks.

"Hey! Shut up," the Gilbert girl instantly exclaimed as she quickly shook her head as she was not going to accept her sister's words. "I'm the eldest, so I should be the one who is sorry that I couldn't stop this from happening to you," Emily mumbled with sadness dripping all throughout her voice as she felt guilty that her sister was in this position right now.

"I'm a vampire for crying out loud!" Elena sobbed as if she didn't even hear that her sister was trying to shut down her anxiety filled thoughts. "I should have kept you safe," the Gilbert vampire mumbled before she suddenly and roughly threw her arms towards the dark sky as she added with a bitter chuckle, "and now I'm gonna die! God, I fail at life."

"Elena," the human Petrova doppelganger sternly called out to her twin as she could see that Elena was pretty much full on panicking at the moment. Emily waited until her sister had looked over at her before the Gilbert girl calmly murmured as she assured the brunette vampire with a soft smile playing on her lips and tears clouding her green eyes, "you did not fail me, you hear me? I couldn't have asked for a better sister. You have only been a vampire for a short time and you have been amazing. You have protected me so many times recently, so now it's my turn."

Emily soon grew serious away from her assuring words as she reminded her twin, "you remember what we talked about?" The Gilbert girl didn't want to give away their plan to Greta, so she lifted her hand like a light switch and made an up and down motion with her point finger as to tell Elena to turn it off. "It's okay to do it," Emily softly promised as she knew her sister didn't like the idea of turning off her emotions. "Just fight, Elena, fight," the Gilbert girl pleaded to her twin, "don't ever stop."

Emily placed her right hand over her heart before she poured out her feelings and emotions to her other half for possibly the last time, "I love you so, so much. And I am so proud of everything that you have ever done. You have protected me. You have protected Jer. But, most importantly, you protected Jenna today."

Emily gently shook her head as she assured her twin sister as she knew that Elena felt guilty about a lot of different things tonight - like the fact that Elena was feeling scared when she has been going through this all along or if Elena did turn off her emotions, then she would feel guilty about not even trying to help her twin.

"You aren't selfish, okay?" The Gilbert girl insisted as she shot her sister a small smile before she continued, "you are amazing and you are a fighter." Emily released a small chuckle before she joked while also being serious, "we didn't only get these Petrova good looks for nothing. We also got that fire in us, so use it."

Emily briefly paused in her little speech as she took a deep breath and closed her green irises, so she could think for a moment about what they needed to do to get Elena out of here. The Gilbert girl stayed silent for another two minutes or so, before she focused her green eyes back onto her twin sister and told Elena in a quiet whisper, "I'm going to try my best to distract them but you have to fight back, you hear me?"

The Gilbert girl gave the brunette vampire a small nod as she stated and ordered, "we know I'm going to be just fine, but I'm gonna need you to fight." Emily looked at her twin with so much desperation shining through her green eyes while her hands practically shook as she begged, "please, Lena, just be selfish and run."

Elena instantly nodded her head as she wiped away the tears from her brown irises. "I will," the Gilbert vampire promised as she tried to look as confident as she wished that she felt. Elena absolutely hated the idea of leaving her sister behind by turning off her emotions and forgetting about her, but Elena also had to remind herself that Emily had magic running through her veins and that she would be okay.

The Gilbert vampire shot her twin sister a small smile before she told Emily for probably the last time ever, "you are the best friend and sister I could have ever wished for." Elena released a tiny chuckle before she confessed, "honestly, you're my hero, Em. You always have been. I can't count how many times that you have stood up for Jer and I when bullies came after us or how you had to grow up so much after mom and dad died."

Elena grinned softly across at her twin sister, despite their current predicament, as she murmured to show how much she appreciated the human girl, "you took care of us. You are the selfless one, Em. You've pushed all of your feelings aside for us." The Gilbert vampire released a tiny chuckle before she added, "hell, you even pushed your feelings aside when I was dating Stefan." Elena shook her head with a gentle smile playing on her lips as she concluded, "you are one of a kind, Emily Gilbert."

The ever-so comedian inside of the human Petrova doppelganger, couldn't help but joke as she carelessly shrugged her shoulders before she commented with a small smirk playing on her lips, "well, not really. I am a twin, after all."

The two Gilbert twins instantly chuckled quietly together thanks to the small break in the tense atmosphere before Elena praised her sister in a soft and kind voice, "thank you. Thank you for always being the strong one and thank you for always protecting me from everything dangerous. I never said it enough, but thank you. I love you, Emmie."

The human Petrova doppelganger subconsciously nodded her head as tears poured down the side of her cheeks as if she was trying to keep her emotions locked inside. However, that didn't really work out since Emily was practically sobbing in silence from Elena's sweet words before the human girl whispered to her twin sister, "I love you, too - so, so much."

The bittersweet moment between the human and the vampire Gilbert sisters, sadly, soon came to an end, enough, as Klaus approached the ring of fire that surrounded his vampire. "Hello, Elena," the hybrid greeted Katherine's doppelganger with a wide smirk proudly displayed across pink tinted lips.

The Gilbert girl knew that it was now her time for her to do her job to get the focus off of Elena, so the human Petrova doppelganger glared her green irises solely onto the hybrid before she loudly ordered, "release her, Klaus! This wasn't apart of the deal! You only need me!"

Klaus released an amused and deep chuckle from the back of his throat before he slowly turned around to put his sole attention onto his human. "We didn't have any deal, sunflower," the feared hybrid relayed to the human Petrova doppelganger with an entertaining smirk glued to his face.

"It's called stop being a jackass," Emily growled out as she continued to hold her glare onto the hybrid. However, the Gilbert girl knew that her anger wasn't going to do her or Elena any good at the moment, so Emily took a deep breath before she calmly inquired with a twitch of her head as if she didn't actually wanna kill Klaus at the moment, "I thought you wanted to be friends?"

The Gilbert girl released a small tsk as she shook her head before she told the hybrid, "well, I'm sorry, pal, but if you kill my sister, then that will never happen."

Klaus couldn't help but release another round of chuckles as he listened to the human Petrova doppelganger. "I don't know if you realize, sunflower, but you will soon join your sister, anyway," the hybrid relayed to Emily before he carelessly shrugged his shoulders and muttered with a cocky smirk playing on his pink lips, "besides, friends are overrated when you are the strongest being in existence."

Emily immediately rolled her green irises at the hybrid across from her before she silently thought to herself as she recalled basically the only thing that she had constantly been hearing about her new witch form, y _ou have no idea who is the stronger being will be._

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but begin to get annoyed and angry, though, from the fact that she wasn't able to get through to Klaus, so without even realizing it, Emily stepped closer towards the fire as she growled towards the cocky hybrid, "release my sister right now or I swear to Go-" However, before Emily could continue to threaten the big, bad hybrid, the Gilbert girl suddenly yelped when she felt the burning sensation of the ring of fire slapping against her legs.

"Careful, sunflower," Klaus warned his doppelganger after he had released an amused tsk. "We wouldn't want to hurt my prized possession, right?" The hybrid teasingly questioned with a wide smirk continuously playing on his lips as he repeated the exact words that Emily had uttered earlier tonight.

The Gilbert girl released another loud growl as her anger just continued to get worse and worse the more that the hybrid continued to talk and look at her. However, though, before Emily could say or do anything, she was soon interrupted as her twin sister told her, "Emily, it's okay." Elena connected her brown irises with her sister's green ones before she softly stated, "I know what I have to do. It's okay. I'll be okay." Elena gave her twin sister a watery smile before she murmured with so much emotion in her voice, "I love you."

Emily couldn't help the small and relieved sigh that escaped her lips as she was glad that her sister was going to go along with the plan to fight and run. However, Emily knew that she needed to act as if they didn't have a plan to stop Klaus from being suspicious, so the Gilbert girl turned on her anger that she always felt around Klaus before she yelled out to Elena as if she was fighting for her twin, "no! He doesn't get to win! I stayed in Mystic Falls like a good girl and I didn't run - nor did I turn into a vampire when we all know I could have with vampires constantly surrounding me."

Emily swiftly focused her green and angry irises onto the hybrid in question before she snapped as she held out her arms, "I'm here!" The Gilbert girl released a small growl from the back of throat before she interrogated Klaus as she angrily asked, "what more do you want from me?"

Klaus, who had been amusingly watching his doppelganger's rant with a wide smirk on his face, couldn't help the chuckle that slipped through his lips once he heard and recognized the new presence at Steven's Quarry. "Well, well, well," the hybrid muttered as he continued to stare at Emily before he slowly moved his blue-green gaze to the top of the quarry. "I don't recall you being on the guest list," Klaus commented as he looked at the anxious-looking vampire.

The Gilbert girl instantly became curious as to who would be stupid enough to interrupt the worldly feared hybrid's century old sacrifice, so Emily quickly focused her green eyes onto to where Klaus was looking at before a loud gasp instantly fell from his lips. "No," Emily quietly murmured as she shook her with sadness glowing through her bright irises.

However, though, the more that she stared, the more anger began to enter Emily's body. "Why can you guys just stay home?" The Gilbert girl groaned out as she stared at none other than her lovely boyfriend. Emily was angry from the fact that Stefan had came here when she told him to stay gone and let her do this.

It was like everything was just crashing down on Emily. This was supposed to be about her dying and now she couldn't focus straight with her loved ones somehow ending right in the middle of the sacrifice. It absolutely killed the Gilbert girl that she couldn't even stop what was going to happen to either her sister and boyfriend as she was stuck inside of the ring of fire for the time being. Emily just felt so helpless at the moment that she was angry that she couldn't save them like she wished she could. She just had to watch the horror play out in front of her.

The green eyed vampire avoided looking over to his girlfriend as Stefan could physically feel the anger and sadness swimming off of the human girl's body - along with the fact that Stefan knew Emily was going to be even more angry at him when she found out why he was at Steven's Quarry at the moment. So, instead of facing the human's wrath, Stefan focused his green eyes solely onto the feared hybrid. "I'm here to talk," the Salvatore vampire announced.

Klaus stared up towards the younger vampire for a few tense moments before he calmly muttered as he carelessly shrugged his shoulders, "very well, then." The blue-green eyed hybrid glanced back at the Gilbert twins with a wide smirk playing on his lips before he teased them, "don't go anywhere." Klaus released a heavy chuckle at the human's glare before he vamp sped up to Stefan and inquired in that same teasing tone, "what can I do for you, Mr. Salvatore?"

The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help frown as she watched the scene of her boyfriend and the hybrid calming talking with one another. It was driving her crazy to not know what was going on, so Emily called out to her twin without even taking her focused eyes off of the two supernatural beings, "Elena! What are they talking about?"

"Give me a second," the Gilbert vampire quietly mumbled as she pushed a portion of her brunette hair shakily behind her right ear before she tried to focus onto Klaus and Stefan's voices while she blocked out the sound of the witch's chanting. It took Elena a few tries since she was so weak and tired but when she did, finally, hear the vampire and hybrid's voices, Elena couldn't help the loud gasp that escaped her mouth.

"No, no, no!" The Gilbert vampire practically chanted as she hurriedly shook her head. "You can't," Elena whispered as she was in complete shock from what she was hearing right now.

"Elena!" The Gilbert girl had been practically yelling at her twin sister as she tried to get her attention for the past couple of minutes. "Elena, what is it?" Emily quickly and nervously inquired from the fact that her sibling looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"It's... It's so bad," Elena shakily whispered as she still couldn't believe what her boyfriend's brother was asking for right now. The Gilbert vampire didn't even want to say the words out loud as she knew it was going to crush Emily and put her in an even worse predicament than she already was in.

"Elena, focus!" The human Petrova doppelganger hollered to her sister so Elena would focus onto her for a second. "What's going on?" Emily interrogated the Gilbert vampire as she grew more worried as the silence continued and the more Klaus and Stefan continued to speak, "what are they saying?"

The Gilbert vampire slowly turned to face her twin sister with a heartbreaking expression displayed all over her body from the frown on her lips to the slumped position were shoulders were in. "He... He wants to take my place," Elena finally relayed the information to the human girl about what Stefan was trying to do.

Emily's green irises immediately widened as soon as she heard the words leave her sister's mouth. "Nope, we aren't doing this," the Gilbert girl quickly exclaimed after she got over her shock of what her boyfriend was trying to do. Emily focused her green eyes solely onto the Salvatore vampire and uttered strongly as she knew he would be able to hear her angry words, "I will literally kill you myself. Do not do this, Stefan."

Emily had already been a nervous wreck since the moment that she had seen her twin sister here at the sacrifice along with the fact that she was anxious about getting Elena out of here. The fact that the Gilbert girl's boyfriend was also face to face with the feared hybrid made Emily even more worried as she knew that there would be nothing that she could do if their lives were in danger when she was trapped inside of her ring of fire.

"Emmie...?" The Gilbert vampire cautiously called out to her twin sister, who had been silently glaring at her boyfriend and the hybrid. Elena honestly had no clue as to how to approach the human girl right now. She just knew this was all very, very bad.

Emily ignored her sister's worries that she could hear in the younger vampire's voice - she had enough of her own - as she exclaimed and partly ranted to herself, "I have to stop this." The Gilbert girl shook her head with a look of determination displayed across her reddened face, "I don't care if I die but I will not let the two most important people in my life join me as well." Emily stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest before she concluded, "nope. Not today."

While the human Petrova doppelganger was practically having a mental breakdown over to kill her boyfriend from his stupidity or save him, the aforementioned vampire and the ever-so feared hybrid slowly walked down the cliff as they approached the Gilbert twins. "Quite the predicament," Klaus tsked as he shot the human girl a wide and amused smirk. "You know, it's funny," Klaus commented with a careless and easy-going atmosphere surrounding his body before he told Emily, "all this talk about preserving family, and here's Stefan, granting your wish."

The Gilbert girl immediately shook her head in disagreement while she stared across at the love of her life with a heartbreaking expression displayed all over her body. "Stef," Emily softly murmured in a voice that was filled with sadness, disappointment, and puzzlement before she questioned her boyfriend with a heavy sigh following shortly after, "what were you thinking?" Emily honestly felt so devastated at the possibility of two very important people in her life dying because of her.

The Salvatore vampire looked at his girlfriend for the first time since he had arrived at Steven's Quarry before he shot Emily a soft but watery smile. "It's okay," Stefan quietly assured the Gilbert girl as he nodded his head with a look of nervousness and determination shining across his face, "I'm going to fix this."

"Well," the blue-green eyed hybrid called out as he interrupted the moment between the human and vampire couple before he pulled a stake from the inside of his jacket pocket and pointed it between Emily's sister and her boyfriend. Klaus placed his attention solely onto his doppelganger before he inquired, "who's it gonna be, sunflower?"

The Gilbert girl instantly released a fierce growl before she snapped as she glared at the smirking hybrid, "go fuck yourself, Klaus." But, honestly, what was the hybrid expecting her to say? Emily would never pick between the two people who she loved more than anything. She would rather suffer an extremely painful death than watch her twin sister and her boyfriend die.

"Oohh," Klaus cooed with his smirk spread even wider across his pink tinted lips. The hybrid glanced over to the young vampire beside him before he teasingly inquired, "does she kiss you with that dirty mouth?" However, when Stefan only glared at him in silence, Klaus released a small chuckle before he told everyone, "oh, relax, guys."

Klaus carelessly shrugged his shoulders before he explained, "there's actually no choice." The feared hybrid shot a grin over at the frowning and glaring Gilbert twins before he used his enhanced speed to go behind the Salvatore vampire and staked him right in the center of his back. Klaus darkly chuckled while he watched as Stefan cried out in pain before he heavily dropped down to the ground a few seconds later.

"No!" The human Petrova doppelganger shouted in panic as she watched her boyfriend yell out before all of his movements had just stopped all together. "Stefan!" The Gilbert girl worriedly called when she couldn't tell if her boyfriend was still alive or not. "Stef, babe, can you hear me!?" Emily continued to try to get the Salvatore vampire's attention with tears pouring down the side of her reddened cheeks.

"Relax, sunflower," Klaus chuckled out while he pushed the wooden stake further into the Salvatore vampire before he broke the weapon into Stefan's back, so he wouldn't be able to heal for the rest of the sacrifice. "Your boyfriend isn't the one dying today," Klaus relayed to his doppelganger before he explained, "I have other plans for your boyfriend and for that, I need him alive."

Klaus taunting stared down at the now groaning Salvatore vampire by his black boots for a tense moment before he began to utter, "but for now..." The smirking hybrid then bent down until he was leveled with Stefan's face before he used his enhanced speed to snap the Salvatore vampire's neck. "There," Klaus huffed as he pushed himself back up so he was now standing straight and in the middle of the two Gilbert siblings before he uttered with a wide smirk, "he won't be a problem anymore."

"I swear to everything that is holy, I am going to kill you like Darina and Maria should have," the last human Petrova doppelganger threatened the ever-so feared hybrid while she ignored the angry and sad tears that continuously poured out of her green irises.

"Now, now, sunflower," Klaus tsked as he slightly shook his head with a look of amusement shining throughout his blue-green eyes. "There is no need for empty threats," the hybrid told his doppelganger.

However, before the Gilbert girl could come up with a comeback to the cocky hybrid, Klaus didn't even allow that to happen as he swiftly changed the direction of the conversation as he turned around and faced his witch. Klaus gave the brunette witch a small nod before he told her, "whenever you're ready, Greta."

Greta gave the hybrid a nod right back as to say that she was ready to continue with the sacrifice before she closed her brown irises and began to chant the next part of the spell. The witch lowly chanted for about three minutes while everyone tensely watched before the fire that surrounded the Gilbert vampire suddenly vanished without a trace like it hadn't even been there to begin with.

The Gilbert vampire instantly began to panic once she realized that there was now nothing that was stopping Klaus from killing her. However, though, Elena felt herself slowly beginning to relax and calm down a tiny bit when she could hear her twin sister quietly chanting, "I love you. You got this. It's okay. I love you. You got this. It's okay."

Emily's words honestly was helping the Gilbert vampire - despite the fact that she was scared out of her mind at the moment. It just gave Elena that boost of confidence and strength that she needed when she was about to be face to face with the most feared supernatural being in existence. The Gilbert vampire felt comforted by Emily and her words, so Elena kept her brown irises solely onto her twin sister as she silently prepared herself for her face-off against the hybrid.

Klaus slowly and cockily strutted over to his vampire with a smirk shining brightly across his pink tinted lips as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Your turn, love," the hybrid informed Elena once he was standing only a few inches away from the anxious-looking Gilbert vampire.

Emily honestly couldn't help the tears that freely began to pour down the side of her reddened cheeks no matter how much she tried to stop them as she watched as Klaus was face to face with her twin sister. "I love you, Elena," the Gilbert girl told her other half before she sobbed during her last moment with her twin, "I am so proud of who you have become. It's you and me forever, okay?"

The Gilbert vampire stared across at her twin sister with a watery smile displayed across her chapped lips before she softly murmured, "I love you, too." Elena nodded her head as she affirmed what the human girl had said before she voiced it as well as she stated, "forever."

Elena wiped the hot tears that were clouding her brown irises before she promised, "we're going to be okay." The Gilbert vampire took a deep breath as she tried to be as confident as she needed to be before she whispered, "I know what I need to do." Elena stared across at the human girl for a moment more as if she was trying to remember her twin before Elena slowly closed her eyes and flipped that dreaded switch inside of her.

The human Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but release a small gasp as she watched as her sister opened up her brown eyes and looked completely emotionless. Emily thought that she was looking at Katherine right now instead of the sweet and easy-going Elena Gilbert.

Emily was honestly a nervous wreck as she watched as her now emotionless twin sister was staring across at the feared hybrid in a very tense silence. "Come on, Elena," the Gilbert girl whispered, mostly to herself, as she prayed that Elena could survive this and get somewhere safe, "just fight."

The emotionless Gilbert vampire didn't even react to her sister's voice as she was only focused on the fact that she was in danger and that she needed to escape. Elena was in complete fight or flight mode as soon as that worried part of her brain was shut off about Emily and that was exactly what she needed at the moment.

Elena didn't spare her twin sister a second glance as she was ready to do anything to survive before she used her enhanced speed to push Klaus as hard as she could onto the ground. The Gilbert vampire knew there would be no sacrifice if there was no witch, so as soon as Klaus was flat on his back, Elena vamp sped up to Greta before she took a large bite from her neck.

 _Hey, I was hungry,_ Elena amusingly thought to herself as she began to suck the blood from the witch's neck. However, sadly for Elena, she only had the chance to take a single bite and a tiny sip out of Greta before she recognized Emily yelling out, "run," before she felt her body being tossed roughly onto the ground with a stake planted into her back.

The Gilbert vampire instantly released a loud groan once her body stopped rolling on the hard ground along with the fact that was a wooden stake poking out of her lower back. It took a minute or two of Elena gaining her bearings from being rag dolled around by Klaus before the Gilbert vampire finally dislodged the stake from her body. "Well, that hurt," Elena pouted as she tossed the bloody weapon across the quarry.

"Elena! Run!" The human Petrova doppelganger continued to shout to her emotionless sister even louder than she had been doing once she saw that Klaus had thrown her. "Get the hell up and run!" Emily frantically screamed as she was so afraid that the more that Elena didn't move, the more chance that Klaus could get to her.

The Gilbert girl knew that her twin sister wasn't at her strongest anymore since she had been staked, so Emily knew that she needed to do something to give Elena some time to get her barrings back. Emily also knew there wasn't a lot that she could do when she was still trapped inside her ring of fire, so Emily decided that she would give Elena as much time as she could while she distracted Klaus with her words.

"Come on, Klaus!" The human Petrova doppelganger loudly called out to the obviously angry hybrid. "You know you want me the most!" Emily taunted the hybrid as she tried to distract him as best as she could while her twin sister tried to pull herself up from the ground. "Kill me right now!" The Gilbert girl yelled with tears continuously falling down her cheeks as fear absorbed every inch of her body.

"Wait your turn, sunflower," Klaus growled out to his doppelganger and without even giving Emily a second glance, the angry hybrid used his enhanced speed to rush to the Gilbert vampire before he pulled Elena up until she standing in front of him. "Nice try, love, but no one can defeat me," Klaus uttered with a wide and wicked smirk shining across his lips before he used the stake that he had picked up from the ground and pierced it into Elena's chest.

"NO! ELENA!" The Gilbert girl screamed out like a banshee as her green eyes widened in complete and utter shock. Emily slowly fell down to her knees at the same time as she watched Elena's body turn grey and she took her last breath. Emily honestly felt like she couldn't breathe anymore now that her other half's life was ripped away from her. The Gilbert girl couldn't even begin to describe the pain that she felt as she sobbed for her twin sister.

"No, no, no, no!" Emily cried over and over again. "You shouldn't have been here! I was supposed to protect you," the Gilbert girl ranted and belittled herself as she continued to sob for the lost of her twin sister, "why didn't I protect you from this? I should have known this would happen!"

The heartbroken human girl shakily shook her head as tears carelessly poured down the side of her cheeks and down her neck while she chanted over and over again, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Emily grasped onto the Earth from underneath her as if she was trying to ground herself from losing someone so important to her.

Steven's Quarry was filled with a lot of different sounds. Greta's chanting, Klaus' chuckling, Emily's sobbing along with a new sound - Stefan's groaning. The Salvatore vampire was finally waking up from having his neck snapped before he instantly felt and remembered the piece of wood that was embedded into his back. Stefan tried as best as he could to take the broken stake out of his back but his arm, sadly, wouldn't stretch that way, so Stefan ended up just giving up for the time being.

Instead, the Salvatore vampire slowly glanced around him with his brows pulled together as he tried to figure out what he had missed after Klaus had broken his neck. Stefan couldn't help but release a loud gasp, though, when he spotted his ex-girlfriend and close friend's grey body with a stake stabbed right through her heart.

"No," Stefan quietly mumbled in disbelief to what he was seeing before he hurriedly searched for his girlfriend. "Emily," the Salvatore vampire called out to his girlfriend, who looked liked she just had her heart ripped out of her own chest. Stefan sluggishly shook his head with warm tears free falling down his face before he murmured, "I am so sorry."

Stefan knew his apologies weren't going to help the Gilbert girl at all when her sister was dead but he felt like he needed to say it. The Salvatore vampire just felt so guilty that he hadn't been able to save Elena for his girlfriend's sake but also for his brother. Stefan felt like he failed when he felt like he could have done something, anything, to keep Elena alive.

The human Petrova doppelganger completely and utterly ignored the eyes of her boyfriend and his words as she kept her green irises locked onto Klaus as he held her sister's heart in his hands with an emotionless gaze and a hard glare while tears continued to slide down her cheeks. Instead, Emily only asked one simple question while Klaus' attention was on the ritual as he squeezed her sister's blood into the basin, "are Elijah and Bonnie coming?"

Stefan silently and cautiously nodded his head as he was quickly growing worried for his girlfriend. The Salvatore vampire knew Emily was supposed to be emotional during a time like this but there was just something inside of the human girl's eyes that didn't exactly seem like the girl he knows. It was as if something was sitting heavily on her heart.

Emily released a heavy sigh that was filled with so much emotion from the death of her other half and from the fact that Klaus would soon get what he deserved once she herself was dead before she muttered, "good." The Gilbert girl honestly wished that she could stick around just so she could see the bastard take his last breath like he had taken Elena's like it was nothing.

"Emily," the Salvatore vampire anxiously called to his girlfriend with a frown embedded onto his face. However, Stefan didn't know what to say once the Gilbert girl had slowly looked over to him. He just felt completely useless at the moment with the stake still lodged in his back and from the fact that he couldn't even comfort his girlfriend when she just lost someone so important to her.

"I love you," Emily simply told her boyfriend, instead of commenting on Stefan's worries, once she realized that Klaus was slowly approaching the ring of fire that surrounded her. The Gilbert girl knew that she couldn't say that she was okay or that everything was going to be fine because she knew and Stefan knew that would be completely bullshit. Instead, Emily focused all of her energy on the satisfaction she would soon feel once she knew Klaus was dead.

"It's time, sunflower," Klaus told his doppelganger with a wide smirk pulled up onto his lips once he was standing a few feet away from the Gilbert girl. The hybrid waited until the ring of fire around Emily had disappeared after Greta chanted a little spell before Klaus held out his hand for the human girl.

Emily continued to glare a deathly gaze at the hybrid in front of her as she slowly pushed herself up from the ground before she walked past the smirking Klaus after she had forced her shoulder to slam into his side as she walked past him. The Gilbert girl ignored Klaus' chuckle as she sluggishly walked up to the infamous altar while she tried to not cry when she saw her twin sister's lifeless body.

"I am so, so sorry, Lena," the human Petrova doppelganger whispered to her twin as she gazed down at her grey body before Emily quickly wiped away her tears when she felt Klaus walking up from behind her. Emily would rather hold in all of the pain that she felt at the moment then give Klaus the pleasure of seeing her suffer from his actions.

The feared hybrid slowly walked around Emily as if he was locking his hungry gaze onto his prey before he twisted the Gilbert girl around, so she was facing him. Klaus brought his hand up to the side of Emily's face before he rubbed his rough thumb gently across her cheek. Klaus stared into the Gilbert girl's green eyes with a small smirk playing on his lips before he murmured, "this has been fun, sunflower. Thank you for your service."

Emily immediately pushed the smirking hybrid's hand away from her face with a fierce push before she glared up at the taller supernatural being. "I hope you rot in hell," the Gilbert girl growled out as if she was the one about to turn into a hybrid. Emily stared lifelessly up at Klaus, who had been just gazing down at her for awhile, before Emily soon grew annoyed. "Why don't you just get i-" the Gilbert girl began to mutter.

However, before the Gilbert girl could complain to the smirking hybrid, she was soon cut off as Klaus used his enhanced speed to bend down and place his sharp fangs into the middle part of her neck. Emily instantly groaned at the painful and burning sensation as she felt like her whole body was on fire. The Gilbert girl tried to stay awake as much as she could like as if she was trying to fight her death. However, though, when Emily stared up at the dark sky, she could have sworn that she heard a familiar voice calling out to her.

Emily didn't know what it was but she felt like she wanted, no needed, to find that voice so the Gilbert girl ignored that part of her that wanted to fight her looming death as she finally let her body go limp. The human Petrova doppelganger could only hear the loud sounds of sparks flying from the altar along with her boyfriend's cries before darkness took over her body and her heart stopped beating for the final time.

* * *

 _Y'all the story is about to get crazy. I wanted to go slightly off the route of the show, so get ready for some crazy things to happen! I hope you enjoy the ride (;_


	75. The One When Emily Is Dead

Emily loudly groaned as she felt herself slowly beginning to wake up before an even louder moan fell from her lips as she opened up her green irises and felt like her brain was bouncing off every surface of her head. The Gilbert girl just laid there for a moment as she tried to get over this nuisance pain that she felt. However, once Emily felt comfortable to sit up and move around, she couldn't help but release a small gasp after she glanced around her surroundings.

Emily felt absolutely baffled as she looked around the foggy woods right outside of Fells' Church - where her involvement in the supernatural world essentially started with the Salvatore vampires walking into her life, where they had opened up the tomb together and found out about Katherine along with so many other important events that had taken place here.

Emily honestly felt so confused at the moment. She had no idea how she ended up in the woods - nonetheless why she was waking up right in front of the location where the Fells' Church used to be. The Gilbert girl didn't like not knowing what was going on, so she decided that she was going to investigate and figure out how she ended up in the woods.

Emily slowly and sluggishly pushed her seemingly sore body up from the hard and leaf-covered ground before she took a wary glance at her surroundings with a look of utter confusion. "H-Hello?" The Gilbert girl cautiously called out as she took very small steps as if she was afraid that she would fall through the ground at any moment.

"What the hell is going on?" Emily muttered to herself after she waited for a response and not only did she not hear anyone but she couldn't even hear the sound of any animals or insects that she should be hearing right now. It was honestly freaking Emily the hell out as she slowly continued to walk through the dark and foggy woods.

The Gilbert girl continued to randomly call out hello's and can-anyone-hear-me's as she tried to catch someone's attention while she aimlessly walked through the woods for quite awhile. Emily knew it had been some time by the fact that she could feel her heels beginning to hurt from the ankle boots that she had on.

"Is anyone home?" The Gilbert girl obnoxiously shouted as she was slowly growing annoyed instead of afraid from the fact that she couldn't find anyone when she knew damn well that there is usually stoners somewhere in the woods at any given point of any day. Hell, Emily would gladly take a hungry vampire at this point. At least she would know that she wasn't going crazy right now.

Emily huffed out a sigh as she carelessly kicked a pine cone that was in her way while she continued to make her way through the woods. "Hello?" The Gilbert girl called out for what felt like the millionth time as she kept her green eyes locked onto the ground as she glanced at all of the different plants that she passed by. _At least it's keeping me entertained,_ Emily thought as she counted all of the different types while she waited to find somehow.

However, after a solid hour of walking aimlessly in the woods, Emily finally caught a break when she suddenly noticed a pair of black sneakers up ahead of her. The Gilbert girl hurriedly looked up, instead of looking at the ground, before Emily instantly smiled when she spotted a familiar pair of brown irises that she had stared into the second that she was born, her twin sister.

"Thank God I found you," Emily huffed out as she sluggishly jogged up to her other half. The Gilbert girl rolled her green eyes in annoyance before she complained to Elena, "I have been stuck in these woods for too long."

Emily took the chance to get a good look at her twin sister after she had finished speaking before a frown immediately pulled onto her face with even more confusion than she had already felt from waking up in the woods. "What's going on?" The Gilbert girl worriedly questioned as she could see tears clouding Elena's brown irises.

Elena slowly shook her head as she briefly closed her eyes to get control of her emotions before she focused her teary gaze onto her twin sister. "I am so sorry, Emmie," the Gilbert vampire quietly apologized as she shakily placed her hand onto the extremely confused human girl's cheek.

Emily instantly became even more confused - if that was even possible - by how her sister was looking at her so softly. "What?" The Gilbert girl inquired as she honestly didn't understand anything right now, "what are you talking about, Lena?" This whole ordeal was just freaky for Emily from the weird and foggy atmosphere in the woods along with the unnatural silence that surrounded her as well.

The Gilbert vampire gave her sister a sad smile as she tenderly gazed into Emily's green eyes as if she was trying to store them into her memory. "We're dead," Elena finally confessed to the Gilbert girl as much as she wished that she didn't have to because she knew it was going to crush her twin.

Emily's green irises immediately widened as she took a step back from her twin sister in absolute shock. "W-What?" The Gilbert girl sputtered out as she looked at Elena with a hint of fear mixed in with all of her confusion. Emily couldn't even begin to fathom those two little words that the brunette vampire had uttered to her. It just didn't make sense.

Instead of answering the Gilbert girl's question, Elena gently grabbed ahold of her sister's hand before she pulled her over to a small and wooden bench. The brunette vampire gave her sister's hand a small squeeze once they were seated before she focused her brown irises onto Emily. "What's the last thing you remember?" Elena finally inquired after a few moments of silence had passed by as she slowly tried to help her sister understand her predicament.

The Gilbert girl was confused as to why Elena was asking her that but she decided to humor her sister, so Emily closed her green eyes as she tried to look back on her memories. Emily couldn't help but get frustrated as she shook her head when she couldn't automatically remember the last thing that she did or said as her mind just felt blank.

It took another three minutes of the Gilbert girl sitting there with her green irises closed and her twin sister squeezing her hand while she uttered assuring words before Emily finally could remember something. "I-I went to say goodbye to Caroline and she surprised me with Tyler," the Gilbert girl recalled as she moved her furrowed gaze over to her twin sister.

Emily pulled her brows together from her own words before she asked herself, "Tyler's back?" The Gilbert girl then nodded her head once she realized that she had seen Tyler before she continued to recall her memories, "yeah... Yeah and he said Mrs. Lockwood was in the hospital, t-then Klaus' witch took them for the sacrifice."

The Gilbert girl shook her head as she released a disheartened sigh before she muttered from what she could remember, "I felt helpless, so I went to get a drink at the Grill and I-I think I texted Stefan to meet me there." Emily nodded her head as she affirmed that it was true before she recalled, "he had something planned for my last day as a human."

"I sat at the bar with Damon and Ric," the Gilbert girl continued to replay her memories as they came back to her, "bourbon, we had bourbon." Emily furrowed her brows while she mumbled, "t-then Klaus walked in with his real body. He told us that he had his wolf and vampire before he threatened Damon to not get involved."

"I told Damon and Ric that Klaus had Care and Tyler after he left," the Gilbert girl remembered, "but Damon promised that he would get them back." Emily briefly shook her head as she muttered, "I told him not do anything stupid because I didn't want anyone else to get hurt - but knowing Damon he probably did do something stupid."

"I-I think I left after that," Emily guessed as she couldn't recall anything more that took place at Mystic Grill. "Stefan and I went on our first real date," the Gilbert girl noted with a dopey but small smile playing on her lips at the memory before she frowned as she recalled another moment, "t-then we went back to the boarding house, where Klaus showed up and he took me. I stayed with his witch for a while then we went to the quarry for the sacrifice."

The Gilbert girl paused for about a minute or so as she tried to connect her thoughts about what she did remember about the sacrifice before Emily hurriedly look over to her twin sister, who had tears in her brown irises, with her own green eyes widened as her memories came to her. "H-He killed you," Emily mumbled with shock and sadness trailing all throughout her voice.

The Gilbert vampire gently nodded her head as warm tears finally began to fall down the sides of her cheeks. "Yeah, I am," Elena affirmed what her sister had thought.

Emily hurriedly shook her head as she just couldn't accept that her sister was actually dead. "Why didn't our friends try to save you?" The Gilbert girl inquired with her brows pulled together in confusion. "Surely they realized that you weren't there with him and I'm positive Jenna would have told someone," Emily commented before she asked with tears freely falling down her own cheeks, "why didn't they try to save you?"

Elena gave her twin a small smile before she uttered, "they did try." The Gilbert vampire gave Emily's hand a small squeeze before she explained, "John tried to trade his life for mine with a spell but it didn't work since I am a vampire. The spell was meant for a human, so when John did it, it killed him in the process."

Elena had felt a little sadness for her biological father when she had heard that John died trying to save her. The Gilbert vampire had found out about her father's passing and the failed spell about an hour after she had arrived here. Elena met the infamous Maria Radkova herself and she had told Elena all about what had happened and where she was.

The Gilbert vampire carelessly shrugged her shoulders as she glanced at the foggy atmosphere around them before she focused her teary gaze back onto her twin. Elena gave the Gilbert girl a sad smile before she murmured, "I'm pretty much stuck here now." Elena released a small sigh before she began to explain, "it's called the other si-"

However, though, before Elena could explain her situation to her twin sister, the Gilbert girl quickly interrupted her as she practically shrieked, "but I need my sister!" Emily shook her head with a panicked look to her green irises before she mumbled, "I-I don't know if I can continue to live knowing you won't be there with me."

The Gilbert girl briefly closed her green eyes as she tried to stop the tears from continuing to flow down her face before a thought suddenly entered her mind. "Wait a second," Emily mumbled as she turned and looked over to her twin sister as she realized something. "If I'm here," Emily began before she inquired, "does that mean I'm dead, too?"

"You have less than 72 hours until you'll be back in your world," a new and strong voice spoke up before the Gilbert vampire even had the opportunity to her answer Emily's question as the new individual slowly headed towards the twins.

Emily hurriedly stood up from the small bench at the sound of an unfamiliar voice as she pulled Elena up with her. Once the Gilbert girl saw that a woman was heading straight towards them, Emily placed her body in front of Elena's - like the protective sister that she was and always would be - before the Gilbert girl asked the strange woman, "who are you?"

Elena, who automatically recognized the woman as Maria Radkova - someone who she had met a few hours ago - grabbed ahold of her sister's hand before she squeezed it in reassurance. "It's okay," the Gilbert vampire began to tell Emily who Maria was before she was interrupted by the aforementioned woman.

"I'm Maria Radkova," the older woman uttered before she gave her predecessor a small smile after she had introduced herself.

The Gilbert girl's green eyes instantly widened when she heard the familiar name come out of the woman's mouth. "H-How are you here?" Emily confusingly questioned from the fact that she was currently looking at the witch from centuries ago and the witch, who's powers were flowing throughout her veins.

"I was essentially a witch when I died back in the fifteenth century even though I didn't have my magic at the time of my death," Maria began to explain how the Gilbert girl was able to see her. Maria glanced around the dark and gloomy atmosphere around them before she continued, "and this is where all of the supernatural beings who die end up. It's called the other side." Maria briefly looked over to the other twin before she stated, "I mentioned it to her sister earlier. It's like a purgatory or limbo for us."

Emily slowly glanced around her foggy surroundings with her brows pulled tightly together as she inquired, "why does this place even exist?" The Gilbert girl focused her green irises back onto Maria before she continued with her questioning as she tried to understand where she was, "why don't supernatural beings get to go to the afterlife once they are dead?"

Maria immediately, however, pushed away the Gilbert girl's questions as she lightly waved her hand. "You don't need to worry about that right now," the former Radkova witch muttered before she added, "you'll learn about that later on." Maria shot the doppelganger a small, assuring smile before she murmured, "you shouldn't waste your time on that when your time is very limited here." Maria lightly patted her chest as she concluded, "that's why I am here."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but furrow her brows from Maria's words. "And why are you here?" Emily inquired as she was still trying to understand all that was happening around her and why she was seeing a centuries dead witch right now.

"I wanted to take this opportunity to talk to you before you have to go back to your world," the former Radkova witch explained why she was essentially in Mystic Falls, "I wanted to personally go over a few things with you as the last living Radkova witch."

Emily slowly nodded her head in understanding as it made sense along with the fact that she was glad to actually talk to a Radkova witch instead of getting her information handed down to her by a second party. The Gilbert girl glanced back towards at her sister when she felt Elena squeeze her hand with a soft smile before Emily released that heavy sigh that she didn't know that she had been holding in.

Emily had felt so tense since she had arrived on the other side, so it made the brunette girl feel better once her body had finally relaxed from Elena's comforting presence and the fact that after so many months that she would finally get some answers about her being a witch. "Alright," the Gilbert girl muttered as she focused her attention back onto Maria before she inquired, "so, what am I dealing with here?"

Emily lightly shook her head as she informed the former witch, "Elijah didn't really tell me what will happen." The Gilbert girl rolled her green eyes before she added, "besides from scaring me half death with all this talk that I will end turning crazy."

Maria instantly released an airy chuckle as she heard what the noble original had been telling her predecessor. "Elijah may have exaggerated that factor a little bit," Maria stated before she explained, "a high percentage of the humans who are turned into witches this way did lose control with all that power inside of them but your situation is different."

Maria shot the Gilbert girl a soft smile as she murmured, "you were meant to become a witch in every single scenario and in every single universe. The world always has a plan that is supposed to take place and this is one of them. This is your destiny."

"But why?" Emily immediately inquired with her brows pulled together in complete confusion, "why has this always been meant for me?" The Gilbert girl shook her head before she muttered, "I've never even had the want to become a witch before." Emily then rose her right eyebrow at the former witch as she also asked with a bit of humor in her voice, "and destiny, really? Is that an actual thing?"

Emily was never one of those people that believed that destiny existed or certain things happened in life because it was meant to happen. She gave up on that idea when the world took away her parents way before their time, so Emily was definitely suspicious about the fact that the world apparently thought she was born to become a witch.

Maria released a small chuckle as she nodded her head at the skeptical girl. "Yes, it is," Maria affirmed before she stated with complete confidence and honesty shining throughout her rough voice, "there is certain things that have been set in the world and your destiny is one of them."

"And what is my destiny?" The Gilbert girl immediately inquired as she subconsciously released Elena's hand and took a step closer towards the former witch from the fact that she was continuously getting her questions answered - unlike in the past when she would ask anything that had to deal with being a Petrova doppelganger and a Radkova witch.

"If I tell you, it could disrupt something in the future," Maria uttered as she instantly shook her head and denied the Gilbert's girl request. "It could alter the people around you or something that seems so small could end up turning disastrous," Maria explained what would happen if she would tell Emily her destiny before she stated, "you just need to know that when it's time for you to find out your destiny, you will realize that you were always meant for this life as the last Radkova witch."

Emily couldn't help but frown when she realized that she had spoken to soon about how she was getting all the answers that she had ever wanted when the former witch instantly shut down her question. It was honestly so irritating for the Gilbert girl when she would ask questions to Elijah, Katherine, and now Maria about anything that was important to her and they would always hide the answers with some stupid meaning that she couldn't understand.

However, Emily wasn't going to give up like she usually would when she knew this was her only chance with Maria before she would become a witch, so the Gilbert girl pushed away her annoyance as she focused her determined green irises back onto the former witch. "Okay," Emily mumbled, mostly to herself, before she threw her arms in the air and inquired, "is there anything that you can tell me?"

The former Radkova witch smiled softly at the visibly impatient but determined Gilbert girl as she slowly nodded her head. "I can tell you what your new abilities will be like," Maria mentioned something that she knew would make Emily feel better from the fact that she was feeling clueless at the moment with being on the other side and such.

The Gilbert girl's mood instantly brightened as she brought her hands together and exclaimed with a tint of excitement flowing throughout her voice, "now you're talking!" Emily, once again, took a few steps closer to the former witch before she inquired and stated, "could you? Elijah didn't really explain what I would be able to do once I became a witch."

Maria released a small chuckle before she mused, "Elijah was never one to know everything about us Radkova witches." The older woman placed her right hand to the side of her lips before she whispered as she was telling a secret, "us Radkova witches like to keep some things to ourselves to protect our own."

The ancient woman stood back up until her body was standing straight before she mentioned, "I know you already know what a basic witch can do since you are friends with one, but Radkova witches are much more different and powerful." Maria let that thought enter Emily's mind for a moment before she explained, "you will have enhanced hearing like a vampire or a werewolf. You will also be able to heal anyone by just touching them and focusing onto their pain. You will also be able to make portals to travel from one place to another but that is a more difficult spell to learn but it will be possible for you once you grow stronger."

The Gilbert girl silently nodded her head as she tried to absorb this new information as best as she could for someone who was practically a newborn in the witch world. "What about the powers?" Emily inquired after a moment before she commented, "you mentioned that I have more abilities than a regular witch."

"That's correct," Maria murmured as she slowly nodded her head. "You have quite a lot of skills that will build as you grow stronger and the more that you practice," the former witch stated before she began to go over the powers of a Radkova witch, "you will be able to use telekinesis, molecular immobilization - which is the ability to slow someone or something down enough that they will essentially be frozen. You also will have the ability of molecular combustion - which is pretty much self explanatory."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but to release a huff of breath filled of surprise. "Wow," Emily mumbled as she shook her head in disbelief. "So, I can freeze things and blow them up?" The Gilbert girl asked her witchy mentor as she tried to see if she had actually heard Maria right. Emily honestly didn't know anyone outside of TV shows and movies could have these types of powers.

Maria released a small chuckle as she she nodded her head. "And that's not all, either," the former witch uttered in amusement before she continued to go over the powers that the Gilbert girl would soon have, "you also will have the ability to sense someone or an item by just focusing and you can push memories or thoughts into anyone's mind."

"This one you might appreciate with you being very protective over your loved ones," Maria commented as she had watched the Gilbert girl from the other side for quite some time before she explained, "you can produce orb shields around yourself and anyone close by like a force field - and the stronger you get, the more area you can cover."

"Also, another helpful skill you will have as well is the ability to understand, read, and speak any language without even having to actually learn them," Maria mentioned another one of the Radkova witch's powers. The former witch lightly shrugged her shoulders as she commented, "you would be surprised how handy that skill comes into play during some situations," Maria uttered as she could recall plenty of times during her travels when she would have to speak to witches from different countries and in different languages.

"That will definitely be helpful during my French classes," the Gilbert girl couldn't help but joke as she released a small chuckle while she also tried to soak in all of these skills that she would apparently have now.

Maria shot the last Radkova witch a small smile as she could only imagine how stressed and nervous she was at the moment, so she let Emily make a small joke and relax before she mentioned another skill, "and lastly and one of the most important abilities to Radkova witches is premonitions." Maria paused for a moment for the information to connect through the Gilbert girl's mind before she explained, "Radkova witches rely a lot on this one power as Protectors of the Innocence to be able to save and help people."

Emily silently nodded her head as she listened to the former witch before a thought suddenly popped into her head. "Is that why I always get a bad feeling when I think something is about to go wrong?" The Gilbert girl inquired as she could recall on both of her hands all the times right before something bad would happen and her chest would start hurting.

"That is correct," the former witch affirmed as she nodded her head. Maria shot the Gilbert girl, who she could see was still skeptical about her future as a witch, a soft smile before Maria exclaimed as she tried to encourage Emily through her future endeavors, "see? You weren't even a witch and you already had the properties inside of you. It has always been meant for you."

The Gilbert girl released a heavy sigh that she didn't know that she had been holding in when she felt as Elena moved to stand beside her and gave her hand a light squeeze. "This is just so much to take in," Emily mumbled as she was in shock from all of that Maria had told her in such a short amount of time.

Emily may have looked calm on the outside but her heart was practically beating out of her chest at the moment. All this witch stuff was making her even more anxious than she had already been. Yeah, the Gilbert girl felt better from knowing what she was walking into but the more Maria spoke about all of these abilities that she would have, the more it made Emily nervous that she would fail.

Emily's only goal in life had always been to take care of her twin sister, younger brother, and go to school so now that she was supposed to be this protector for the defenseless and innocent, it was a lot to take in and understand. It was like Emily was walking into Gotham City and was expected to save the day without any training.

"You'll be okay," the confident voice of the Gilbert vampire assured her twin sister, who she could see was mentally struggling with her new purpose in life. Elena gave the brunette girl's hand a tight squeeze as she nodded her head with a soft smile playing on her lips before she added to give her twin the support that she needed right now, "you can do this. I believe in you."

The Gilbert girl released a shaky breath as she looked back at her positive twin sister. Emily deep down in her heart knew that she couldn't agree with Elena at the moment when she wasn't confident in herself as a witch. "I don't know," the Gilbert girl mumbled as she released her sister's hand and took a few steps away from Elena and Maria before she anxiously began to pace in the middle of the woods.

"I am so not cut out for all of that," Emily mumbled, mostly to herself, as she was practically panicking right now while she tried to wrap her mind around her future. "I have no idea what the hell I'm doing," the Gilbert girl exclaimed as she threw her hands up into the air before she continued to mumble, "there must have been a mistake. I can't be the strongest witch ever."

Emily quickly turned around and looked over to the composed former witch with her green irises glazed over with distress and hysteria before she anxiously inquired as she wrung her hands together, "what if I fail? What if I mess up somehow? What if I hurt someone?"

However, before Maria could come up an answer to the newest Radkova witch's anxious-filled interrogation and assure her that she would be okay, the older woman took notice of a bright light behind the Gilbert girl's head. Maria focused her brown irises back onto Emily with a soft smile playing on her lips before she calmly murmured, "it's time for you to wake up."

The Gilbert girl's green irises immediately widened with even more panic than she already felt at the moment when she heard what Maria had told her. "W-Wait! No, no, no!" Emily hurriedly exclaimed as she took a quick step towards the former witch as she shakily waved her hand. "I can't leave yet! You haven't told me everything!" The brunette girl exclaimed once more before she shook her head and voiced her worries, "I can't be the next Protector of the Innocence. I'm not cut out to be a witch. I-I'll just screw it all up."

The former Radkova witch released a small and amused chuckle as she took the few steps that were left between herself and her predecessor before she gently placed her right hand onto Emily's cheek. "You were made to be the strongest witch to walk this Earth, dear," Maria assured the Gilbert girl, "you were born ready."

Maria slowly brought her hand down until it was by her side before she lightly shrugged her shoulders and stated, "besides, you will never truly be alone as a Radkova witch." The former witch placed her hand over her heart as she explained, "read my your grimoire and you will see that there are certain spells that only you can do as a Radkova witch to reach me."

The fact that Maria would only be a spell away was very comforting but it didn't help that Emily was being forced to leave when there was still so much that she wanted to know about being a witch. "But -" Emily began to argue as she felt like that she didn't even learn half of what she needed to know to become a witch.

If the Gilbert girl was being honest, she was afraid. She was afraid that she would hurt someone from all of these different abilities that would soon be running through her veins. Emily was afraid that she was going to fail at protecting people and most importantly, she was afraid that she was going to end up going crazy like the past witches before her.

However, though, before the Gilbert girl could try to convince Maria to let her stay so they could talk more about her witchy powers, the aforementioned woman interrupted her as she shook her head. "No, it is time for you to go back to your world before you end up getting stuck here forever," Maria uttered as she disagreed with Emily's wanting to stay on the other side for longer.

"You need to go live your new life, Emily Gilbert," the former witch softly murmured as she gazed lovingly down at the young girl. "You will succeed. You will be an extraordinaire. You will be an unstoppable force. You are meant for this," Maria calmly told Emily as she tried to convince the Gilbert girl for the last time that this was her future and her destiny.

"And you are a Petrova," a new but familiar sounding voice had uttered from where the former Radkova witch had left off as she slowly approached the three figures. The new voice, who happened to be none other than Darina Petrova, stopped once she standing directly in front of her doppelganger before she directed, "use that fire that you have inside of you and never let anyone ever get in the way of what you want."

Darina briefly paused in her little speech for a moment as she stared at her carbon copy with a soft smile playing on her lips before she told the Gilbert girl as if she was a proud mother at her child's graduation, "you are strong and I am so proud to call you my doppelganger."

Emily honestly felt like she had a stroke and this was her afterlife at the moment as she stuttered out, "h-huh? H-How? W-What?" The Gilbert girl was just in complete disbelief from the fact that she was looking across at the person who she had heard so much about - either it be reading about her or from what Katherine and Elijah had mentioned.

Emily honestly felt starstruck as if she was meeting Nirvana or ATEEZ ( _Stan ATEEZ, guys_ ). The Gilbert girl had always wondered what her doppelganger would have been like in person but she had never in her wildest dreams thought that she would actually have the opportunity to meet Darina.

The original Petrova doppelganger couldn't help but release an angelic chuckle as she watched the shock on her doppelganger's face. Darina shook her head in amusement as she slowly moved closer towards her carbon copy. Darina placed her hand gently onto the Gilbert girl's cheek once there was only inches separating them before she murmured with a small smile playing on her lips as she figured Emily must have a million questions for her, "we will have another chance to speak in the future, little dove."

Darina nodded her head in the direction behind her doppelganger's right shoulder, where she could see her own sister's doppelganger. The Petrova girl couldn't help but look at Elena Gilbert with a sad expression from not being able to see Katerina in person for centuries before Darina had to mentally shake her head to focus.

The Petrova girl focused her green irises onto Emily before she quietly murmured, "you should say goodbye like i didn't have the chance to." Darina knew her doppelganger must have so much to ask her but she knew what was really important. Darina regretted everyday that she didn't at least tell Katerina that she loved her before she died.

Emily furrowed her brows in confusion as to what her doppelganger was telling her to do before she glanced over to her shoulder and realized that Darina was looking at her twin sister. The Gilbert girl knew exactly what Darina wanted her to do, so she faced her doppelganger before she nodded her head in agreement.

However, before Emily could do that, she needed to know something before she said goodbye. "Will I ever be able to talk to you again?" The Gilbert girl inquired as she didn't want to walk away from her doppelganger if this would be her only chance of ever getting to talk to Darina when she had so many questions.

Darina released a small chuckle as she nodded her head. "You will figure out a way to speak to me if you really need to," the Petrova girl stated as she knew Maria had hinted at the spell to Emily about how she would be able to contact her in the future.

The Gilbert girl released a small sigh of relief that this wouldn't be the last time with her doppelganger before she quietly murmured, "okay." Emily didn't know how she was supposed to say goodbye to someone that she just met but felt so close to, so Emily just awkwardly waved her hand towards her carbon copy before she mumbled, "uh, I guess I'll see you later."

The Petrova girl and the former Radkova witch both chuckled in amusement at the human doppelganger before Darina sweetly murmured as she nodded her head, "you will, little dove."

Emily silently watched as the witch, who's powers were running through her veins, and her doppelganger walked a few feet away for her with an encouraging nod before the Gilbert girl slowly turned around to face her twin sister, who already had tears freely falling down the sides of her face.

"I didn't think I would have to say goodbye to you twice," the Gilbert vampire practically sobbed as she watched as Emily slowly walked to stand in front of her.

Emily released a small but teary chuckle as she lifted up her hands and wiped the wetness away from her sister's brown irises and her cheeks. "Me too," the Gilbert girl mumbled in agreement before she rested her right palm onto Elena's shoulder and added as to make the horrible situation better, "but at least I can hug and feel you this time."

Elena honestly couldn't stop the water works any longer as she released a loud sob before she swiftly pulled her twin sister strongly into her arms - unlike the last time they were in this position. "I love you so, so much," the Gilbert vampire sobbed into her sister's neck as she knew this was seriously her last moment with Emily.

"I know you are going to be great, Emmie," the Gilbert vampire murmured into her sister's chest before she slowly pulled back. Elena looked into her twin's green irises with a watery smile before she continued to comfort Emily like she knew that she needed right now, "you are going to be the best witch ever."

The Gilbert girl released a small chuckle as she could feel the warm tears carelessly falling down her face. "I hope so," Emily murmured as she still didn't feel confident in herself and her witch status before she told her sister, "I hope I can do you proud." That was one of the things that Emily was afraid of. She was afraid that she would disappoint Elena when she had always been her sister's hero since they were born.

Elena placed her right hand lightly onto her twin sister's cheek with a brighter smile that she hadn't used since before the sacrifice as she softly assured Emily, "you already have."

The future Radkova witch shook her head in disbelief as she stared across at her twin sister with tears in her green irises. "God, I'm gonna miss you so much," Emily mumbled as she expressed rambled her feelings for her other half while tears freely fell from her eyes, "I don't know how I'm supposed to go on without you." The Gilbert girl released an emotionless scoff before she continued, "I mean, I've never even gone an hour without seeing you and now I'm supposed to go the rest of my life without my sister. I-I don't know how I'm supposed to function without you in my life."

The Gilbert vampire heart absolutely broke - even though she was already dead - from her twin sister's words. It pained Elena so much to see Emily like this for the second time. "I will always be right here with you," Elena tried to make her twin sister feel better as she gently placed her hand over Emily's heart. "We are in this forever, you know that," the Gilbert vampire added as her own tears fell from her brown irises.

The Gilbert girl couldn't help but release a loud sob from her sister's words. Emily felt so helpless that she couldn't bring her sister with her to their world. It hurt her heart to even think about leaving Elena alone here but she knew she didn't have a choice right now. "I will bring you back," Emily suddenly exclaimed - despite the fact that she hadn't been confident in her witch self only a second ago.

Emily was never one to fold over, ever, so even though she didn't think that she would make it out as a witch, she was going to do everything in her power to bring her twin sister back. The Gilbert girl knew it might take awhile for it to happen but she was never going to give up on her other half.

"And I'm gonna hold you to it," the Gilbert vampire murmured as she stared across at Emily with a soft smile playing on her lips. Elena didn't doubt it for a second that her twin sister would be able to bring her back. She had accepted her fate on the other side but she also knew Emily and she knew her sister would stop at nothing when her mind was set on something.

However, Elena knew and understood that she might be stuck here on the other side for awhile, so she only had one request for her sister. "Take care of Damon for me," the Gilbert vampire murmured as she thought about her boyfriend. Elena knew Damon was going to struggle for awhile, so she just wanted someone to be there for him instead of Damon turning off his emotions.

Emily instantly nodded her head in agreement, "I will." The Gilbert girl knew Damon was going to be in the same boat as she would once she got back to her world, so it was a no brainer for Emily to help the older Salvatore through this difficult time in their lives with the death of their other half. "And I promise you I will get you out of here," Emily, once again, told her twin sister as a reminder that she would never forget her and that she would bring her back.

"I know you will," the Gilbert vampire murmured with a soft smile playing on her lips. "You're not only Emily Gilbert, the protector of her family and friends, but you are also the last Radkova witch, the strongest one at that," Elena reminded her twin sister before she exclaimed, "everyone should fear you. You will be so unstoppable that Klaus won't know what hit him." The Gilbert vampire playfully bumped her point finger under Emily's chin as she murmured, "raise hell, Emmie."

The Gilbert girl couldn't help the wide smile that lifted onto her face as she told her twin, "you know it." Emily just felt more confident with how much Elena was trusting her and believing in her. "I will make him regret he was ever born," the new Radkova witch muttered as she thought about Klaus before she promised her twin, "I won't disappoint you."

Elena shook her head with a sad smile on her face from the fact that the human girl thought that she could ever do that. "You could never disappoint me, Emmie," the Gilbert vampire told her twin sister as she pulled her into a tight hug. "I will always be proud of you, no matter what," Elena expressed her feelings inside of the loving embrace, "you are the best sister and friend I could ever ask for."

The Gilbert vampire slowly pulled her body away from Emily's familiar embrace before she placed her hands onto her sister's shoulders with a small smile playing on her lips. "You have always been my hero, Emmie, but now it's time for you to be everyone else's," Elena murmured before she gave her sister's shoulders a light squeeze and ordered while tears slowly poured down her cheeks, "now go. It's time for you to shine and show everyone what you are made of."

The Gilbert girl tried to wipe all of the warms tears that continued to pour from her green irises as she released a small chuckle. "You should be a motivational speaker," Emily couldn't help but joke as she stared across at her twin sister. Elena was never one to be the positive one between them, so Emily had to poke fun of her sister for it.

Elena playfully rolled her brown eyes as she stared at her smiling twin. "Yeah, totally," the Gilbert vampire sarcastically agreed before she herself joked around, "I'll start with all of the angry vampires here on the other side."

Emily shook her head in amusement while she gazed at her twin sister with nothing but adoration shining throughout her green irises. "I love you so, so much," the Gilbert girl murmured before she leaned up onto her tippy toes and places a small kiss onto Elena's forehead. "I'll be back for you, I promise," Emily whispered against her twin sister's cold skin.

"I know you will," Elena murmured as she absorbed as much of Emily's presence as she could before she slowly pulled away and gazed into her sister's green irises with tears clouding her brown ones. "Now go, Emmie," the Gilbert vampire ordered as she nodded her head towards the light that was waiting for her sister before she added with a small chuckle, "stop stalling."

Emily playfully and innocently rose her hands up in the air before the Gilbert twins shared possibly their last laugh together. The moment between the two sisters lasted for about a solid three minutes before a calm silence settled between them. Emily looked at her twin with the softest look that she had ever used as she forced her legs to move to take a step back or she knew that she would never end up leaving her other half.

Emily kept her glazed green irises locked onto Elena's brown ones as she slowly stepped back towards the light that would take her back to her world where she would be a witch. The last thing the Gilbert girl could recall as her whole body and mind was overtaken by the light was her twin sister telling her, "I believe in you."

 _I hope I can make you proud, Lena._


End file.
